Solar power is good for the environment but is it good for your wallet? We revisit a Burnaby couple who installed solar power last year to see how they rate their plans to go green.
The solar panels on the top of this Burnaby home generate a lot of power.
"In our first year we generated about 40 per cent of our own electricity and this year it's coming in about the same or a little higher about 45 per cent," homeowner Laura Iwan said.
But it's not a money making proposition. Laura's latest bill shows she only used 14 kilowatts of power in two months but she still had to pay the same fixed charges as her neighbours.
"We feel in a way we are getting kind of penalized sometimes for producing our own electricity," Iwan said.
And they didn't get much support when installing the panels. While the B.C. government exempted them from provincial sales tax for the actual equipment, it still cost $30,000. The maximum current rebate is $1300 and there is no federal government support.
In California, state rebates pay up to one-third of the $30,000 cost and there is a federal grant too.
And in most American states improvements like solar panels are also exempt from annual property taxes.
Still, Iwan's family believes in green energy -- they're now planning to install solar hot water.
"We've reserved a spot on our roof for solar hot water and I think that will work really well. And solar hot water is something that pays back in about five years," Iwan said.
Here's why: a solar hot water system costs about $6700 but there are discounts, government rebates, and tax credits totaling more than $3,000 about half the cost.
Iwan thinks more government support for solar electricity would make more of us consider it,
"For sure, if the government isn't helping them they're not going to do it," she said.
Without major subsidies solar power won't pay for itself in B.C. It'll take a change of thinking by government to put a value on the environmental benefits of solar electricity.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Chris Olsen
