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: 319

▶ 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

Kelle Neufeld Appointed New General Manager of Ontario Fruit & Vegetable Convention

The Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Convention has named Kelle Neufeld as its new General Manager, effective May 1, 2026.

310-FARM – Alberta’s one-stop shop for agricultural answers

Producers have enough to manage already – markets, weather, regulations, input costs and the day-to-day realities of running a farm or ranch. When questions come up, tracking down the right government contact or program information should not add to their workload. That is why the Government of Alberta operates 310-FARM, an information and referral service designed to provide farmers, ranchers, ag businesses and rural residents a dependable first point of contact. 310-FARM is staffed by resource agents who understand the agricultural landscape and can help callers navigate provincial programs, regulatory requirements and available supports. While the team does not have every answer, they specialize in connecting callers with the right people – whether that means transferring you to a subject-matter expert, providing you with the details and a link to a specific program, or directing you to the right department or industry contact. The 310-FARM team will work to guide them toward the m

Stacking Good Decisions to Keep Calves Healthy

Last month’s column laid out some of the recommended practices that 11 large-scale research studies said were the most effective for reducing preweaning death loss in beef calves worldwide. Over half of those research studies had been done in Canada, but only three of those Canadian studies had been done in the past 20 years. Canada’s a huge place, and herd sizes and calving dates have shifted over the past two decades. So, which calving practices work best for Canadian cow-calf producers in 2026? Claire Windeyer of ACER Consulting and coworkers from the University of Calgary and Western College of Veterinary Medicine surveyed producers participating in the Canadian Cow-Calf Surveillance Network (C3SN) to identify on-farm practices that reduced the risk of scours, pneumonia and mortality outbreaks in Canadian beef calves (Benchmarking management practices that impact calf morbidity and mortality in Canadian beef cow-calf herds; (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2025.106725). What

AWC Helps Women Navigate Hard Moments in Agriculture

AWC creates a supportive space where women in agriculture learn to navigate difficult conversations with clarity, courage, and connection.

Essential Pre-Season Seeder Prep Every Farmer Should Do

A well prepared seeder can make or break your planting season—here’s how to get yours running at peak performance before you hit the field.

© 2026   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service