MicroFIT Walk Thru - Multiple Projects on One Property

Last week I was looking at the siting issues involved in putting up a MicroFIT project on the piece of property show below.

When looking at the layout I was curious to see weather I would be able to put half of my project on the garage in the rear of the property and the other half on the home in the front. I was aware that the FIT program had put restrictions on people having multiple microFIT projects on the same piece of property but I wasn't sure how they had addressed the issue of having one microFIT project spread between different roofs on one piece of property. In looking for an answer I came across this document that was posted on the OPA's MicroFIT website (microfit.powerauthority.on.ca). The document states that:

"...a single rooftop facility may have generating equipment located on multiple buildings on a single property so long as the total capacity of the generating equipment located on the property is reflected in a single application and shares a common connection point"

 So it looks like I'm in business. I should be able to have the projects share a common connection point. Lets see how much room I have in order to determine what the approximate size of the project is going to be.

Using the local mapping software provided by the local municipality I was able to determine that the roof on the home in the front of the property is roughly 693 sqft. The roof of the garage in the back is able to provide another 567 sqft. This will give me a total rooftop area of 1,260 Square Feet. At this point I do not have any particular panel in mind for use in my projects but I will use the popular Sharp 230 in order to estimate how much energy I may be able to generate. This panel is compliant with the Ontario Domestic Content rules and will roughly take up 17.54 square feet (39.1" x 64.6").

Using these measurements I was able to determine that I should be able to fit 39 panels on the front home and 32 panels on the rear garage. Of course this assumes that I will be able to cover every square inch of space on the two roofs with solar panels. What's important to take away from this calculation though is the fact that I will most likely have to split the two projects up in order to reach 10kw.

Using a conservative estimate of 30% wasted space on the roofs I was able to calculate the size of my system as follows:

Using the 30% estimate of wasted space the areas now shrink to:

• Front = 693 x 0.7 = 485 Square Feet
• Rear = 567 x 0.7 = 397 Square Feet

Using the Sharp 230 on this project would allow for 

• Front = 485 / 17.54 = 27 panels = 6,210 Watts
• Rear = 397 / 17.54 = 22 panels = 5,060 Watts

Therefore I should be able to fit 11,217 Watts between the two roofs or 11.216 kw. With the MicroFIT program it is important to note that the Ontario Power Authority will rate your system based on the output of your inverter and not the actually size of the array.

The Lord's MicroFIT

My Lord! Check out this microFIT project! Amen.

MicroFIT Walk-Thru - Siting

I am currently in the process of applying for a home microFIT application and thought that some of you who might be thinking about doing the same would like to see exactly what is involved in the process. So keep an eye on my blog for updates on what I'm doing!

I guess the first thing I had to do in order to put together a MicroFIT application was to look at the physical orientation of the property and building. Google maps is a good resource for this but I usually find the resolution to be lacking once you zoom into the home or property in question. I find that most municipalities generally have a mapping feature on their website with air photos of the area. I like using the air photos as they usually provide a better picture of the property or roof in question. On top of that most of the local mapping software also has measurement tools that will allow you to get an idea of how much square footage you have to work with on your roof. I've included both the google maps and air photo pictures of the property I am applying for.

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Timing is everything, especially in politics. Saw this interesting article this morning.

Tim Hudak Wants Moratorium to Spread Onshore

Here are some more headlines from the last week:

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