Solar Panel Income – May 2018, Free Money!

Solar Panel Income – May 2018

I have decided to rename the solar income posts based on the pay dates. Ie we get paid this month for last months production. So it’s May’s income but its based on what the sun did in April. Last month the weather was all over the place. Sunny days to ice storms and rain. The ice storm took awhile to melt away and covered quite a bit of our system for about a week. Because of this our solar income is actually down from last month. I think the hydro meter reader came a couple days earlier this time too!

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.

I’m a huge fan of renewables and it’s great to put our invest dollars into something that is a fantastic thing for the planet. I really believe this should be a mandate for new builds. The extra solar panel income for homeowners would be a nice bonus as well.

Sun = Money

In April we generated 851 kwh of power. This was down 150 kwh from last month… ARG!  Since we get a fixed rate of 28.8 cents per kwh, our solar panel income was $245.09 this month. Unfortunately we were under the guidance for the month of April, but I’m sure this was due to that freak ice storm…… So far May’s power is looking pretty nice though. I do have a big maple tree beside my garage that just leafed out and am wondering how that will affect things. I don’t really want to cut it down……. Time will tell…

This chart is a summary of what our panels were generating in April. Its nice to see days where they produce over 60kwh. That would be a nice pay cheque if that would be a daily thing! As you can see that ice storm killed the power production. Seems like summer is already here, so hopefully no more of that!

Conclusion

We have a long way to go to break even on this investment, but its one of those feel good things to do. $245.09 is still a decent income that gets added to the stack. Our solar panel income 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 still, and always love getting their mail in the mailbox these days. Other than that its bills and spam, not to much to look forward to in there.

April was lower than March but for a good reason, shit happens. We do live in Ontario.. I tell ya I’m black now, so the sun is cooking! Make sure you throw down that sunscreen when your outside now…..

The income we receive is put into quality dividend stocks, to get that snowball growing even faster.

Cheers.

System Installed January 2018

Total System Cost ——–$32,396.46

Total Income Received ——–$667.59

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Amount to Breakeven —- $31,728.87

Rob

Hey I’m Rob, creator of Passive Canadian Income.

In 2011 me and my wife had almost $60,000 in debt and a negative $7,000 Net Worth. Through hard work and financial education we paid all that off. Now we are focusing on increasing our Passive Income Streams to make the money work for us. Feel Free to Follow along the Journey by clicking the Social Media links below or subscribing to get notified of new posts on the sidebar.