7-9pm
The world of solar energy is changing quickly. The price of solar photovoltaic (PV) electricity continues its march downwards along with staggering world-wide growth. Solar electricity is now becoming affordable for us in our everyday lives. At the same time, we see that the price of electricity is poised to soar to pay for new transmission lines and cleaning up our dirty-coal electricity.
The speaker will argue that the solar tipping point is within sight. Solar PV is rapidly heading towards being cheaper than fossil-fuelled grid electricity for homeowners in Alberta. The time has arrived for sunny southern Alberta to harness another of its abundant renewable energy resources.
What can solar PV do for you, how does it reduce your electricity bill and what would a solar PV system cost for your house. How does it provide you with energy cost security, what would it look like and how would it change your electricity emissions footprint? These are the important questions the speaker will attempt to answer.
Speaker: Gordon Howell
Gordon Howell is an electrical engineer with Howell-Mayhew Engineering, specializing in developing grid-connected solar PV systems. In 1995 the solar PV system on his own house, sponsored by Edmonton Power and Natural Resources Canada, was the first one connected to the grid west of Toronto and the 12th one in Canada.
Since 1995 he has been uncovering the barriers in connecting PV systems to the grid, and working with Alberta’s government, regulators and electric utilities to remove them and be ready for the solar tipping point. His work on national and international solar PV standards has helped show him what we can do.