As the current ecoENERGY grant effectively ends on the 1st October which is the deadline for applications, we have been asked a number of times if the program will be renewed. The short answer is we don't know.
A recent article published in the CANSIA magazine "Solutions", titled "The ecoENERGY ball is rolling, but where is it going?", discussed this topic and put the question to Natural Resources Minister Christian Paradis. In an email response the minister said the was committed to reviewing energy efficiency and green house gas reduction programs and was looking to forward to Cansias recommendations.
What is the translation of this statement..... to us this means nothing is planned, they will wait to see if the Commercial Solar Thermal market stops dead in its tracks.
It would be better to say that there will be no grant in future. At least everyone knows where they stand but this way, the danger is that for those companies wishing to install a solar water heating system, and who miss the October 1st 2010 deadline, are likely to sit by and wait for a decision. The reasoning is a sound one, why would a business commit to spending money on a solar thermal system when in 6 months the government might re-introduce a new form of the ecoENERGY grant and the business might miss out on the grant.
In the event the program is extended the rebates available will, in almost certainty, be less than the current program.
Cansia have been asking for people to contact their MPs to bring the topic to the front of discussions with the federal government. Unless there is public demand for an extension to the program then there is the risk that not much will happen.
Ontario Projects = $2081 PER COLLECTOR REBATE
For now there is about 4 weeks left to apply. We have been working with a number of companies in the Ontario region to help apply for and install commercial solar water heating projects. The size of the rebate ($2082) per collector makes this an amazing return on Investment.
This rebate is available to almost any commercial project, even if the system is installed by the companies own contractors. The rebate is awarded once the system is "commissioned" and signed off by someone with a Professional Engineer stamp, a CET designation or a Cansia Certified Installer. Please see our website for more details on the commercial program.
This is an exciting time for the renewable energy industry, in particular for the solar thermal/water heating sector. The payback / returns on Commercial Solar are as good as they will get. The current Government Incentive Program is running out and when/if it is replaced they rebates will most likely be much lower than they currently are.
This email is a general email to explain our advantage in Commercial Solar. If you have left a telephone number we will try to contact you soon to discuss your project.
Our collectors are widely sold round the world and they have a very high power output. They produce significantly more heat than many of our competitors for less cost. Latitude51 Solar Collectors are meet CSA Standard F378-87.
See this article - Comparing Solar Collectors.
For most larger commercial projects, the solar collectors normally make up a large proportion of the total system costs. Hence when we can offer you FREE Collectors the "Payback" looks great.
We sourced our own brand of Solar Collectors made for our commercial projects as we could not find anything in Canada that was cost effective enough. All the major Evacuated Tube Panel suppliers we spoke to in Canada were a minimum of $2000 each up to over $3000 in some cases for each evacuated tube collector.
Its very hard to make an acceptable "Payback" on a project with those capital costs
Our own collectors are listed on the Canadian Governments ecoACTION Renewable Energy Program. Under this program, each of our collectors will receive a minimum of $1040 in Rebates. Please note that not all the other manufacturers rebates are the same. They all vary depending on the heat/power output and size of their collectors.
As we can sell the panels for costs less than the amount of the rebate, then for any commercial project in Canada we can eliminate the entire Panel cost from the project. Obviously the bigger the project the bigger the discount we can offer.
When you get into the region of 50 panels or more, full containers can be supplied at costs from $800 Per Collector. Costs vary depending on exchange rates and shipping costs. These are wholesale costs, if you buy a shipment direct from us. If you get a system installed by a Solar Dealer then you will pay a bit more from them as they need to earn a living as well!
They will be designing and installing the system for you and provide warranty for the system and hence they will charge you slightly more for each collector.
If you have a capability to do the full design and install yourself, then contact us direct and we can supply a container load of Solar Collectors direct to you.
You can pay from $800 each and receive back from the Government $1041 - It doesn't get better than that. The exact cost will vary depending on if we supply you direct or you have a system designed and installed by an installer. Please contact is for details.
To help you work out how many collectors you could use, based on Retscreen data in Calgary, each collector should, on average, produce about 1.4 GJ Per Month.
In some provinces the government rebate/incentive is doubled for example in ON & SK and some projects in BC. The commercial project will receive over $2080 for every panel installed. Remote Communities can receive about $3200 per panel in rebates. See our Incentives page for details
When you eliminate the panels cost from the project, the Return on Investment is fantastic. There are still installation costs such as pipe work, roof mounts, tanks etc but having free solar collectors is a huge benefit to the system and the rebate will help cover the cost of some , if not ALL of the install costs.
There is no maximum % of the project that the rebate can cover. The only limit is that the grant does not exceed more than 100% of the total project costs.
If your business uses hot water then Solar Water Heating can work for you. The more water you heat the better. These collectors can also be used to supplement the space heating requirements for workshops as well, but if you live in a VERY cold area, then unless the building is VERY well insulated its is not really practical to completely heat the building using solar only.
The goal will be to size the system properly so 100% of the summer hot water requirements are met and in Winter any extra heat can be used to supplement the hydronic space heating. For more info please see the website.
For larger commercial solar projects we will work with a large engineering form who specialize in Renewable Energy projects to do the design work and provide Engineering Stamps on the drawings. Alternatively if you have your own capabilities to install the system we can just supply you direct with the Solar Collectors.
If you are looking for either a supply only service, or a complete engineered system then we would be glad to help.
Please don't delay as the incentive program is running out. It will take a minimum of 8 weeks just to get a reply from the ecoENERGY Incentive department from the point the application is submitted.
If you have any questions please let us know.
Sincerely,
Stefan Varga
Tel: +1 888 850 SOLAR
Contact us for a Free Commercial Solar Simulation Design Services 1 800 759 8990
See a solar hot water system in Calgary and Vancouver here.
Image of some Residential and Commercial Solar Water Heating projects.
Buy solar systems for DIY install, prices and technical details can be found here.
See some of our most popular Pre-Engineer Solar Water Heating Packages available for domestic hot water, space heating and pools.
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Latitude51 Solar Heating System are distributed across Canada ,USA, Mexico and Caribbean. We are a North American Distributor for solar water heating equipment. By eliminating the traditional wholesale distributors, we sell direct to contractors and home owners across North America so they can buy our solar at affordable prices. We are forever expanding our network of distribution locations around Canada and USA. If you would like to join our team then call us at 1 (800) 317-9054
