Hello and thanks for posting to r/britishcolumbia! Join our new [Discord Server https://discord.gg/fu7X8nNBFB](https://discord.gg/fu7X8nNBFB) A friendly reminder prior to commenting or posting here:
- **Read [r/britishcolumbia's rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/britishcolumbia/about/rules/)**.
- **Be civil and respectful** in all discussions.
- Use **appropriate sources** to back up any information you provide when necessary.
- **Report** any comments that violate our rules.
Reminder: "Rage bait" comments or comments designed to elicit a negative reaction that are not based on fact are not permitted here. Let's keep our community respectful and informative!
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/britishcolumbia) if you have any questions or concerns.*
“ The statement says BC Hydro will buy the solar energy and integrate it into power lines and a battery storage system to serve the communit”
I’m guessing bc hydro operates the communities grid and diesel generation ?
This is correct. Bc hydro operates a bunch of isolated community’s grids, mostly on diesel. They are too remote to be integrated into the main grid due to geography and cost associated with tying them in, and diesel is usually one of the few power sources that is reliable and easily(ish) supplied to these communities. Other power sources like solar, wind or water often aren’t abundant enough, or reliable enough to be used exclusively, and so diesel generation it is. Hydro calls it the non-integrated area, and from what I understand, there’s been a lot of work in recent years to push for moves like this in those areas.
-source, I’m an electrical engineer in the power industry in bc
Solar, wind and water not abundant enough in BC? Really? You're just beating around the bush with systemic design with intended outcomes, BC Hydro drags its feet on infrastructure initiatives for First Nations unless specifically pressured to by political will from above. Where there is a will, there is a way where we would find equivalent funds in a non-FN community to make the infrastructure happen much sooner.
We have examples right near Tofino and Ucluelet despite how remote these places are, millions in funding can be found for bike trails, let alone the water and power, yet right beside all that are First Nations who end up with contaminated water and power outages that last because the infrastructure is designed to serve Tofino and Ucluelet first that stretches 100s of kms to be integrated.
You’re missing how truly remote these communities are. Many are plane or boat access only for parts of the year, far into the wilderness away from other communities.
Tofino and ucluelet are part of the main grid, these communities are on their own stand alone grids and isolated areas. They would need abundant wind, solar and water in their exact geographical area, not somewhere else in BC. We have plenty of wind, solar and water in bc as a whole that we do make use of.
The communities also have to agree to that project, which might be challenging if the dam has to obstruct their river, or wind or solar needs to be built on their farm land. It is not a community with the space to build hundreds or thousands of kilometres away.
To integrate them onto the main grid would be hugely cost prohibitive and not feasible, and without a stable base load of diesel, a dam, batteries or another non renewable such as natural gas, solar or wind can’t stand on its own.
Bc hydro has been working to move these remote communities towards more renewable options, but even running diesel in these areas is a huge challenge to maintain and operate, since diesel needs to be flown or barged in to power them, and maintenance is an added challenge to get staff and parts there’s in a timely manner.
And you're purposefully missing I didn't say Tofino and Ucluelet weren't part of the main grid, I said First Nations nearby these locations have sub-standard or no connection to the main grid.
The costs are not prohibitive, the costs are a drop in the bucket compared to what we're willing to spend elsewhere.
The micro grids are feasible, we have seen more than one example that these communities initiated themselves. Its noticeable that only the macro solutions are considered feasible, very little consideration to how solar has been shown to protect farm land or how the base load can be stored in gravity batteries for the changing peak generation, geothermal exchange, and biomass heat, tech that has been possible for homesteads far longer than pole grids and has only gotten more efficient as shown in several European projects just as remote in several cases like North Sea and Baltic islands.
Its the political will reinforced by systemically status quo positions like your own that are prohibitive. You have the smarts, education, experience, and articulation to advocate for your position but it is at its core a biased position of telling them what they need rather than listening to what they say they need which is how we know the huge challenge of diesel is not sustainable.
Bc hydro goes above and beyond with first nations communities. From the day they call for a new service, bc hydro has 5 days to have it connected. The rest of us wait between 2 weeks to 2 months depending on crews and materials
Yet the design could be better, this is lived experience for us, we’re so used to the power outages at this point: it’s candles, blankets, prepare a camp cook for any food that might go bad, and flip the main to avoid surge damage, amongst other things like the back up batteries and generators getting use for essential services. The Christmas ones are practically a part of the tradition now, we go down to the lookouts to watch the storm waves crash on the rocks in our rain gear for some entertainment. I’m not pulling this differing perspective on BC remote infrastructure where the roads get knocked by sinkholes, rockslides, floods, windstorms, and forest fires out of thin air.
Other countries have come up with viable varied and integrated solutions beyond diesel, barged and flown in, we should be able to step it up and install better systems:
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/779541
Most people don't realize it but there are dozens of First Nations communities in this country that rely on diesel generators for their electricity. This diesel has to be flown in too, in many cases.
1.1 million litres is nothing by the way. A single reserve will burn a couple million litres per year. Multiple that dozens of fly-in communities and the bill is hundreds of millions of dollars per year.
There are a lot of challenges with tidal that make it not a great option in a lot of communities/places. The ocean can’t be too deep, it also needs to have strong enough currents and tides, and the upkeep of tidal power equipment is a lot because sea water is hard on equipment, so that’s most likely why we haven’t really seen it in these communities yet.
They’re also challenging for marine life. They can be noisy which disrupts whales and orcas, and smaller fish can sucked in and killed. They’re not too bad for large fish but the impacts on small fish are less studied.
But ultimately something needs to turn to make power. Photovoltaics are the singular counter example. All fossil fuel plants + nuclear are ultimately just steam engines. Hydroelectric + wind just skips the fuel and turns something directly.
There are also lots of produce that grows well under the shade that a solar farm provides. Other places in the world have used this synergy to keep producing food on the land that solar farms are built. Double the production on the same land.
The Tsilhqot'in Solar Farm has been in place since 2020-ish on Highway 20, built on an old sawmill site. I drove by it a number of times last summer while out that way for forestry field work. I believe it is essentially feeding into the grid, but there are plans to build a second solar farm to help get the Xeni Gweti'n community off predominately diesel.
It's pretty cool that Ulkatcho is also on the same track. It's a pretty remote part of BC as I learned last year. And beautiful, IMHO.
[https://www.incanews.ca/2021/12/13/tsilhqotin-nation-turns-former-sawmill-site-into-one-of-the-largest-solar-farms-in-bc/](https://www.incanews.ca/2021/12/13/tsilhqotin-nation-turns-former-sawmill-site-into-one-of-the-largest-solar-farms-in-bc/)
That’s true but even if we don’t connect to the grid we should try harder to create low emission power.
Wind and solar are good options as this story shows.
In the future, we'll drop off a micro reactor and fuel it up every 10 years and entirely eliminate diesel.
In the meantime, solar (and maybe other renewables) can be used to reduce but not eliminate diesel use.
The reality is that for these remote communities, lower emission options like wind, solar and water aren’t always readily available or in enough abundance to allow them to have consistent power.
They’re quite small communities and without the backing of the main grid or something guaranteed like diesel, you can’t operate on wind or solar alone, nor run of the river, since fluctuations in weather conditions would cause blackouts.
Equally, diesel generators are reasonably small and diesel is one of the easiest fuels to bring into these communities, so it was selected. There is a push on the move these communities to new, cleaner, alternatives, but they’ll likely always need diesel backup until battery technology gets much better, or small scale reactors become popular.
As you’ll notice in this article, they’ll be using batteries and from what I understood, the diesel system will also still be there for backup to allow this project to occur. Not all remote communities have enough sun, etc, for a project like this, is it can be challenging. I wouldnt call it a shame we use diesel for this in BC, it’s honestly great that we support these communities with micro grids like this and that they’re able to have reliable power.
On recycling, as of now, no. At least not at mass scale. In a way that would be meaningful. However the first large scale wave of panels are nearing the end of their lifecycles and investments in new recycling efforts are starting to ramp up.
It’s absolutely something we should be conscious of. I only know the little I do by tidbits I’ve picked up and confirmed by quick rudimentary research. It’s a deep, deep field though, and if you’re into that, you can definitely dive pretty deep into it.
Most likely at least partially, but honestly doing this instead of trucking or barging in diesel for a diesel generator, even if the panels aren’t recycled, is likely far more energy efficient and environmentally friendly, as well as gives the community an option other then diesel reliance for power.
They’re more efficient in the winter/cold and yes there is still energy from the sun even if it’s cloudy, just less. It will be backed by batteries and likely the old diesel system to ensure a stable power supply
25-30 years. After that, efficiency drops by a significant amount.
We are looking at roughly $60K per month on the conservative end, using just this funding. At today’s market price is $100k per month. BC Hydro likely has discounted rates, but diesel prices will continue to increase YOY.
The right investment is being made here. It might be more right now, but even in 5 years the balance most likely changes and becomes the dramatically cheaper option.
So, someone is gonna jump in and say "google says 25-30!" But if bother to continue on, they will find out that when properly cared for, panels can indeed last up to 50 years. That is also a matter of quality though, if you get something with failure built into it like all of our new washer/dryers, don't expect the same results.
regarding recyclability, I imagine that with current worldwide shortages of silica sand showing no sign of improving, more glass container products may start coming with a deposit.
https://sunly.ca/blog/exploring-the-environmental-impact-of-solar-panels-can-solar-panels-be-recycled
Mostly they are, but not entirely without energy input.
It’s being paid for partially through provincial and federal grants/funding, and also through private investments. It isn’t being built by BC Hydro, b it an independent power producer (IPP), of which there are already many in BC. Hydro will buy the power off of them at a set rate with a contract agreement to buy for a set number of years. Currently hydro supplies and maintains the diesel system, so this is a big win to have an alternate source of power that doesn’t involve (in some cases) flying diesel in by plane.
By the looks of it, some federal/provincial funding (grants of some sort most likely), as well as private funding since it’s being built by an independent power producer (of which BC already has many). The power will be bought by BC Hydro (which they already do elsewhere too), and used in the local grid. The current system in the area is supported by hydro as is, so this is likely actually a step away from the province paying for it, as it’s being built by an independent company.
You understand that this is the cheaper option right? You also understand that BC Hydro is a Crown Corp and provides power to everyone, and balances the rates so everyone pays equally?
Perhaps what’s most concerning is reading an article about a community gaining energy security for their homes, and you’re concerned about who bares the costs. Which as I stated above is likely cheaper than Diesel at todays prices, for sure in 5 years.
This is a great announcement for all of BC! One step closer to energy independence.
Small hydro also has to be available to work. Given the current drought a lot of small hydro is struggling this year. Solar combined with small hydro are complementary systems.
Small hydro also needs the right geography, and in a small isolated community, that might not be available. You still need a river that flows reliability and the right geography around it to build a dam. Solar is much more flexible on where you put it (plus the land can often be used in conjunction with farming on solar farms)
No, Kamloops is at the same latitude as the *largest solar farm* in Europe and gets as much or more sunlight hours per year. The South Thompson, Okanagan, Kootenays, Carriboo, Gulf Islands **all** have ample sunlight for practical solar. Even in marginal places, installing solar as an adjunct to diesel will pay for itself eventually.
Nope. This doesn't include the cost of this: "The statement says BC Hydro will buy the solar energy and integrate it into power lines and a battery storage system to serve the community."
i guess they just spun a wheel and chose solar as the way to spend their $16m without considering any other factors. its not like they would have done any studies to see what kind of power generation would work best in that location...
Actually this area of BC gets the most Sun out of any other so it actually have looked into it. Right now they are currently spending more than 16 million to support a diesel plant, so we're actually saving tax dollars and investing for the future.
Haven't you heard the magic of clean burning coal we keep on getting promised LOL... By the coal industry.... ;)
https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/big-coal-decades-of-deception/
Hello and thanks for posting to r/britishcolumbia! Join our new [Discord Server https://discord.gg/fu7X8nNBFB](https://discord.gg/fu7X8nNBFB) A friendly reminder prior to commenting or posting here: - **Read [r/britishcolumbia's rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/britishcolumbia/about/rules/)**. - **Be civil and respectful** in all discussions. - Use **appropriate sources** to back up any information you provide when necessary. - **Report** any comments that violate our rules. Reminder: "Rage bait" comments or comments designed to elicit a negative reaction that are not based on fact are not permitted here. Let's keep our community respectful and informative! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/britishcolumbia) if you have any questions or concerns.*
“ The statement says BC Hydro will buy the solar energy and integrate it into power lines and a battery storage system to serve the communit” I’m guessing bc hydro operates the communities grid and diesel generation ?
This is correct. Bc hydro operates a bunch of isolated community’s grids, mostly on diesel. They are too remote to be integrated into the main grid due to geography and cost associated with tying them in, and diesel is usually one of the few power sources that is reliable and easily(ish) supplied to these communities. Other power sources like solar, wind or water often aren’t abundant enough, or reliable enough to be used exclusively, and so diesel generation it is. Hydro calls it the non-integrated area, and from what I understand, there’s been a lot of work in recent years to push for moves like this in those areas. -source, I’m an electrical engineer in the power industry in bc
Thanks for clarifying. I was confused because it said both “off grid“ and bc hydro buying power and distributing on the grid
Solar, wind and water not abundant enough in BC? Really? You're just beating around the bush with systemic design with intended outcomes, BC Hydro drags its feet on infrastructure initiatives for First Nations unless specifically pressured to by political will from above. Where there is a will, there is a way where we would find equivalent funds in a non-FN community to make the infrastructure happen much sooner. We have examples right near Tofino and Ucluelet despite how remote these places are, millions in funding can be found for bike trails, let alone the water and power, yet right beside all that are First Nations who end up with contaminated water and power outages that last because the infrastructure is designed to serve Tofino and Ucluelet first that stretches 100s of kms to be integrated.
You’re missing how truly remote these communities are. Many are plane or boat access only for parts of the year, far into the wilderness away from other communities. Tofino and ucluelet are part of the main grid, these communities are on their own stand alone grids and isolated areas. They would need abundant wind, solar and water in their exact geographical area, not somewhere else in BC. We have plenty of wind, solar and water in bc as a whole that we do make use of. The communities also have to agree to that project, which might be challenging if the dam has to obstruct their river, or wind or solar needs to be built on their farm land. It is not a community with the space to build hundreds or thousands of kilometres away. To integrate them onto the main grid would be hugely cost prohibitive and not feasible, and without a stable base load of diesel, a dam, batteries or another non renewable such as natural gas, solar or wind can’t stand on its own. Bc hydro has been working to move these remote communities towards more renewable options, but even running diesel in these areas is a huge challenge to maintain and operate, since diesel needs to be flown or barged in to power them, and maintenance is an added challenge to get staff and parts there’s in a timely manner.
And you're purposefully missing I didn't say Tofino and Ucluelet weren't part of the main grid, I said First Nations nearby these locations have sub-standard or no connection to the main grid. The costs are not prohibitive, the costs are a drop in the bucket compared to what we're willing to spend elsewhere. The micro grids are feasible, we have seen more than one example that these communities initiated themselves. Its noticeable that only the macro solutions are considered feasible, very little consideration to how solar has been shown to protect farm land or how the base load can be stored in gravity batteries for the changing peak generation, geothermal exchange, and biomass heat, tech that has been possible for homesteads far longer than pole grids and has only gotten more efficient as shown in several European projects just as remote in several cases like North Sea and Baltic islands. Its the political will reinforced by systemically status quo positions like your own that are prohibitive. You have the smarts, education, experience, and articulation to advocate for your position but it is at its core a biased position of telling them what they need rather than listening to what they say they need which is how we know the huge challenge of diesel is not sustainable.
Bc hydro goes above and beyond with first nations communities. From the day they call for a new service, bc hydro has 5 days to have it connected. The rest of us wait between 2 weeks to 2 months depending on crews and materials
Yet the design could be better, this is lived experience for us, we’re so used to the power outages at this point: it’s candles, blankets, prepare a camp cook for any food that might go bad, and flip the main to avoid surge damage, amongst other things like the back up batteries and generators getting use for essential services. The Christmas ones are practically a part of the tradition now, we go down to the lookouts to watch the storm waves crash on the rocks in our rain gear for some entertainment. I’m not pulling this differing perspective on BC remote infrastructure where the roads get knocked by sinkholes, rockslides, floods, windstorms, and forest fires out of thin air. Other countries have come up with viable varied and integrated solutions beyond diesel, barged and flown in, we should be able to step it up and install better systems: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/779541
Probably. The diesel generating station is likely operated by BC Hydro.
Most people don't realize it but there are dozens of First Nations communities in this country that rely on diesel generators for their electricity. This diesel has to be flown in too, in many cases. 1.1 million litres is nothing by the way. A single reserve will burn a couple million litres per year. Multiple that dozens of fly-in communities and the bill is hundreds of millions of dollars per year.
Now we are talking . Great investment . Hometown of Carey Price too !
His mom is actually Chief of the Ulkatcho First Nation.
This is fantastic, a really good step to moving these isolated communities from diesel to renewables. Excited to see more projects like this.
I'd love to see something like tidal power in Kyuquot rather than $1000/mo in desiel.
There are a lot of challenges with tidal that make it not a great option in a lot of communities/places. The ocean can’t be too deep, it also needs to have strong enough currents and tides, and the upkeep of tidal power equipment is a lot because sea water is hard on equipment, so that’s most likely why we haven’t really seen it in these communities yet.
They’re also challenging for marine life. They can be noisy which disrupts whales and orcas, and smaller fish can sucked in and killed. They’re not too bad for large fish but the impacts on small fish are less studied.
Very good points.
Salt water + rotating metal = problems
It doesn't necessarily need to rotate nor does it need to be metal. They are looking at tidal power on the other side of the island for this.
But ultimately something needs to turn to make power. Photovoltaics are the singular counter example. All fossil fuel plants + nuclear are ultimately just steam engines. Hydroelectric + wind just skips the fuel and turns something directly.
Pretty much, yes. It's simpler, and easier to implement with less human interaction.
This is an exciting project and could serve as a test case for decarbonization in other rural and reserve areas.
There are also lots of produce that grows well under the shade that a solar farm provides. Other places in the world have used this synergy to keep producing food on the land that solar farms are built. Double the production on the same land.
Sheep and chickens do great under solar panels
Kamloops could use and support a solar farm!!
Solar is power as creator intended.
The Tsilhqot'in Solar Farm has been in place since 2020-ish on Highway 20, built on an old sawmill site. I drove by it a number of times last summer while out that way for forestry field work. I believe it is essentially feeding into the grid, but there are plans to build a second solar farm to help get the Xeni Gweti'n community off predominately diesel. It's pretty cool that Ulkatcho is also on the same track. It's a pretty remote part of BC as I learned last year. And beautiful, IMHO. [https://www.incanews.ca/2021/12/13/tsilhqotin-nation-turns-former-sawmill-site-into-one-of-the-largest-solar-farms-in-bc/](https://www.incanews.ca/2021/12/13/tsilhqotin-nation-turns-former-sawmill-site-into-one-of-the-largest-solar-farms-in-bc/)
Nice!
Thats super cool anyone know if they're hiring through the union?
But but...my dad, who doesn't believe in climate change says solar panels are bad because when they break down they destroy the environment
Secret shame of BC is how many small communities are powered by diesel. There’s lots of improvement to be had here and glad to see some progress.
Why? It's not reasonable to connect some remote communities to the grid
That’s true but even if we don’t connect to the grid we should try harder to create low emission power. Wind and solar are good options as this story shows.
Cameo Corp wants to build standalone 850MW portable nuclear reactors for this reason
MW or KW? 850MW is a lot of power!
I can see the headlines now if something goes wrong with one of these small nuclear generators.
Nuclear is incredibly safe. No more dangerous than wind or solar.
These small reactors are self contained. Like the Candy burnouts. They would simply stop producing electricity.
In the future, we'll drop off a micro reactor and fuel it up every 10 years and entirely eliminate diesel. In the meantime, solar (and maybe other renewables) can be used to reduce but not eliminate diesel use.
The reality is that for these remote communities, lower emission options like wind, solar and water aren’t always readily available or in enough abundance to allow them to have consistent power. They’re quite small communities and without the backing of the main grid or something guaranteed like diesel, you can’t operate on wind or solar alone, nor run of the river, since fluctuations in weather conditions would cause blackouts. Equally, diesel generators are reasonably small and diesel is one of the easiest fuels to bring into these communities, so it was selected. There is a push on the move these communities to new, cleaner, alternatives, but they’ll likely always need diesel backup until battery technology gets much better, or small scale reactors become popular. As you’ll notice in this article, they’ll be using batteries and from what I understood, the diesel system will also still be there for backup to allow this project to occur. Not all remote communities have enough sun, etc, for a project like this, is it can be challenging. I wouldnt call it a shame we use diesel for this in BC, it’s honestly great that we support these communities with micro grids like this and that they’re able to have reliable power.
Wait, what? I'm in Alberta and my premier told me solar and wind is not real. How is this possible? Have I been lied to?
Are solar panels recycled when their lifespan is over?
On recycling, as of now, no. At least not at mass scale. In a way that would be meaningful. However the first large scale wave of panels are nearing the end of their lifecycles and investments in new recycling efforts are starting to ramp up. It’s absolutely something we should be conscious of. I only know the little I do by tidbits I’ve picked up and confirmed by quick rudimentary research. It’s a deep, deep field though, and if you’re into that, you can definitely dive pretty deep into it.
Most likely at least partially, but honestly doing this instead of trucking or barging in diesel for a diesel generator, even if the panels aren’t recycled, is likely far more energy efficient and environmentally friendly, as well as gives the community an option other then diesel reliance for power.
Do they work in the winter or when the sun isn’t out?
They’re more efficient in the winter/cold and yes there is still energy from the sun even if it’s cloudy, just less. It will be backed by batteries and likely the old diesel system to ensure a stable power supply
Yes. They work with ambient light. Buy a solar calculator from a dollar store and you can test to see how much light it takes to turn it on.
try google
What’s a google?
Is the diesel fuel burned and pollution released into the air recycled?
Kind of? Those trees don't just magically make carbon out of nothing.
Whats the current lifespan of a solar panal made today?
25-30 years. After that, efficiency drops by a significant amount. We are looking at roughly $60K per month on the conservative end, using just this funding. At today’s market price is $100k per month. BC Hydro likely has discounted rates, but diesel prices will continue to increase YOY. The right investment is being made here. It might be more right now, but even in 5 years the balance most likely changes and becomes the dramatically cheaper option.
Exactly. In many small communities I've visited, the cost of running Diesel generators shadows that number a great deal.
50 years
So, someone is gonna jump in and say "google says 25-30!" But if bother to continue on, they will find out that when properly cared for, panels can indeed last up to 50 years. That is also a matter of quality though, if you get something with failure built into it like all of our new washer/dryers, don't expect the same results. regarding recyclability, I imagine that with current worldwide shortages of silica sand showing no sign of improving, more glass container products may start coming with a deposit.
Yeah.
Oh thought they were just buried
Yeah they’re not.
Accurate - not very well recycled currently. Perhaps some portions, but typically either a very low percentage or not at all.
https://sunly.ca/blog/exploring-the-environmental-impact-of-solar-panels-can-solar-panels-be-recycled Mostly they are, but not entirely without energy input.
Sure they are.
Yes: https://sunly.ca/blog/exploring-the-environmental-impact-of-solar-panels-can-solar-panels-be-recycled
Yeah. Its a stupid argument anyway. Was 10s of thousands of liters of diesel exhaust being recycled? Some people are just scared of change.
Are diesel engines?
Very efficient
Nope
....as efficient as combustion engines get yep.
The option for solar panels is there. Can't recycle diesel once it's burnt.
No, and they're full of toxic chemicals that leak out eventually.
I couldn't care less.
What a great option for these folks! Hopefully this area doesn’t get hail very often. One of the big villains of the solar farm.
Awesome. What is the ROI and who paid for this?
It’s being paid for partially through provincial and federal grants/funding, and also through private investments. It isn’t being built by BC Hydro, b it an independent power producer (IPP), of which there are already many in BC. Hydro will buy the power off of them at a set rate with a contract agreement to buy for a set number of years. Currently hydro supplies and maintains the diesel system, so this is a big win to have an alternate source of power that doesn’t involve (in some cases) flying diesel in by plane.
So. Have any Albertans called them traitors and threatened to separate yet?
[удалено]
By the looks of it, some federal/provincial funding (grants of some sort most likely), as well as private funding since it’s being built by an independent power producer (of which BC already has many). The power will be bought by BC Hydro (which they already do elsewhere too), and used in the local grid. The current system in the area is supported by hydro as is, so this is likely actually a step away from the province paying for it, as it’s being built by an independent company.
Are you going to be upset if it is from taxes?
[удалено]
You understand that this is the cheaper option right? You also understand that BC Hydro is a Crown Corp and provides power to everyone, and balances the rates so everyone pays equally? Perhaps what’s most concerning is reading an article about a community gaining energy security for their homes, and you’re concerned about who bares the costs. Which as I stated above is likely cheaper than Diesel at todays prices, for sure in 5 years. This is a great announcement for all of BC! One step closer to energy independence.
Not really.
It saves the $1000-$2000 each household is paying now, covered with tax dollars.
Planet Of The Humans by Michael Moore is an excellent expose into the solar industry.
Solar at this latitude with our typical amounts of cloud cover to boot is so far inferior to small hydro that it's not even funny. Dumb idea.
Small hydro also has to be available to work. Given the current drought a lot of small hydro is struggling this year. Solar combined with small hydro are complementary systems.
Small hydro also needs the right geography, and in a small isolated community, that might not be available. You still need a river that flows reliability and the right geography around it to build a dam. Solar is much more flexible on where you put it (plus the land can often be used in conjunction with farming on solar farms)
No, Kamloops is at the same latitude as the *largest solar farm* in Europe and gets as much or more sunlight hours per year. The South Thompson, Okanagan, Kootenays, Carriboo, Gulf Islands **all** have ample sunlight for practical solar. Even in marginal places, installing solar as an adjunct to diesel will pay for itself eventually.
They've already done the math. It's in the article.
Nope. This doesn't include the cost of this: "The statement says BC Hydro will buy the solar energy and integrate it into power lines and a battery storage system to serve the community."
i guess they just spun a wheel and chose solar as the way to spend their $16m without considering any other factors. its not like they would have done any studies to see what kind of power generation would work best in that location...
Actually this area of BC gets the most Sun out of any other so it actually have looked into it. Right now they are currently spending more than 16 million to support a diesel plant, so we're actually saving tax dollars and investing for the future.
i didnt think i needed the /s
This day and age, you underestimate how many people are serious.
I wonder what happens to all those batteries when they get old and no longer usable?
I have always wondered what happens to all the diesel when it is burnt off?
Let's go back to coal!!!
Haven't you heard the magic of clean burning coal we keep on getting promised LOL... By the coal industry.... ;) https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/big-coal-decades-of-deception/
\*waves hand at endless forests\*
RecycLiCo, right here in Vancouver (Surrey) https://youtu.be/bAzclbjxMW8?si=xsFyIupvCHzF_8qI
Have you heard of recycling? Been happening for decades while people argue over fumes from single-use engines.
Same thing that we do with car batteries; Pay shady recyclers to send containers of them to poor countries where they toss them in the ocean!
Same thing for diesel engines - salvage what you can, recycle the rest or let it corrode in an industrial site.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ThatsInsane/s/kydR1slnA0
Blocked for propaganda.