Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

solar panels

Is anyone concerned with this solar excitement.

 

Current prices are about 5.6 to 8 cent per KWH. The government is paying people with solar panels ect 80 cents per KWH. This seems really excessive.

 

Does this make sense? Can we expect hydro to jump that much. Why is our government taking taxes from the masses and giving it to the few? I understand the whole global warming talk and utilizing green power. Does it come down to deregulation of generators now everyone can do it instead of the people owing the generation. I am not sure this is sustainable.

 

What does everyone think of solar?

Views: 383

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Go Solar Canada on July 7, 2010 at 10:30am
If Pythagoras (cira 600BC) developed nuclear energy, we would still be watching over his waste today. Is that the legacy you want to leave.

For those that think $5 a year per family in Ontario is a lot of money maybe they should look at the debt retirement charge on your Hydro bill. This is the cost of going nuclear, How about 5 bucks a month. 60% of my bill was distribution charges, this is so high because of the great losses in bringing the energy from the power plant to your home. It costs the hydro company nothing to bring the power off of my roof or out of my back yard and into my house. The power you use is already subsidized. These subsidies go towards fat paychecks for the people who run the industry and are used to wine and dine the people who are behind the decisions to make sure great programs like the microFIT do not work, it keeps their checks fat. Why pay 10 microFITs a million dollars over 20 years when you can use that money for part of one persons bonuses for a year. Why use clean energy when we can spend billions on storing our nuclear waste. There is nothing wrong with our current technologies as long as we leave the cost of cleaning up after their use to our children. (Smog, tar sands, nuclear waste, They say if a natural gas plant blows up it will take a few blocks with it. Remember they said three mile island couldn't happen. Maybe to save money we can design a couple more reactors just like the Maple reactors that cost us millions and have been shelved by the Harper government.
Just in the almost four months my small 8 module microFIT has been running, My generation has saved 1142 lbs of carbon going into the air. How much would it cost you to remove that carbon out of the air once it has been put there by a coal plant or oil field.

Dan
Permalink Reply by Dale Ketcheson on July 7, 2010 at 3:16pm
I think anybody who thinks this current or some future Ontario government won't find a way to break these "contracts" and dramatically reduce the prices they're paying hasn't been paying attention to the way governments have been operating for the past... um... decades?

I wish people luck but my bet is that within the first 6 or 7 years of the plan, a whole lot of people will be bankrupted or severely hurt financially and a lot of panels will be on the market at firesale prices.
Permalink Reply by Wayne Black on July 8, 2010 at 2:18am
I guess the way I look at it, when on July 7, 2010 at about 11 AM Ontario Energy costs were 28 cents/kWh, I would rather the 58 or 80 cents go to Ontario residents rather than MB, QB, or US businesses. Current prices that the consumer pays is only 5 to 8 cents but demand pricing pushes that over $1/kWh at times (summer of 2008). On average the price is only 2 to 5 cents to buy but the peaks are what costs big money. For more info on demand pricing visit: http://ieso.ca
Permalink Reply by Peter Gredig on July 8, 2010 at 7:15am
Can anyone show me some solar installations that have been productive and running for 20 years? I don't have a problem with whatever the gov't wants to spend to encourage alt energy. I do have a problem investing $100,000 in solar technology that will be out of date in less than two years.
Permalink Reply by Go Solar Canada on July 8, 2010 at 10:57am
Solar is actually a fairly old technology, Einstein won a Nobel in the 1920's for his paper he wrote in the early 1900's, Bell laboratories first sold them in the 50's. There is a system that was installed in 1986 and still running. You can see it and learn more about it if you visit the Kortright Center west of the 400 just off Rutherford.
Permalink Reply by Roadrunner on July 9, 2010 at 3:33pm
Looks like the price drop is slowing down everyone who was looking at putting a solar system on their farm....I think solar could have a place but I want to business to be sound and not too expensive for consumers...

▶ Reply to Discussion

RSS

Agriculture Headlines from Farms.com Canada East News - click on title for full story

FAA Seeks $289,215 Penalty Against Washington Drone Operator Over Fertilizer Flights

A Washington drone company faces a proposed $289,215 FAA penalty after regulators alleged it conducted unauthorized fertilizer application flights without the required agricultural aircraft certification.

This is Agriculture: CEO and Co-Founder

Dr. Kinneret Shefer is the CEO and co-founder of GeneNeer, a Canadian-Israeli agtech company developing next-generation gene editing technologies for crop improvement. The headquarters launched in Manitoba in early 2026. Shefer has a background in molecular biotechnology and non-coding RNA biology, and earned a Ph.D. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem before being awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to conduct postdoctoral research at the RNA Center at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Motivated by the opportunity to transform scientific discoveries into solutions that create real-world impact, Shefer has led the development of several patented technologies, and has secured millions of dollars through investments, grants and strategic partnerships. In this month’s This is Agriculture feature, Shefer shares how she came to agriculture through her background in science, why GeneNeer decided to headquarter its company in Manitoba, and where she believes the future of agriculture i

AIVA Network Demo Day connects agtech innovators at EMILI’s Innovation Farms

EMILI welcomed close to 70 attendees to Innovation Farms powered by AgExpert for the first in a series of AIVA Network Demo Days that will take place across Canada in 2026. The event provided farmers, investors, and others in the ecosystem an opportunity to connect with agtech innovators while learning how the Agriculture, Innovation, Validation, and Adoption (AIVA) Network tests and validates new agtech at validation hubs such as EMILI’s Innovation Farms. EMILI is proud to be a founder of AIVA, alongside Farm Credit Canada (FCC) and the Wabash Heartland Innovation Network (WHIN). The event was hosted by the AIVA Network, which connects farmers, innovators, and validation hubs to bring proven agtech solutions to market and derisk technology adoption. EMILI was thrilled to welcome Manitoba’s Minister of Innovation and New Technology, Mike Moroz, to share remarks on the impact of work taking place to drive agriculture innovation in Manitoba. Attendees also heard from John Cassidy, Mana

Keep an eye out for ticks this grazing season

External parasites, also known as ectoparasites, live on and feed off their host animal and can cause an animal stress, production losses, irritation and injury. Common external parasites that affect beef cattle in Canada include lice, ticks and flies. Different species of parasites can cause livestock problems during different seasons. Understanding external parasites and monitoring their activity will help producers implement effective management and control strategies that mitigate the impact of external parasites on animal health, welfare, productivity and profitability. Parasites, both internal and external, can cause production losses and discomfort to livestock, and are an economic and welfare concern. External parasites can lead to stress, reduced weight gain, decreased milk production and other production losses, irritation and injury in their host animal. Parasites can also alter grazing and feeding behaviour in beef cattle. Some parasites transmit cattle diseases, such as

Lygus bugs management in canola

Lygus bugs management in canola begins with sweep netting at late flowering and pod stages. Count adults and late instars. The standard threshold is 20-30 per 10 sweeps. The most vulnerable crop stage for lygus feeding is after flowering and when seeds are enlarging on lower pods. Scouting Scout lygus at late flowering and podding stages using a standard insect sweep net of 38 cm (15?) diameter. Take ten 180° sweeps, and aim to sweep the flowers and pods while moving forward. In thick crops, take a couple of steps and stand while sweeping vigorously. If you are not seeing a few pods in the net, sweep harder. Count the number of big lygus in the net. Sweep net technique. Count adults and late-instar nymphs Nymphs are young lygus, and only the larger nymphs do enough damage to be included in sweep net counts. (See the images below.) A key feature is the black dots on the back. Count nymphs with developing wingpads or dark shoulder blades. Don’t count those nymphs without developing

© 2026   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service