Making money with alternative energy

by Kim Hutchinson

With the price of electricity rising and projected to rise further, people are looking at alternative energy as a way to offset costs, and perhaps make some money. An Alternative Energy Teach In at the Caboto Club Saturday afternoon (sponsored by the Windsor area Council of Canadians, Windsor on Watch and the CAW Windsor Regional Environmental Council) offered ways to do just that.

The Teach In focused on solar energy generation, because it is the most popular for individual homeowners. “For the average homeowner, the best bet is to put 10K on my roof,” said Mark Bartlett, President of the CAW Windsor Regional Environmental Council. Because of higher installation costs, “the average person can’t get into the wind game. Solar is easier to get into.”
Panelists included Sean Moore, CEO of Unconquered Sun and Klaus Dohring, President of Green Sun Rising, solar companies located in Windsor, as well as Joseph Passa, an architect with several environmentally-friendly public buildings in his portfolio, and Bartlett.
How do homeowners participate? Ontario’s microFIT program pays homeowners 80.2 cents per kilowatt-hour for the electricity they generate. Southwestern Ontario – a.k.a Canada’s Sun Parlour – has the advantage of being the top sunshine region of the country, putting us at a distinct advantage for solar power generation. According to event organizers, the average homeowner can earn up to $1,000.00 per month, and net around $400.00 to $500.00 per month. Provincially guaranteed loans that make the program accessible are available from TD Bank.
Don’t own a house? Condominium owners and others are still able to participate through solar power co-ops. Projects larger than 10 kilowatts come under the FIT program.
Individual projects like solar panels on the roof may be an important part of our energy future, but community projects may also be an important part of the mix. Wind generates a lot of power, but is intermittent; solar is less intermittent, but only available during the day. One solution to help fill the gap may be biomass, a process that we see in landfills every day. As garbage decomposes, it produces methane, which is easy to compress and use. There are also other ways to create methane easily. “We can make methane from CO2 and put it into the existing natural gas stream,” said Klaus Dohring.
More community-based projects may be part of the solution, too. According to organizers, when communities build a power project and community members own a small piece of it, they are more likely to support it. One community that has reached renewable energy self-sufficiency is Guessing, Austria, one of the poorest districts in the country. It has now turned alternative energy into an industry.
Can alternative energy projects save you money? Doug Hayes, Chairman of the Windsor Essex Chapter of the Council of Canadians uses a combination of hot water solar, a ground furnace, and wind power in his 1,800 square foot home. “My highest heating bill ever was last summer,” said Hayes. “It was $200.”