Location
Location-City of Vaughan, Ontario, Canada Latitude =43.802573
Longitude =-79.446603
Approx elevation 40-75 ft
Installation: Enviro-Energy Technologies Inc.- Steve Eng
http://enviro-energytech.com/
http://enviro-energytech.com/
Description of Installation
Location of modules- 6 modules at 163 degrees, 10 at 256
degrees and 10 at 76 degrees.
Inclination- depends upon surface 20- 40 degrees.
I know what you’re thinking –inefficient and you are right.
I figure approx.. 15-25% less efficient than a system facing due south. But it works for me because I have been
grandfathered at .802 cents per kwh and the price of installation has come down
allowing for a comfortable return of approx.. 7-10% per year and a paid up
system in 7-8 years. Not bad considering how bad the stock market is doing and
the ups and downs of the world economy.
Install Log
July 4
I signed on the dotted line. The deal is done. Next steps is
for the structural engineer to come by and check out the attic and roof and
apply for the building permit. This
should take about 2 weeks. Hardware is
being purchased and it has been confirmed that I can get Selikin Modules even
though the Ontario made versions are in short supply since the plant has been
shut down.
My only concern at the moment
is with the Solaredge equipment. They
still are a young company in a very difficult business environment…will they be
around in 5,10 or 15 years etc in case of equipment malfunction and I require a
warranty repair or replacement. As well, I now have 26 points of potential
failure (the Optimizers) rather than 1 inverter. I am taking a chance but looking at their
design, fire & safety safegards, internet connection, shade efficiency, I
still think they are the best solution for me in MicroFIT. If I wasn’t in the
contract, I may have considered some other options that are out there. But I am glad I did not go with Enphase.
July 6
An email with the
single line drawing was sent to the local LDC (Powerstream)
Next step the Structural Engineer visit
July 10
The local LDC (Powerstream) sent the request to New
Connections and they will provide the installer with a Service Layout within 5
days.
 |
| Rails, optimzers, flashing and safety ropes prior to module install |
July 10
Received a call from the Structural Engineer to arrange a
site inspection and then an application will be made to the City for a
permit. This should take about 2 weeks.
July 12
Structural Engineer visited the house and looked into the
attic and the exterior of the house. His
responsibility is to access the integrity of the roof and its ability to handle
the load
July 13
Received an email from Powerstream billing me for the meter
and disconnect/connect that they will have to do in order for me to connect and
send power to the grid. Surprisingly it
is a little less than I had been told previously- $515 plus HST. I am told that Toronto Hydro is more costly
to connect.
July 16-
The installer received the Structural Engineers report and
it has been confirmed that the roof will hold the array as recommended.
July 17
Building permit
application made. It should take 2 weeks max. to get the piece of paper.
Two months ago I phoned for an insurance quote from TD
Insurance. Now that I am ready to make
the change and the quote was only good for 45 days, I had to have a
requote. Guess what! The price has gone up $50 a month. Still haven’t committed to the insurance yet.
July 18
I just received word that the Building Permit has been
provided to my installer. Tonight I will
send the cheque for the meter to the LDC and we are ready for the install!
…since I’m busy at work and going away for a week
installation will be in a few weeks.
July 25
Checked my bank account online and noticed that my cheque
had been cashed by Powerstream
July 26
Received an email from my installer mid-day saying the
installation would be August 2 – all day.
Power would be off approx.. from 7:30 am to noon . They should be finished by end of day. I don’t have to wait the extra 2 weeks.
That’s great news because I want to catch as much of the sun as possible this
year.
July 27
Last minute details to work out. I had to change insurance companies because
my present insurer wanted too much money to insure the panels- approx.. $700
per year-ridiculous! This was actually the 2nd company the broker
recommended. I went with TD Insurance
who immediately understood the program and provided the insurance without any
increase over my present policy. In
conversation with the agent on the phone he said that TDCanada Trust as a
corporate policy pushes “Green” as it is part of their branding. Good for anyone trying to install Solar on
their house or property. I would love to
compile a list of insurance companies or brokers in Ontario that handle or
insure solar projects. If you are
reading this and know of one or the other please drop me a line or add a
comment. It would be helpful for
“newbies” to solar.
Just got an email from the installer, it seems my Rogers
(cable) connection box on the exterior of my house beside my meter will get in
the way of the installation and I have to have it moved. One quick phone call to Rogers-done.
July 29
The devil is in the detail.
In this case, my installer had asked me to have Rogers move the box near
my meter 6” lower. Unfortunately that
could mean a few different things to different people so I decided to photoshop
the reposition and get the ok. Of
course, while looking carefully at the photo, I noticed cable wire going up the
side of the meter and another box attached to the PVC conduit housing the
powerline. Do these need to be
moved? My confirmation came a few hours
later, the new box position was ok and if they could move the wires to the left
of the box, that to would be also be ok.
Now to see what Rogers will actually do and if it is done correctly in
the end.
July 31
Rogers cable guy has shown up earlier than expected. It is a very good thing that I photoshopped
the new position and produced a printout of the position, as the installer
can’t speak English very well.
August 1
1 day to go…let’s hope the weather holds up with no
rain. My new house insurance is now
active and my PV system is covered.
August 2
Morning
Today is the day.
Steve was right on time at 7 am with the equipment, modules, inverter
etc and over the next hour his crew filtered in. 1st step was to get the power
turned off on the house.
 |
| LDC employees turning off the power at transformer |
 |
| Checking safety equimpent |
On the roof the guys are setting up the safety equipment. They are all wearing safety harnesses which would prevent or at least mediate falls. They are measuring and checking for the joists and moving equipment to the roof. They will bolt in the flashing, connect the rails, etc. Not being up there, I don’t know. I am at their mercy.
 |
| Electrical all setup and ready to next steps |
Unfortunately, I had to go to work and will be missing the Electrical
Safety Authority (ESA) inspection that comes after all the equipment is hooked
up. The ESA fellow lets Powerstream know
that the house can be connected to power
on restoring power. Hopefully it
will be at a reasonable time as we have freezers and refrigerators full of
food.
 |
| Modules being readied for installation |
……Still waiting for Powerstream to show up and power our
house……it’s now mid to late afternoon and things are progressing well. The modules are being carried very carefully
to the roof. There is a way of holding
the modules without stressing the glass and silicon components within and
creating micro fractures. This is an
important point as this will affect the efficiency and life of your module. They should be held at the sides rather than
lifted from the top of the frame.
Grounding wires, optimizers and modules are all connected. Because of the nature of the Optimizer
showing 1 volt when connected to a module, Steve was very careful to confirm (by
testing the wires with a volt meter that the connections were good-showing 1
volt. This also confirmed that the
Optimizer was working as well.
Late Afternoon
 |
| Powerstream has arrived! |
It is now after 6 pm and we still have some modules to
attach and the inverter to setup, connect to the internet, test etc. Steve calls it for the day and the crew will
be back tomorrow early
August 3
 |
| Installation on the west face, optimizers are attached to rails |
 |
| Modules installed! |
A great job done well and efficiently. Finished at around 3 pm on the 2nd day. I was very pleased
with the crew who were very professional, very careful about onsite
safety. I could tell they really loved
what they do.
 |
| Compete! |
August 8
I just received an email saying that my system has passed
ESA inspection and Powerstream has been notified. Next step- have the 2nd meter installed and
I’m good to go!
August 9
I received my certificate from the ESA from Steve. Still waiting for the connection by
Powerstream.
August 10
went to work for the day…glanced at the side of my house but
only saw one meter, had dinner…took another look after dinner and lo and behold
the second meter was in! Actually, it
was put in earlier that day an I was never told by my family or the LDC.
So what to do?
Turn the system on!
After a brief speech (to myself ) about the start of a new
era etc. I turn on the inverter and then placed the disconnect in the “on”
position and we started generating solar electricity. The only problem was that it was now approx..
7:30 pm and we hit the minimum voltage pretty quick and the system turned
itself off for the night.
Since August 10 the system has worked flawlessly during
heavy overcast to bright cloudless sunshine.
I can’t say anything about the production itself since I have no history
and my layout is not the most efficient, but I am pleased. Over the course of the week the LDC has been
sending me forms to fill out as noted in an earlier post. I have just a few more forms to sign and then
I will have an official contract and payment can start.
August 27
Checking on my status at the OPA, while visiting my
microsite, I noticed that there is a page that asks you to upload your ESA
certificate. I had never noticed any
notation about this on the OPA site, only that the site must pass ESA
inspection. So I upload the pdf to the
site. I probably missed this. I am still
waiting for the OPA contract for signing.
August 30
Received an email from Powerstream saying that they have
sent the document to their lawyer for review.
I find this strange as I didn’t make any changes to their document and
digitally signed it where applicable. In
other words, why spend $300-$500 per hour to review a document that is their
own. What they should do is get
direction from counsel that if there are no changes and the appropriate areas
have been signed and dated, it should automatically go to the next stage….still
waiting for the final contract!
Sept 4
I guess you can’t
digitally sign (using your own signing authority) the contract. Powerstream has asked for a hand
signed/scanned/emailed contract. Executed and sent to Powerstream. Next step should be the OPA contract.
My suggestion here since we are using email more and more is
to confirm with the LDC, if a self signed digital certificate, or signing
authority like thawte or verisign digital certificate would be ok before
sending in any documents this way.
Sept 5
Checked my OPA microFIT account and an email was in my inbox
saying that my LDC had notified them and that they were preparing the contract.
Sept 10
Checked my OPA microFIT account and my contract is there and
ready for acceptance.
It looks like you have to check the website daily as they
don’t send a notification email and the contract had actually been sitting at
the microsite for a day or so.
I’ve accepted the contract and now I am an official
generator.
Some additional thoughts
In reading the contract (1.6) there in
Section 5 on “Environmental Attributes” , it seems the OPA wants to have
ownership of any environmental benefits that might be derived from your green
power generation such as future carbon credits.
My interpretation of this clause is that you must sign over any and all
rights to the OPA. Interesting! What am I supposed to do at this point, say
no and cross it out?
