March 2018 – Solar Income

March 2018 – Solar Income

Sunny days. Good times and then more snow….. I thought from March forward the solar panels would be lighting it up. March was a great month for our panels as we generated a record amount of power. Unfortunately the last part of march snowed and then we got hit hard with a massive ice storm in the middle of April. So I doubt April will produce to this level, but we still got 10 days left. Hopefully it will produce, big time. I think winter is officially done and the sun will be shining from now on.




What is the microfit program?

The microfit program was introduced in Ontario for smaller renewable energy systems under the 10kw size. It’s part of the fit (feed in tariff) program to promote the use of renewable energy, increase investment into this space and create new green jobs.

We bought our solar system outright and installed it on the roof of our house. Its a 9.75 kw system, 10 Panels facing the south and 20 Panels facing south-west. 2017 was the last year of the program and we signed a contract to sell the hydro generated to Hydro One. In return they would pay us 28.8 cents per kwh for the next 20 years. After 20 years we can sign a new contract at most likely a higher rate (since hydro rates will likely be higher) or look into a battery system to power our house.

Sun = Money

In March we generated 997 kwh of power. Since we get a fixed rate of 28.8 cents per kwh, we brought in $287.14 this month. Which is fantastic, these are the numbers I wanted from the system.  The solar company estimate for March was $238.69. Haha! Finally got what they estimated and then some! As I stated earlier April has been extreme here and I’m pretty sure it won’t produce as much. This is one of the longest winter’s I can ever remember, so can’t blame the panels on that.

March 2018 - Solar Income

This chart is a summary of what our panels were generating in March. Its nice to see days where they produce over 50kwh. That one week was pretty consistent, can’t wait for this to be the norm. Would be pretty sweet to produce over 1500 kwh in a month.

Conclusion

We have a long way to go to break even on this investment, but its one of those feel good things to do. $287.14 is a nice chunk of change and instantly gets moved in our tfsa for dividend stocks. Our solar system is another source of income we did nothing to generate. I keep trying to decide what our next source of passive income will be that isn’t overly capital intensive.

This pay day from Hydro One basically covers a lot of our household monthly bills – hydro, ($100 bucks), water ($14), Natural Gas, ($67) House insurance ($65) and half our home internet bill. ($80) Sweet!

March was a great month for Solar Panels.

Cheers.

System Installed January 2018

Total System Cost ——–$32,396.46

Total Income Received ——–$422.50

_____________________________________________

Amount to Breakeven —- $31,973.96

16 Responses

  1. Hi Rob, If you issue stock and pay a good dividend I may consider investing in your power company. I hear the chief executive officer is a really sharp dude. Tom

  2. Was not expecting you to break any records this month. I don’t know about the weather by you, but I have seen the sun what feels like maybe twice this month. All rain, snow, or hail. Quite the spring so far but at least the weather is starting to break… I think. Nice income though and it should pick up even more next month. Summer is going to be exciting for you.

    • Rob says:

      Hey Daze

      Our payment is always a month behind. So this is from the weather in March. Which wasnt all that bad. April has been a whole different story. We will see next month.

      Cheers

  3. German says:

    It’s a great monthly return from this kind of investment. I wonder how much the company sells the energy for. I think in Quebec we’re charged about 55 cents per kwh. Since you reached your 10kw capacity limit, I wonder if there are other ways to expand the operations. What if you were to have a second home? You could rent it and install solar panels on the roof for another 10kw system. Would be neat to build a little energy empire! Looking forward to summer months 🙂

    • Rob says:

      Hey German. Wow are you sure you pay that much? We go by time of day and even at the highest i think its 18 cents per kwh. The hydro company actually lose out but it was put in place by the govt to promote green energy.

      Unforetunately you can only have one microfit contract per family / person. If i had a bunch of rentals i couldnt put panels on them all. Well not in the microfit program.

      There are other programs out there for bigger systems and most likely other properties i just dont know about them.

      Cheers

  4. Hi Rob. Congrats on the strong month. I love following these stories and seeing them work out. Do you see a definite correlation between clear sunshine and higher power generation? Some of the folks here (in sunny Florida) say that cloudy days (without rain) are almost as good as sunny days. Looking forward to the next update.

    • Rob says:

      Hey Fire

      Its interesting that you say that. I remember looking at it when its cloudy and being like dam its bringing in alot of power!

      It depends on the clouds white ones dont make a drastic difference but the black and grey one do. (Less light pentrates)

      I think we all underestimate the power of the sun. I will probably wear more sunscreen this yr!

      Cheers

  5. Great stuff, this is awesome. I agree a long way to go but the way I see this is you invested 32.4k and received 422$ in dividends in 3 months already. Assuming similar dividends for rest 9 months, you are looking at about 1.6k on 32.4k investment, that is 5.22% in dividends.

    This is good as long as it doesn’t give you any maintenance issues you will come out on top :). I am located in Houston TX and I have been considering installing one myself but never have pulled the trigger though.

    Good Luck,
    TDK.

    • Rob says:

      Hey dk.

      Great point. While 5.2 is a great yield, lets hope summer brings that yield up. Im pretty sure it will.

      You should seriously look into getting one, you guys dont have the snow to pile up on the panels!

      Cheers!

  6. vivivanne says:

    I’ve thought about solar system too, but I’m thinking of buying a school bus and convert it into and RV instead of installing on my big house which I’m thinking of downsizing down the road. Plus our roof is about 20 years old. But it’s so cool that you guys have it done and watch your bill got cut significantly.

    • Rob says:

      Hey vivivanne

      Sounds like a cool conversion.

      Yeah not really much point doing it if your planning on moving soon.

      Cheers!

  7. Erika Ann says:

    Hi Rob,

    I just came across your blog reading about solar energy. I envy where you live. I hope local governments in my country would encourage residents to do stuff like this to promote sustainable energy. Its really a good idea and investment.

    • Rob says:

      Morning Erika

      Its true it is one thing that im proud the government did. Im honestly surprised this hasnt became a law with all new builds. It would be so good for the planet and most likely the economy as well.

      Cheers

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