Page 36 - GBC winter 2015

Solar panels are however, a popular solution for golf clubs and home owners in remote locations that do not have access to a tie-in grid system for power. When considering this, solar panels are a good investment when alternative power sources, such as diesel generators, are required.
In other cases, provincial govern- ments help supplement the cost of solar panel installation with rebates and financial incentives to help kick start the green energy movement.
Manitoba, for example, provides a Green Energy Equipment Tax Credit which extends to Solar Thermal Energy Systems up to a 10% refund. Nova Scotia offers $600 back per solar collector installed for Commercial solar domestichotwater(DHW)systems.
In Ontario, the MicroFIT (Feed- In-Tarrif)programbyOntarioPower Authority offers a guaranteed priced rebate over a 20-year term for all the electricity you produce and deliver to the province’s electricity grid. Currently, the program pays up 29.4 cents a KWh. For reference, a typical solar panel produces 200 watts of power/day whichis0.2KWhandaninstallation usually consists of about 5 kWh array, or roughly 25 panels. As each province has differing Hydro rates, each province also has different green energy incentive programs. Your municipal government is a great resource to find out what is offered in your area.
tHirD Party ContraCts
After all these incentives and rebates, the initial investment can be hard to swallow. There are however, other alternatives to purchasing your own solar panels, while contributing to clean energy and making money as you do.
The cart barn complete with 167 solar panels on the roof at Kingsville Golf & Country Club in Windsor, ON.
Doug Quick, General Manager of Kingsville Golf & Country Club in Southwestern Ontario, first considered solar panels for their cart barn although, the $20,000 initial investment was enough to make the shareholders skeptical. After re-visiting the idea a couple years later, they found a solution that worked for them. They lease their cart barn roof to a solar company for a generous monthly payment and in exchange the solar company gets 100% of the power generated from the solar panels.
“We didn’t invest a single penny. No maintenance cost, we get provisions in case the solar panels do damage to the building, and a very significant annual cheque for a guaranteed 20 years. They also provided $35,000 signing bonus for their first year” says Doug.
With no investment from the course, other than the previously un-used roof space, the decision to lease his space to a third party solar company according to Doug is a win-win for all parties involved.
saVe Money anD HelP tHe enVironMent
An increasing number of golf courses in Canada are looking at ways to be more energy efficient. When practicing sustainable golf course management practices with clean energy solutions like solar, the rewards are not only saving you money, but are supporting the effort to be better stewards of the environment.
There is no doubt that solar panels are a good solution to generating clean power for your business and there is definitely room to generate revenue in the long term. While solar powered golf carts and solar covered roofs are not yet mainstream, a growing number of courses are stepping up to demonstrate leadership in this area. In the end, solar panels offer a solution to offset high energy bills, a clean alternative for remote properties that don’t have access to a tie-in power grid, act as a backup for power outages, and offset the expensive peak hours of hydro and in some cases generate alterative revenue.
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Golf Business Canada