Solar Panels Ontario Canada Guide on Cost,Sale,Manufacturers and Rebate (Microfit)

5 Jul, 2011
Canada,Canadian Solar,MEMC,Solar Energy,Solar EPC,Solar Panels

Solar PanelsSolar Panels Demand has exploded in Ontario Canada boosted the the provincial government MicroFit program which gives a generous feed in tariff (higher electricity price) for the solar power generated from silicon solar panels fitted to your home or office.The Feed-in-Tariff depends on the size of the solar installation and is guaranteed for 20 years at a fixed price.This implies that you not only save on power bills but also get a much higher electricity price for the solar energy electricity that you are generating.This has led to a veritable boom in solar panels sale in Ontario and made it the fastest growing solar energy region in the whole of North America.However solar panels cannot be bought from anybody to qualify you for a government rebate.Only Solar Panels which meet the domestic production criteria can get solar rebates from the government.

Solar Panel Rebates in Ontario

How to get Solar Rebates for your home under microfit program.Under the microFIT Program, you will be paid a guaranteed price for all the electricity your project produces for at least 20 years.You can read the complete contract here

There are three key steps involved in participating in the microFIT Program:

  1. Applicants will first need to obtain an offer to connect from their local distribution company before the OPA issues a microFIT conditional offer of contract.
  2.  Build and connect your project
  3. Accept your contract

What is Domestic Content Requirement

To ensure that you get the government rebate you must make sure that 60% content of your solar system installation is made in Ontario.The calculation of this is a bit complex and best left to installers,however if you are competent enough here are details of the domestic content requirement

Solar Rebate Pricing

For Solar PV Installations on the Roof you can get 80c/Kwh while for ground mounted solar plants you get 64c/Kwh.Note this is for solar panel installations under 10 kilowatt in size.You also have to first get the contract approved from the electricity distributor which might have a  long waiting list.

Read about the current pricing and rules here

Solar Panels Costs

Solar Panels cost for the cheapest solar panel manufacturers in around $1.10/watt and they retail for around $2/watt of residential customers.Because in Ontario you cannot freely buy any solar panel it might you cost much more.Please not solar panel prices have decreased by 30-40% in 2011.You should shop around to get a cheap deal from a decent quality Chinese solar panel brand.Because of the domestic content requirement you may have to pay $3/watt for your solar panel also.Note for utility large scale buyers of solar panel buyers,the cost is much lower.Solar Panels Costs have trended down quite in the last 3-4 years except in 2010 when they went up as solar panel demand increased by more than 150% .Solar Panel Costs are the biggest component of a Solar System Cost.The costs for Solar Panels  are lower for Thin Film Solar Panel for example First Solar Panels are much lower in cost but have lower Solar Panel Efficiency .Solar Panels in general cost between40-60% of the total system costs

Solar Inverter Costs

Solar Inverters cost around 50c/watt for small buyers of solar systems but can cost lower for large kilowatt inverter sizes and for scale buyers.Solar Inverters are a crucial component of a solar system and make up around 10% of the solar system costs.Here is a list of major solar inverter brands

Solar Panel Manufacturers in Ontario

Note with the Domestic Content Requirement it has become essential that the solar panel must be made in Ontario.Even if you get all the wiring and installation done in Ontario it won’t quality for domestic content because some of the silicon,wafers,cells or modules has to be made in the province.Since making solar panels is the easiest part,only solar panels are produced domestically in Ontario by most companies though some companies are making solar inverters in the province as well.

Major Solar Panel Manufacturers in Ontario

  1. Canadian Solar – Canadian Solar is the largest solar company in Canada with most of its manufacturing in China.The company not only produces silicon solar panels but also does solar integration work as well as develops solar farms. The Company sells a wide variety of solar panels unlike other producers.The Solar Panel Selling Price is also quite cheap.The Company is headquartered in Canada with factories in China and Ontario.Canadian Solar is the 5th biggest producer of Solar Panels in China.
  2. Flextronics, the leading Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) provider has managed to successfully leverage its Electronic Manufacturing  Expertise to become the top OEM choice for Solar Companies .Flextronics came into prominence as a premier solar outsourcing partner when German solar cell giant Q-Cells gave its Solar Module outsourcing contract to this company.The company has opened a solar panel producing plant in partnership with MEMC/Sunedision in Newmarket.
  3. Siliken is a Spanishcompany involved in  production of solar grade silicon and solar panels. Siliken has two module manufacturing plants, one silicon production plant and an inverter manufacturing plant in Spain. Siliken has module production plants in the US, Mexico, Canada and Romania
  4. Silfab has a one of the biggest solar panel operations in Ontario having started operations in 2010 and expanding it in 2011

Small Solar Panel Manufacturers in Ontario

  1. Lumin Solar has a  Ontario based manufacturing facility producing solar panels in the 240+ Watt size range.ocated in Thornhill, Ontario, Lumin Solar serves a wide breadth of industrial, commercial and residential customers throughout the local Ontario region, Canadian and Global markets.
  2. Opsun Panels Inc., a subsidiary of Opsun Technologies Inc., has  a 50-megawatt (MW) solar panel production line in the province. Opsun also  its SunRail mounting system and StructuralPV commercial solution in Ontario.
  3. SolGate, located in Ontario, Canada is at the forefront of science . We are proud to be the first large-scale solar panels manufacturer in the province of Ontario. Our 24,000 square foot manufacturing facility just north of Toronto boasts a current annual capacity of 20 MW of PV power production
  4. Magnum Pv will begin production of its high-efficiency solar photovoltaic (PV) modules in October 2011 at its 142,000-sq.-ft. facility in Brampton, Ontario. The company will make monocrystalline and polycrystalline PV modules in 245, 250, 290 and 300 watt models.
  5. Centennial Global Technology Inc. is a Canadian owned and operated, Ontario based solar panel or photovoltaic module manufacturer

How Many Solar Panels do You Need

Calculating how many Solar Panels you need is quite tricky as it depends on the Solar Panels Efficiency,Design of the Solar Array,the place where you live etc.

1) Solar Panels Efficiency – Some Solar Panels are more efficient.For example Solar Panels made by Sunpower and Sanyo are the most efficient which means they require less area.For space constrained homes,they are the best bet but they cost more per watt hour of electricity generated.Click on the heading of this paragraph to understand more aboutEfficiency.

2) Sun Light or Solar Insolation – This measures the amount of sun light that your solar panel installation recieves.Typical Solar Insolation is  around 1000-1500 watt hour per year.This means that if you install 1 watt of solar panels you will get 1-1.5 units of electricity per year.You should first calculate how much electricity you require per year.If you require around 7200 units a year you would need to install a 5 kilowatt or 5000 watts solar array.You can find out the solar insolation you receive from free websites like a) www.nrel.gov/rredc/pvwatt if you live in the USA and b)re.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pvgis/countries/countries-europe.htm if you live in Europe.These websites also give you information about the solar insolation/radiation you live

3) Design of the Solar Array – This is very important in ensuring that you get the most power out of your solar panels.The design of the solar array should always be done by a good solar installer.Note this is a fragmented industry but you can find more about the big solar installers in the USA here.You should ensure basic stuff such that there is no shading of your solar panels,the roof does not leak,the materials used are good.Also having a good solar inverter is important.Nowadays you can get individual solar microinverters for each solar panel as well.Note almost 1-520% of the power generated by your solar panels is wasted in converting from DC to AC.

Also Read about how Solar Panels generate Electricity

China Solar Booming- Chinese Solar Panels Prices,Cost,Review,Best Manufacturers(Trina,Suntech)

17 Mar, 2011
BYD Auto,Canadian Solar,China,First Solar,LDK Solar,Solar Cells,Solar Energy,Solar Panels,Suntech,Trina Solar,Trony Solar,Yingli

China’s Solar Industry is the biggest in the world with 5 of the biggest Solar Panel Manufacturers being Chinese.The low costs of Chinese Solar Panels have made them capture almost 40% of the world’s market in 2010 up from almost 0% in 2005.The remarkable growth in the Chinese Solar Panel Industry has been due to the supportive government,low labour and capital costs and aggressive competition.This has made the higher cost solar panel manufactures cut their prices in order to retain their marketshare.Trina Solar has shown the best growth amongst the solar panel producers and it now competes with Suntech which is the world’s biggest solar panel producer.China has also got a number of Tier 2 and Tier 3 producers of solar panels.These small solar panel companies sell mostly in the spot market and quote very low prices.The quality of the solar panels of smaller companies is also suspect.Due diligence and Review of Solar Panels is necessary in order to Buy Solar Panels from China.

Chinese Solar Panel Prices and Costs

Note the Chinese Solar Panel Prices at around $1.3/watt are the lowest in the world and are sold at a substantial discount to the European and American Solar Panels.These days Solar Panels are also being outsource to China by bigger companies in the West to take advantage of the low cost Chinese Solar Panels..The Prices of Solar Panels can fluctuate a lot depending on the global supply/demand and is currently at around $1.65/watt in 2011 beginning.However the prices have  come down by around  20-30% .The costs of Chinese Solar Panels differs by different companies with the lowest Panel Producers being able to producer Solar Panels at around $1/watt.

Chinese Solar Panel Manufacturers

There are many Chinese Solar Panel Manufacturers as the costs of setting up a Solar Panel Plant is quite low at around $5 million for a basic solar module line.However there are only a few big Solar Panel Companies which have capacities running into hundreds of Megawatts per year.There are also a number of big State Owned (SOE) Chinese conglomerates that are entering the Solar Panel Industry.Here  is a list of the Best Chinese manufacturers of Solar Panels

  1. Suntech – Suntech was  the world’s biggest producer of solar panels in 2010 and was one the first companies to set up operations in China.Its example was followed by a host of other Chinese companies.Suntech has been slow to expand compared to the fast growing small companies in China and has lost marketshare to them.It has started to vertically integrate in order to meet the low cost challenge from Trina and Yingli.Suntech makes one of the best quality Solar Panels in China.
  2. Yingli Green Energy - Yingli Green Energy is one of the oldest Chinese companies and is completely integrated from polysilicon.The company has been expanding rapidly and has one of the lowest cost structures in the industry.Yingli Green Energy has been sponsoring Football in Europe and has started a new line of high efficiency “Panda” Solar Panels.Yingli is the second biggest producer of Solar Panels in China
  3. Trina Solar – Trina Solar is one of the lowest cost manufacturers of Solar Panels in the World right now and also sells it at a very low price.This is the reason that the company in a span of few short years has managed to acquire a substantial  global marketshare.The prices the solar panels being sold are around $340 per 200 watt module.Trina Solar.Like Yingli and Suntech,Trina Solar Panels are one the best quality in China
  4. Hanwha Solar One - The Company which was recently acquired by South Korean Chemicals Giant Hanwha also makes one of the cheapest panels and sells it a very low price.The quality is also quite good and with strong parentage behind it,the solar panels made by the company.Again like Trina Solar,it has very low cost Chinese manufacturing capacity.The company was earlier known as Solarfun.
  5. Canadian Solar – The Company sells a wide variety of solar panels unlike other producers.The Solar Panel Selling Price is also quite cheap.The Company is headquartered in Canada with factories in China and Ontario.Canadian Solar is the 5th biggest producer of Solar Panels in China.
  6. LDK Solar - This is the biggest producer of solar wafers that are used by crystalline solar panels but is losing its No.1 position to GCL Poly.Is expanding rapidly into other parts of the solar supply chain and could break into top 10 solar panel producer in the next couple of years.LDK Solar is building a huge solar panel and cell production facility.It sells Solar Panels mostly to other Solar Panel Companies.
  7. Renesola – Very similar to LDK Solar in operations and structure,this Chinese company is the lowest cost producer of solar wafer producer in the world.It is expanding into other parts of the supply chain.Like LDK Solar,Renesola sells most of its Solar Panels under an OEM Contract
  8. Jinko Solar – Jinko Solar has shown the fastest growth rates in the Chinese Solar Panel Industry.The company is expanding again to become one of the Top 5 Solar Panel Producers in China.Jinko Solar like Trina and Yingli is vertically integrated and has one of the lowest cost solar panel production process.
  9. Trony Solar - Trony Solar is the largest Solar Thin Film Producer in China and uses a-Si Technology to producer Solar Panels used mostly in Off-Grid Applications.The company uses its own custom made equipment and manages to get decent margins for its products.The company recently listed on the HK Stock Exchange.

Summary

There are other major solar panels manufacturers in China like BYD,Astroenergy,Hanlong,Goldpoly,Eging,Tianwei,Sunzone etc which are setting up large gigawatt scale solar panel capacity.The existing Solar Panel Producers in China will have a tough time as the competition grows domestically as well as from other Asian like the Koreans and the Taiwanese.However currently Chinese Solar Panels are No.1 in the world in terms of volume and fast catching up in quality as well.The Chinese Solar Market is also growing rapidly as the Chinese government awards subsidies for setting up pilot plants in different provinces.However a lack of national feed in tariff like Germany is hindering the growth.

Other Greenworldinvestor articles

  1. Which is the Lowest Cost Solar Panel Manufacturer in the World
  2. Solar Frontier – Can this Japanese Copper Indium Selenium (CIS) Player Erode the Chinese Crystalline Silicon Dominance
  3. Cheapest Solar Panels – Which Companies Sell at the Lowest Price and Why you should avoid Distributors/Wholesalers
  4. Solar Panels in India – Complete Guide on Buying Low Cost PV Panels from Solar Energy System Manufacturers
  5. Another European Solar Factory closes as Green Industry moves to Low Cost,Subsidy Rich Asia
  6. Giant Chinese State Owned Utilities expectedly Win most of Solar Projects with Loss Making Bids
  7. Will China ever pass a Feed in Tariff Law for Solar Energy?
  8. Taiwan Solar Energy Challenging China – Taiwanese Solar Cell,Wafer,Panel,Inverter Manufacturers following the Semi Success Path
  9. Korean Solar Energy Set to Explode due to the Greenest Government and Chaebols Hanwha,Hyundai,Posco,Samsung,LG
  10. France Stupidly blames Cheap Chinese Panels for Stopping Solar Energy Subsidies leading First Solar to Delay French Factory
  11. List of World’s Top Solar Wafer Companies – Growing Bigger
  12. List of Top Global Solar Cell Suppliers – A Disappearing Breed
  13. List of World’s Major Solar Energy Companies

List of World’s Major Solar Energy Companies

18 Feb, 2011
Canadian Solar,China,First Solar,GCL Poly,Japan,LDK Solar,Sharp,Solar Cells,Solar Energy,Solar Panels,Sunpower,Suntech,Taiwan,Trina Solar,USA,Yingli

Solar Energy is the fastest growing renewable energy source in the world and has shown tremendous growth in the last 2-3 years.This has been driven by a more than 50% decline in Solar PV costs which continues to decline further.With further increase in energy prices,Solar Power is becoming closer and closer to retail electricity price.Not only is the price declining,solar power is clean energy a most valuable feature in these days of accelerating climate change.Solar Energy has already reached grid parity in places like Italy and Hawaii and will do so in more places in the coming 2-3 years.The industry is a dynamic one and the list of top solar companies can change quickly.Rapid Technology Change and Fast Declining Costs have pushed out most of the Top 10 companies of 5 years ago and brought in new ones mainly Chinese.Here is a list of the Top Solar Panel Producers in the World.

1) First Solar – the US based Cadmium Tellurium (Cd-Te) is the lowest cost panel producer in the world today if you don’t include any penalty for low efficiency.Even if you penalize the Cd-Te Technology for its lower efficiency vis-a-vis the higher efficiency crystalline technology,First Solar is clearly the leader with a core cost of 74c/watt.The company has a roadmap of  reducing the cost to 52c/watt by 2014 and given its track record it seems quite achievable.

2) Sharp – Sharp,the Japanese Electronics Giant was the largest solar company in the world by revenues in 2009,however it risks losing its top 5 place in 2011 as Chinese companies ramp up capacity at a much higher rate.Sharp has been shielded from the fierce competition in the solar panel market as the domestic Japanese market has also grown sharply.Japan is a tough market for foreign companies to crack like other sectors and that has allowed Sharp to prosper despite much higher costs and lower margins.However,Sharp has not been able to grow fast enough in 2010 with major Chinese companies seeing upwards of 100% growth

3) Suntech – Suntech was  the world’s biggest producer of solar panels in 2010 and was one the first companies to set up operations in China.Its example was followed by a host of other Chinese companies.Suntech has been slow to expand compared to the fast growing small companies in China and has lost marketshare to them.It has started to vertically integrate in order to meet the low cost challenge from Trina and Yingli

4) Yingli Green Energy - Yingli Green Energy is one of the oldest Chinese companies and is completely integrated from polysilicon.The company has been expanding rapidly and has one of the lowest cost structures in the industry.

5) Trina Solar - Trina Solar is one of the lowest cost manufacturers of Solar Panels in the World right now and also sells it at a very low price.This is the reason that the company in a span of few short years has manged to acquire a 10% global marketshare.The prices the solar panels being sold are around $340 per 200 watt module.

6) JA Solar - JA Solar unlike the others mainly produces solar cells instead of solar modules.The company is one of the lowest cost producer of solar cells in the industry and has recently expanded into producing modules as well.The company has shown the fastest growth in 2010 and looks to be a world leader in the future.

7) Motech - This Taiwan producer of Solar Cells was one of the biggest in 2007 but has gone down the ranks.TSMC bought a stake in this company after it faltered post the Lehman crisis.The company seems to be recovering ,however it has seen newer rivals like Neo Solar,Del Solar and Gintech expand more rapidly.

8) Gintech - It is the biggest solar cell producer in Taiwan and has shown amazing growth since its inception.Gintech like JA Solar producers mostly solar cells.

9) Hanwha Solar One - The Company which was recently acquired by South Korean Chemicals Giant Hanwha also makes one of the cheapest panels and sells it a very low price.The quality is also quite good and with strong parentage behind it,the solar panels made by the company.Again like Trina Solar,it has very low cost Chinese manufacturing capacity.

10) Canadian Solar – The Company sells a wide variety of solar panels unlike other producers.The Solar Panel Selling Price is also quite cheap.The Company is headquartered in Canada with factories in China and Ontario.

11) Sunpower - Sunpower produces the highest efficiency crystalline solar panels in the world.This is a US company like First Solar and has a strong system installation business as well.A offspring of Cypress Semiconductor,it faced tough times due to its higher costs.However seems to be on a recovery path.Failed to expand as rapidly as the Asians in 2010.

12) Renewable Energy Corporation – It is Norwegian manufacturer of mainly polysilicon and wafers.It suffered like other Europeans from the declines in solar panel prices.Has moved manufacturing to Singapore to lower its cost.Fell down the rankings due to tough competition.However is completely integrated.

13) Solarworld – Biggest German producer of solar panels,the company is one of the few to still have operations in Europe and USA.The company has been battered by low cost competition .

14) Panasonic/Sanyo – Sanyo is the producer of high efficiency solar panels and like Sharp sells mostly in Japan and USA.With buyout by Panasonic is looking to sell integrated energy  efficiency/energy storage/solar energy home solution.

15) LDK Solar - This is the biggest producer of solar wafers that are used by crystalline solar panels.Is expanding rapidly into other parts of the solar supply chain and could break into top 10 solar panel producer in the next couple of years.

16) Renesola – Very similar to LDK Solar in operations and structure.It is expanding into other parts of the supply chain.This Chinese producer is a very low cost producer of wafers.

17) GCL Poly – Has become one of the biggest producers of polysilicon and wafers in 2010 from zero in 2008.Is expanding rapidly but not getting into production of solar cells and panels.

Other Important Reads.

  1. 2010 Solar Demand to Skyrocket, 2011 however is a Question
  2. The rise of the Chinese and the fall of the Japanese in the Solar Rankings
  3. Solar Leader Sharp shifting its Focus from Crystalline Solar to Amorphous Silicon Thin Film Technology
  4. South Korean Conglomerate Hanwha follows LG,Samsung into Solar Energy;Acquires controlling stake in 4th Largest Chinese Solar company Solarfun cheaply
  5. Taiwan’s TSMC makes a late but smart entry into Solar Energy;Buys Equity Stakes in Stion and Motech
  6. Cheapest Solar Panels – Which Companies Sell at the Lowest Price and Why you should avoid Distributors/Wholesalers
  7. The Chinese Penetrate the US Solar Utility Market – exclusive playground of First Solar and Sunpower
  8. Have the European Solar companies (REC,Solarworld,Q-Cells) really returned from the dead?
  9. Have the European Solar companies (REC,Solarworld,Q-Cells) really returned from the dead?
  10. Spanish CSP Leader Abengoa thinks Solar Thermal Technology won’t reach Grid Parity till 2020
  11. Taiwan’s Solar Cell Concentration in the PV Supply Chain makes it Vulnerable to Oversupply
  12. Why is Japanese Technology Giant Toshiba entering the Solar EPC business?
  13. Applied Materials conducts euthanasia on its long suffering Amorphous Silicon thin film Sunfab division

Cheapest Solar Panels – Which Companies Sell at the Lowest Price and Why you should avoid Distributors/Wholesalers

14 Oct, 2010
Canadian Solar,China,Solar Energy,Solar Panels,Trina Solar

Distributors of Solar Panels Fleece Customers with High Margins

Solar Panels despite being mostly a commodity comes in a wide variety of types,technology,prices,size and colors.You can read an introduction about the lowest cost panels here.With there being no global index of Solar Panel Prices and with Prices of Solar Panels forming very quickly,its a difficult problem in acquiring the cheapest solar panels.The problem is compounded for solar panel buyers because these panels are typically sold by wholesalers and distributors who charge fat margins without providing any additional value.Also due to the lack of knowledge about the quality and the properties of solar panels,buyers generally get fleeced.Also panels are seldom sold separately as it is generally part of the overall package of the complete installation of panels,inverters,wiring,connection and integration.Here is a quick overview of which are the companies which make the lowest cost solar panels on the planet at a good quality and the most recent prices which they are selling at.Notice that the European and Japanese solar panels are of much higher price despite there being very little to differentiate themselves from Asian solar panels.

Lowest Cost Solar Panel Companies

There exists a number of low cost panel producers however for reference purposes here are the 3 of the biggest low cost solar panel producers.There are a number of other companies as well which sell at marginally higher prices than these 3 producers.

1) Trina Solar - Trina Solar is one of the lowest cost manufacturers of Solar Panels in the World right now and also sells it at a very low price.This is the reason that the company in a span of few short years has manged to acquire a 10% global marketshare.The prices the solar panels being sold are around $340 per 200 watt module.

2) Solarfun - The Company which was recently acquired by South Korean Chemicals Giant Hanwha also makes one of the cheapest panels and sells it a very low price.The quality is also quite good and with strong parentage behind it,the solar panels made by the company.Again like Trina Solar,it has very low cost Chinese manufacturing capacity.The company also sells at around $1.65/watt.

3) Canadian Solar – The Company sells a wide variety of solar panels unlike other producers.The Solar Panel Selling Price is also quite cheap.The Company is headquartered in Canada with factories in China and Ontario.The Company also sells panels at around $1.7/watt.

Summary

Note the European and Japanese companies like Sharp,Kyocera,Mitsubishi,Solarworld,Sunpower have very little extra in terms of quality compared to the much higher prices that they charge.These companies ask for 20-40% higher panel prices compared to cheap Chinese solar panels.A lot of these companies outsource the production to the Chinese companies as well like Flextronics etc.It makes better sense to buy directly from the companies than distributors who charge a huge margin without providing any benefits.

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