Growing up, I was taught in school that solar power was possible. Still, back then, it seemed that this kind of technology was reserved for millionaires, mad scientists, James Bond Villains, or.... all three combined.

Decades later, these life choices are no longer the prerequisite for residential solar power generation. I only aspire to be one of those three demographics. I'll let you guess which one…

This week, our family completed a goal of installing a solar panel array on our small home. Here is some basic information about our system.

What?

We now have a 5.135 kWDC Solar Photovoltaic System, which is more than enough to run everything in our house that uses electricity simultaneously. Based on how much power we use, our system should produce more than 77% of the electricity our house will use in a year. The remaining 23% will come from the grid. When we're not using the power from the panels during the day, the electricity is exported to our city’s energy grid, and we receive credit back at the retail rate. Our family is now in the energy business on a very small scale. Our interconnection agreement with Epcor allows us to "sell" power to the city.

How?

We did take advantage of the Edmonton Change Homes for Climate Solar Program and the Canada Greener Homes grant. These grants made this project accessible for us as a family and sponsored nearly 40% of the costs for the array and installation. That helped a lot! There's never been an easier time to jump on a project like this. When all is said and done with the credits and grants, we will break even on our costs for the installation. We’re ok with this and have never believed this was something we could do to make us rich.

Why?

Why would we, or you, want to install solar panels? I think it's going to vary from person to person. For most people, I think it would be to reduce their need for fossil fuels and mitigate the negative impact of climate change. Others may do it because they love the idea of efficiency and can't stand waste. People might want to power their homes with this kind of technology for many valid reasons. Still, we can only speak for ourselves as to why we would go solar.

As a family, we're very grateful for what we have, and this gratitude requires a response. We're blessed with good jobs, and a supportive family, and we have a sense of responsibility when it comes to what we do with our money. We're doing our best to enjoy the world and make it better at the same time. With our panels installed, our home literally provides energy to the city. This project improves the efficiency of our home and helps our city's power grid.

It’s also one practical step we can take to avoid being paralyzed by fear regarding climate change. Fear doesn't dominate my daily living, but when I step outside my home in early May and smell smoke, I'm bothered by the obvious. Our climate is different than the one I remembered as a kid. I'm sad about my kids not going outdoors for recess because of the smoke from Alberta and BC forest fires every spring and summer. We're not helpless, and we're not going to be victims. We have agency, and this is something we can do.

I'm not a counselor or a therapist, so please don't take this as expert mental health advice, but taking action is a great antidote for anxiety. We're doing something tangible to reduce our family's carbon footprint. We don't have any illusions about saving the planet; that needs to be a worldwide team effort. But at the end of the day, we need to do something.

Climate change is one of those huge David vs. Goliath existential threats. A titanic problem that seems impossible to overcome. People love to argue about how to kill giants. Some will put stock in the idea that the giant isn't there and the threat doesn't exist. Others will spend copious amounts of time pontificating that the giant should have never been allowed to be a giant in the first place! Then, there are others who try to do something about the giant. To continue with the David vs. Goliath imagery, our panels feel like the small stones in a river that David collected before going into battle with the infamous Philistine. This is something we can do that will require our time and effort. This is one rock we know we can sling as a family. This is what individual responsibility looks like for us. It's meaningful for us, and our prayer is that there are greater forces in our world that will do what we can't do and bring about the change we need.

Who?

We selected a great Western Canada-based Solar company, Skyfire Energy Inc., for our project. We contacted them a couple of years ago when we were initially interested. They patiently answered our questions and guided us through the process. They did all the heavy lifting for us and made it easy for us. Skyfire reviewed our home and helped us design a system to give us the best return on investment. I never felt I was being sold something that wouldn't work for our family. They sourced materials, completed permit applications, and helped us apply for all of the relevant grants. I don't like spending time on the phone with the city or with utilities trying to resolve technical issues for a project like this. Skyfire did all of that for us, and we're grateful! I love the Alberta spirit in the Skyfire team. It's a team of hard-working people that get stuff done! It's not surprising that solar energy continues to grow in our province. In 2022, 98% of Canada's total renewal energy growth came from western Canada, with Alberta leading the way. Our region has always had a passion for power generation, and it's evident in companies like Skyfire. If you're even curious about upgrading your home, let me know, and I'd be happy to connect you with them. 

We're still very new at all of this. We don't fit the label of environmental crusaders. We still eat meat, drive a car and take vacations. We don't feel like our standard of living has been negatively impacted. A genuine environmentalist would read this post and have a fit. That said, we've made gradual shifts and adopted new and some old practices to be a part of the solution. Of course, we could always do more, but for now, we have enough capacity to do what we can. At this stage, we're happy to power our home with sunshine.

Friend, thanks for reading, and If anything, I hope after reading this, you can see that if we could do something like this, so could you.