My Roof
This page describes my pre-microFIT roof in downtown Toronto, Annex neighborhood.
House positioning: 43.664462 latitude, -79.417218 longitude, fronting on West
Azimuth: 345 degrees azimuth (15 degrees counter-clockwise)
Lot size: 17.8 feet by 131.7 feet
Elevation: 374 feet above sea level
House structure: 46 feet long (West-to-East), 15.6 feet wide (North-to-South) at base
Google satellite imagery
Google view of the roof, before microFIT
Bing satellite imagery
Bing view of the roof, before microFIT
3D view without property lines
3D view on Bing without property lines
Shading
- roof – unobstructed view of Southern skies throughout entire day (no shading)
- third floor patio – unobstructed view of Southern skies throughout entire day without shading at roof level
- parking at rear – tree shade in early morning (summer), building shade in early morning (winter), building shade after 3-4 PM
Google Earth imagery showing shading hazards
In the following set of images, my property is marked with the red spot. Unfortunately, Google has not mapped my house in 3D, yet. But regardless, thanks very much to Google for putting together this free version of Google Earth.
Google Earth - view from SE
Google Earth - view from S
Google Earth - view from NW
Google Earth - view of the Southern cityscape
13
Mark Van Sickle says:
April 9, 2010 at 5:57 pm
I came across your add doing a google search and am currently considering doing my own property and was interested to know how this approach worked for you, (very innovative) also curious as to your panel selection.
Appreciate your thoughts,
Regards,
Mark
Superuser says:
April 13, 2010 at 8:51 am
Hi Mark,
I have not decided on specific panels but I am looking at Solyndra as a potentially most optimal dollars per Watt solution (once you factor in rack-mounting and installation costs). If it is not Solyndra, I would be leaning towards DMsolar.com, they have grid kits but you may not qualify content-wise to get the full kit from them. Bringing panels and/or inverters might work, then get Ontario mounting and labor. Or bring panels and mounting, get Ontario inverters and labor. DMsolar looks to be manufacturing their own panels and they sell them direct. There are 2-3 high-volume low-price resellers in the States that provide brand name solutions for $2.50 – $3.50 per Watt (panels only). I have not seen any Ontario quotes yet that made me want to buy 100% in Ontario. Some quotes I got are trying to make 100%+ margins on panel resale. This stuff is tons cheaper in USA, if you can figure out transportation and local installation service that will be willing to deal with you without selling their panels.
I’ll keep posting here as I go along, so feel free to check back – and let us all know what system you end up with.
Maury Markowitz says:
July 22, 2010 at 8:17 am
There’s two flat-roof installs within a 10 minute walk of your place if you want to check them out. One you can see from the south end of Bickford Park, just look west and you’ll see it (might have to move about a bit to see around the trees, maybe try from the Linux Cafe). The other is at the corner of Pendrith Street and Pendrith Lane, just look north and you’ll see it. The system on Montrose looks _very_ similar to your roof.
BTW, I have yet to see Solyndra get anywhere near the costs of normal systems. The wholesale prices I get for just the panels and mounts is very close to the price I pay for complete systems (including inverters) for normal panels. Uni-Solar is handled by the same company in Canada, and they are pushing Uni’s solution over Solyndra. The problem with both is power density, but you covered that in you excellent blog post on the topic.
Dan Beresford says:
September 6, 2010 at 8:50 am
Hi, I’ve read the microFIT guidelines and a big change occurred in August. To qualify for for the program it looks if you can get your system in commercial production before Dec 31st, 2010 you need 40% domestic content. If you go into commercial production January 1st 2011 you need 60% domestic content. What that looks like can be seen on pages 13 and 14 of the microFIt Program Overview. The example they use is:
1) 9% content for a made in Ontario mounting system
2) 10% for made in Ontario hardware
3) 27% for Ontario labour
Total 46%
Maury Markowitz says:
October 18, 2010 at 3:26 pm
Hey Dan, the good news is that enphase has moved some of their production to Newmarket. So you can get your system up to 55% without too much trouble. January 1 does look “interesting” though, as there are two companies making panels and neither of them is terribly interested in the small end of the market.
Dan Beresford says:
November 2, 2010 at 12:15 pm
Thanks Maury, talk about a strange turn of events. I’ve actually ended up working for a solar company. We use the enphase inverters because they’re made in Ontario. We are continually looking at panel manufacturers. It looks like there are some changes coming to the Ontario panel industry.
My compliments to you for a well rounded and thoughtful blog. Keep up the great work.
RocMon says:
December 2, 2010 at 11:48 am
This is an awesome blog idea – you mind if I hijack?
I’m interested in WIND – anyone have practical experience they can share?
Superuser says:
December 2, 2010 at 12:00 pm
Hi,
No practical experience here with wind, and from what I heard, these things are not allowed in the city. Too many people complained due to the noise coming from these big windmill things. That said, if you were thinking of something on a much smaller scale, maybe this noise thing does not apply.
Maury Markowitz says:
December 2, 2010 at 3:29 pm
If you mean “WIND” as in “wind power”, then the basic problem is that the FIT tariff is so small that it only pays off for big machines. Works great for a 100 m turbine like the ones on Wolfe Island, not so much in the city. To add to the problems, the city itself _dramatically_ reduces wind speeds because of all the buildings. Where are you located?
RocMon says:
December 2, 2010 at 3:36 pm
I’m not interested in the tariff – I’m interested in ‘off grid’ potential for my cottage on the Georgian Bay which gets a lot of WIND…
Maury Markowitz says:
December 3, 2010 at 10:14 am
Ahhh, in that case I highly recommend getting in touch with The Solar Power Store outside of Barrie. Forget the name, these guys are end-to-end off-grid with solar, wind and (I think) microhydro.