Pool Heating
Picture of a toonie.
Net Metering
Net metering concept diagram.
Off-grid solar
An off grid house with solar panels on the roof
Solar DHW
Closeup of a vacuum tube solar hot water collector
Service Area
  • Installation Kits:
Shipped anywhere in Canada
  • Off-grid installations:
  • Site Analysis:
  • Solar Hot Water:
Eastern Ontario
  • Consulting Services:
Anywhere in Canada
Services to assist you harness Solar Energy for Electricity Generation or Hot Water Heating
A picture of small roof mounted system using Unirac mounting rails and a bulk inverter

 

Net Metering Projects

  • We no longer offer complete turnkey installations, however we still offer these services:
  • Site analysis to determine suitability, and type of equipment required
  • Consulting services for DIY PV systems installations. This can range from planning and answering questions to visiting your site and showing you how to do specific steps.
  • Existing PV system service
  • Economic analysis of net metering PV systems
  • Panel placement CAD drawings if roof mounted
  • System DC wiring plan CAD drawings
  • Work with an Architect to design custom mounting to integrate into a house or garden structure
  • We can supply you a complete kit of the Panels, Inverters and roof top racking systems at a very attractive cost to our DIY customers. (Our offering of DIY consulting services are independent of your choice to buy any components through us.)
  • Help with completing connection request to your local hydro
  • Single Line Drawing of your system to meet the ESA's requirement for labeling.

Solar Ready Assessment

On May 27 2021 the federal government announced the Canada Greener Homes Grant program. For people that might consider an upgrade that adds solar electric panels the grant program states:

It is recommended that the energy advisor asks the homeowner in advance of scheduling an evaluation if the homeowner is hoping to install a PV system and if so, if the home has been assessed by a professional or identified as “Solar Ready”. An assessment from a professional installer will provide the homeowner with detailed information on considerations for their home and specific installation recommendations, including the size and related energy production of the system.

We do this type of assessment suitable for inclusion in the pre-retrofit audit by an Energy Advisor. Note this grant only applies to your principle residence.

Off-Grid Projects

We can provide consulting planning and design services for a DIY off-grid project. We can meet with your architect and builder to help optimize your plans for a new building to prepare it for an off grid solar power system.

Part of our consulting service can include expert advice on different heating systems and their compatibility with off grid power, and DHW (Domestic Hot Water) heating that is compatible with off grid homes.

Please visit our off-grid page for details.

Buy One Hour Of Expert Advice

We frequently get phone calls where the caller asks to pick our brains about an off grid solar system they are considering. Since this is such a popular request, we now offer the following consulting service to meet this need. This is how this works:

You call us and tell us you wish to have a discussion about an off-grid system. We offer to provide an hour's telephone consultation, in exchange for a pre-payment of one hour of our time + HST by an e-mail transfer. When we receive your e-mail transfer, we call you back and discuss all of the topics that you are concerned about, or if you prefer we offer a one hour course on the issues that are relevant to an off grid system. Part of this service can include expert advice on different heating systems and their compatibility with off grid power, and DHW (Domestic Hot Water) heating that is compatible with off grid homes.

Please visit our off-grid page for details.

Solar Hot Water Heating

  • We service Enerworks systems for hot water heating using either vacuum tube collectors or flat plate collectors. This is for both the residential DHW or hydronic heating market and for commercial applications. We can provide some limited service for other brands of thermal DHW.
  • We sell top quality Ontario made Enersol solar pool heaters as a DIY kit.

Shade Analysis Measurements

  • Measurements using Solar Pathfinder to determine impact of shading on solar projects, both to determine amount of energy that could be captured
  • Locate the best location to position solar collectors to avoid unwanted shade
  • Shade analysis for architectural planning and landscape designing

Site Survey Details

This is the most important first step. Our results will answer the following questions:

  • It this site suitable for a solar installation? (If not, we will tell you not to proceed if your site is marginal)
  • How big an installation can I install
  • How much power will it generate each year
  • How big will it be?
  • Exactly which direction does my roof face
  • What type of panels and inverters would be appropriate
  • Will I have issues with shade?
  • Which shade sources will cause problems and which ones can I solve.
  • Where should the inverters be mounted
  • What other electrical items are required and where will they be mounted
  • Where do I mount the panels? We provide a CAD drawing of a recommended layout
  • How the panels should be attached to my existing roof
  • How and where do we hook up to the power grid.

In addition:

  • If you wish to have a turnkey installation, we produce a report that describes your site with all of the details so that multiple companies can read this and so bidding to the same requirement.
  • We measure your roof and its structure, so a Structural Engineer can review it for suitability. These measurements also allow us to design the racking and number of attachment points so that it meets the wind and snow loads and so we could provide a letter to municipal authorities that the racking confirms to the manufacturer's Canadian design rules and meets building code standards.
  • We gather enough information to build a site specific kit of parts if you wish to install it yourself. We also are then able to answer site specific questions during installation.
  • We can generate a projected pay-back period, and earnings from the system. This will help with financing.
  • When both ground mounting and roof mounting options exist, calculate and compare the revenue and rate of return for both options.
  • We charge $350 + tax for this service. Of you buy a complete DIY kit from use, and decide to have us provide the installation as well, the price of the site survey will be deducted from you cost, and so it will be free.

A key part of our visit is to use our Solar Pathfinder to measure the shade that occurs, considering the path of the sun for all hours and for each month of the year. This allows us to determine how much less than the ideal amount would be generated due to the shading. Using it we can also show you which objects are causing shading.

If you need help completing your local Hydro's applications, we can do this for you for an extra fee for our time.

Service for Existing Solar Electric Systems

We do service for existing PV grid tie systems. However we encourage you to contact the original installation company first as they may be closer to your location. If the original company is no longer in business or we are closer then you may wish to contact us. Primarily most of our service calls are for Deger dual axis trackers such as the 5000HD.

We can also repair dual axis trackers made by manufacturers that are no longer in business. See our page about repairing trackers for more details.

If you are located more than 1/2 hour away from Almonte ON, we will probably be charging a fee for our traveling time. This will be arranged at the time that we book an appointment.