Norval United Church
Ontario’s New Solar Rebate Comes with a Major Catch:
No Net Metering
Project Background:
Norval United Church has long stood as a beacon of faith, community, and service in Georgetown, Ontario. With a commitment to stewardship not only in spiritual and social leadership but also in environmental responsibility, the church has taken a significant step forward in its sustainability journey. Guelph Solar Mechanical was privileged to collaborate with Norval United Church in the design and installation of a solar PV system that aligns with the church's mission of caring for creation and fostering a healthier planet for future generations.
This initiative supports the church’s values of sustainability, responsible resource use, and community leadership. By investing in clean and renewable solar energy, Norval United Church is reducing its environmental footprint, lowering energy costs, and inspiring other faith-based and community organizations to embrace green energy solutions
System & Technology:
Guelph Solar Mechanical has utilized the latest technology and globally renowned manufacturers to implement this project. The proposed 56.96kW nameplate capacity solar energy system was designed to maximize the utilization of the available roof to provide as much energy generation as possible to offset the existing utility consumption. Brief specifications of the project are as follows:
Solar Panels
128 Pcs of 445W Half Cut Monofacial CSI Modules
Optimizers
128 Pcs of Solar Edge P505 Optimizers
Grid-Tied Inverters
51.9kWac 3-Phase Solar Edge Inverter with synergy technology
System Monitoring
SolarEdge energy monitoring portal
Setup Transformer
N/A
Expected Annual Generation (KWh)
65,760
System Operation:
This project entails a net metering-based system whereby the system would be operational during the daytime and provide energy that would be consumed by the facility on a real-time basis. This would result in decreasing the facility’s dependence on the grid for these hours. Additionally, during the times when the facility is not consuming all the energy from the solar power system, this excess energy will be exported back to the grid through a bi-directional meter that would account for all the imported and exported units/kwh. The system is expected to start savings for Norval United Church as soon as they flip the switch to solar!
A state-of-the-art monitoring system has been installed with this project for real-time assessment of the performance. This system includes monitoring of the DC array (modules & optimizers), Inverter power/energy production analysis, system alarms and notifications, graphical reporting and performance analysis
Financial Overview:
With every investment comes the time required to recover the money spent on the project. For this project, the following assumptions were made to evaluate an approximate payback period
● On an average the County would expect to pay $0.15/kWh as their utility rate. We would consider the same for calculating the savings for solar.
● We will consider 2% inflation annually for this existing utility rate for a period of 25 years.
● 0.6% annual degradation in annual energy generation from solar has been considered.
● First year annual generation has been considered as 65,760 kWh as shared earlier
● One time Inverter replacement has also been considered over the life of the project.
Based on the above assumptions, we have come up with the following chart for the payback analysis. As can be seen, the payback will approximately be in the 12th year of the project whereas the gross savings over the life of the project would be $186957.03
Project Impact:
As a result of this great initiative, this project would be extremely beneficial in reducing Norval United Church’s carbon footprint and echo their plan to encourage sustainable community living. Based on the system capacity and its annual solar generation of 65,760 kWh, it would be sufficient energy to save approximately 25.92 tons of annual carbon emissions and 31 Acres of forests.
Based on the positive impact and success of this project, Norval United Church will go ahead with looking at additional avenues where the implementation of solar energy can support their goals of sustainability.