The Nelson Solar Garden and the Mayor

recommended reading before reading this blog

 Making the Shoe Fit Engineering

This blog is written as a reply to Mayor Kozak of Nelson, her latest response to an email I sent "am I trying to tear down nelson hydro",  on the contrary.    This blog is for you mayor Kozak, and city council,  I expect you to run this city as a business, with projects that benefit the entire community not your or anyone else's agenda picking my pocket.  Your solar garden project is one of misinformation, deception and incompetence, and I have continually been pointing this out.





And my latest Blog I believe condenses all my previous blogs

Remarkably the mayor's last council meeting, she was not reelected 2018, they had an award ceremony for the community solar garden.

Left to Right, Alex Love manager of Nelson hydro who brought city council a business case for the Community Solar Garden,  Carmen Proctor hired contractor to deliver and construct the project (no previous solar work), outgoing Mayor Kozak holding award, Trish Dehnert  BC Community Energy

Update  December 2018,  the new mayor and council inherited this boondoggle. Reading between the lines of a new councillor engaging in emails with me,  has swallowed the cool-aid.   Trying to re invent and respin the boondoggle, Nobody will admit to the mistake.  He says it  was all about education and learning.   We already had a system at the high school with years of data, it showed it can't work.  There are many other publicly available systems showing the same thing.  The city can't and won't admit this was a mistake.  They continue to make excuses.   The hydro manager who brought the city council a business case for this no longer works for the city, its a start.

Kootenay Lake levels for past 84 years, high median, low. 
Our province overflows with water when most solar power is made, its worthless.  

BC is a water power province we store millions of acre feet of water in reservoirs and lakes from spring runoff to fall, the same time almost all annual solar power is made.  We don't need solar power then, we need it in winter, it doesn't work..  The Pacific Northwest is flooding, reservoirs overflowing we can't use or need all the water.  This is the time most annual solar power is made its worthless. 

 Another annual graph of Kootenay River water flows, Orange is water spilling beginning in April with spring runoff, we can't use the water, why add solar?

The excess water spills from April through September the same time almost all annual solar power is made, its worthless.

Nelson hydro dam in winter when we could use solar, it doesn't work

Half of BC's clean green waterpower is made within a few miles of Nelson
Power for a million homes.  The Nelson Community Solar Garden from October through March makes enough power for ONE home.  I don't see it on the map :)

Who would install solar panels so the front row shades the back row?  Nelson did.

A typical graph showing how solar power is made in BC almost all in summer when we can't use it

Not only is solar out of sync seasonally, its out of sync daily, demand peaks are morning and evening, solar peaks midday.

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Picture taken April 6, 2017 spring runoff has begun, overflowing the dam is millions of kWh of power this will happen through the fall, what good are solar panels?  If we aren't using that power what good are solar panels?

My objection is misconstrued by the mayors top comments, "am I trying to tear down Nelson Hydro?"  On the contrary I am trying to stop the waste I always sign my letters

As always "AN UNWILLING PARTICIPANT!"

The emperor has no clothes

SOLAR FRAUD?

                   Trying to Stop the Bleed of Public Money Into Solar in BC by Education


They city info says the solar garden cost $339,000, they don't include the replacement 6 stolen solar panels, inverters and copper wire.  Then we have the security guards hired for a period of time before the security camera system was installed.  Recent security cameras at the city works yard cost $12,000.

Industry standard suggest there is a business case if a solar project pays back in 25 years.

City council was presented a report by the manager of Nelson hydro showing a business case for the Community Solar Garden.  There never was a business case.

The consulting engineers report for the 200 panel 49.9kW system it would make 61,000kWh/yr.

I provided the consultant and manager of Nelson hydro years of local known solar data showing that exaggerated the known data by 25%.

25% more solar panels somehow were installed, it became a 248 panel 61kW system.  This did make the 61,000kWh that all real data proved.

All the newspaper and media information promoting it was deceptive.  A newspaper article in November 2015 stated the buy in for a panel would not exceed $923.  The system operational until June 2017, 18 months later.   No adjustment in buy in occurred, the system cost went up.

Nov 2015 newspaper, cost will not exceed $923 per panel

Where did that come from?

The engineers report estimated costs at $224,000(stating not all costs are shown?) less the $25,000 from Nelson hydro = $199,000 plus BullFrog Powers $15,000 = $186,000 divided by 200 panels = $920 per panel

The submission to the BCUC for the project said it was to be fully funded by those opting in, that was repeated in the following years BCUC rate review submission, the system still had not begun to be built.

130 opted in with $500 down non refundable.   Did they receive any interest for the 18 months before the system became operational?

You have to read my blog entry

Making the Shoe Fit Engineering

I made a complaint to the APEGBC (Assoc. of Prof. Eng. and Geo. of BC)   they replied there was nothing wrong?

I made two applications to appear before city council regarding this solar project both denied.

I provided the consultant, Mr. Love manager of Nelson hydro and his staff with emails showing local solar data.
One email he replied to me I was wasting their time and he would block my emails.

The contractor was on the radio saying that solar power would reach grid parity in 5 to 7 years.  I emailed the manager for those calculations.   All the media suggested it was a  green project, it was not.

Articles stating payback would occurr in 12 to 15 years, even the consulting engineers report from faulty data entry only showed a 25 year payback possible.(see my link above, Making the Shoe Fit)

The Kimberley SunMine an economic failure

The Solar Scam Continues 

How much power do you think could be made by the water shown in orange that spills over the dam from April through September, the same time almost all annual solar power is made, making the solar power worthless, worse, a waste of money.

Within a mile either way of the Nelson City dam is almost 1000MW of dam power enough for
1,000,000 homes annual power.   7 hydroelectric dams in total, where else in the world could one find this concentration of clean green power?  And you want me to pay for your community solar garden panels that might make enough power for 4 average homes!!  And made when water is spilling over every dam going unused because it can't be sold, every hydro reservoir in the Pacific Northwest is spilling water at this time.

And the plan is for 2 more community solar gardens???  No wonder this city is unaffordable.

If all that power in orange above isn't being used why would anyone instal solar panels?  Demand for power is in winter when water flows are minimal and solar doesn't work.  Beginning in spring runoff every dam and reservoir in the Pacific Northwest is overflowing, you can't give the power away, solar power....worthless.

On the right the City of Nelson hydroelectric plant the first one in BC, left Fortis's Upper Bonnington
and the thousands of cubic feet of water making no power that goes from spring runoff through the end of high summer Kootenay lake levels, when most solar power is made and worthless.  Upstream about 1 km Corra Linn dam  54MW  downstream another kM the Fortis South Slocan Dam, 66MW around the corner BC Hydro Kootenay Canal 586MW.  Nelson solar garden .0000005MW, no power in winter, at night, when it rains, cloudy, useless.  Toxic junk in 20 years while the Nelson dam and others are more than a century old and nothing will stop them.  The Fortis dam on the left has even been shut down in spring runoff, if the power has nowhere to go (customers) it will overheat the generators.
Every solar panel in BC is a waste of money.  One hours spill over just this dam likely would make more power than every solar panel ever installed in BC and any installed for the next ten years.  We need power in winter, solar cannot help us.




Solar power in BC is a testament to the misinformation and power of the solar industry propaganda.  Google "german solar power failure"  or Nevada,  Spain, Ontario....'

The next  big solar industry money train....recycling old dirty solar panels.

As of 2014  an estimated 6 billion tonnes of solar panels have been installed in the world, possible life expectancy 25 years, usually less, a monstrous new business as panels begin to fail.

 Nelson has already seen over $50,000 in public money for solar demonstration systems.

UPDATE May 2018?  The Nelson community solar garden $330,000 they tell us, now Balfour is spending $208,000 for solar panels and expects Nelson hydro to pay them full retail for any excess solar power, why would we?  We don't even need our solar garden power!

How Timely BC HYDRO is no longer willing to pay for anyones' solar power,  political feelgood solar power in this province is not affordable  see story here 

 The last one a LiveSmart BC grant went to a company that went broke took the solar panels, sold them and kept our money.  All the while I was in touch with the Min. of Environment and offices responsible for this grant.  The grant recipeints did not comply with any of the requirements, when I saw them removing the system I called Victoria, they did nothing.

Nelson has more than a decade of solar data, all of which I gave to the cities engineer, he said it was irrelevant.  Using that there would be no business case.  With the swiss computer program and making mistakes there was an apparent 25 year payback(business case) but that report still said  "not all costs are shown".,  There never was a business case.  When I first met with the city engineer he said the project would not proceed without a business case.  "ethics?"

Why am I paying more for power than a BC Hydro customer when our city had the first hydro electric dam in BC?   Because of things like this.