So it has been brought to my attention that during my previous post I have neglected to mention all the fun and amazing things that have been happening at C4P these past few weeks. I will attempt to rectify this horrendous mistake that I am sure has traumatized all of you. I am quite new to this so you will have to bear with me. Now, where should I begin. Well it is the start of May so I am sure a recap of April is in order. Yes, that is where I’ll begin.
You’ll have noticed here in Southern Ontario, most Aprils are rainy, rainy seasons. All sorts of depression really, I mean no one wants to go from dry to dripping wet in the five seconds it takes you to cross the street. In addition to that, it blocks the sun! Bad for business really. But, terrible weather aside, there were definitely bright spots. I mean, trade shows are fun! Sure, they hurt your feet and my shoes were not particularly feet friendly but we met lots of interesting people at these shows and there was a lot of interest in our products as well! Yes, that was a run-on sentence, I may have gotten a bit excited there and no matter what anyone else says, it was justified.
We attended the absolutely fantastic Ottawa Cottage & Backyard Show and it was great. The food was great, the venue was great, the people were great. Our fellow exhibitors were from all different walks of life. We got to hear a lot of interesting stories and meet a lot of intriguing individuals. It wasn’t just solar either! In fact it was less solar than we would have liked but that is neither here nor there. The point is, it is a fantastic show and anyone interested in both solar or just cottages in general should put that show on their itinerary.
There were a few interesting tid-bits that I learned at the show too, just from talking to people that owned cottage far up north. Did you know that it takes tens of thousands of bucks just to erect a hydro pole up north? You generally need to erect more than just one pole too. It boggles my mind that to wire a line up to your cottage, it could actually cost you a hundred thousand to make happen. Compare that to solar, it takes you a fraction of that to be completely self sufficient and you don’t have to pay the fees later!
But, as they saying goes – if it’s too good to be true, it usually is. So when I come back for my next blog I’ll be sure to come equipped with the proper numbers to test this. Be sure to tune-in and watch me skillfully manipulate my numbers and facts to make solar look good. Until then!
Chris
All power sources have drawbacks. The two you mention, like nuclear, are relatively clean, which is a plus. Hydro is very cheap for the amount of energy we get, but our rivers are basically all dammed up already there isn’t a lot more hydropower we can get. Solar is one of the most expensive ways to generate electricity on a utility scale, but could be the cheapest way to generate electricity on a homeowner scale, at least for many urban homes. Unless one has a stream running through their property to run a water wheel, or strong steady wind, the other choices for getting power are using a gas- or oil-powered generator, or buying retail electricity from the grid. The generator will cost more per kWh over the life of the system, and the grid electricity could be more or less expensive, depending on where one lives. At the moment, the grid is usually cheaper, but not in all parts of the country.