Rethinking Lifestyle

Usually when discussing the solar panels on our roof, I am asked about payback. Somewhat defensively, as though needing to justify the expense, I reply as follows:

The solar array has been very reliable. With a projected production of 8000 kWh (kilowatt hours) per year, it has produced exactly that, to at least 2 significant figures, for the 2 complete years that it has been operational. I know this because the solar package includes a monitoring device that shows the performance of each of the 20 solar panels in real time, collects and stores the data in many formats and makes it available on my laptop or smart-phone thousands of miles away.

The system has a 25-year warranty. At the end of 25 years, it is expected to have a productivity that is 95% of new. An impressive durability. By that time, the array will have paid for itself, possibly several times over, depending on the cost of energy during that time.

Our array is relatively small at 6kW, with output approximating 30% of house consumption. There is enough room on our roof to install a solar array that would provide more than enough energy to power our house for a year (28,000 kWh).

Now comes the more interesting part of my answer. Everything we buy, house, vehicles, granite counter tops, clothes, vacations, entertainment, tools, cologne and toothpaste, costs money. There is no monetary payback. In fact, there is instant depreciation and/or depletion. It is therefore, somewhat peculiar to ask about payback for a solar array that saves me money and helps to save the planet.

Rural electrification in Manitoba happened in the 1940s/1950s. This brought a dramatic change to people’s lives, with many benefits. Electric machinery made many tasks easier. Indoor light was available any time of day or night. Food preparation and storage, laundry and other household tasks became much easier, at minimum cost.

We are presently in a climate change emergency, when it is urgently necessary to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy. This will require an even greater use of electric products with even more benefits.

Here’s a simple example. For many years, I used a gas-powered lawn mower. Whenever I needed to fill the tank, add or change oil or sharpen the blade, I had to either have something under the mower to catch drips or do the operations in an area where drips “didn’t matter”. My clothes were, at a minimum, smelly after each fill-up, repair or mowing. With my new battery-powered mower, I could, if the Missus is away, “fill up” (change the battery) in the house, in the kitchen, even the bedroom, and no one would notice. For storage, I can fold it up and it is light enough to easily hang on a wall, place on my stack of summer tires, or stash it in a nook or cranny somewhere. What a difference!

The use of fossil fuels is expensive, harmful, annoying, and dangerous. Gasoline engines cannot be safely run in enclosed spaces without exhausting to the outside. People bemoan the noise of traffic and flyovers. Emissions collect in the air above cities and country sides, obscuring the sun. The word “smog” (a contraction of “smoke” and “fog”) was coined in the early 20th century to describe intense air pollution. Air pollution results in millions of premature deaths in the world every year.

So, how do I answer the question about payback? The solar array will pay for itself, we will have cleaner air, we will have peace and quiet, and we will have maintained a beautiful planet Earth for us, for our children, and for our grandchildren. Yes, I’m happy with that.