Community Solar Garden Data Censorship

The mayor calls it the cities SHOWCASE project, why hide it? 

 The only city in western Canada with its own hydro electric plant puts solar panels at the dam. and lets cleaner greener waterpower and its profits spill down the river for the mayors green vote.

The Nelson solar garden data is now available on line, click here. 


This tells you daily power earned, who can make heads or tails of that?  I asked them to provide weekly, monthly and lifetime energy.  They say they can't.  BS.  They won't somebody might figure out this is worthless.

There are dozens of public solar projects offering all the data.

Banff for example provides all kinds of data.

Notice above I can click on daily 1D, weekly, monthly , YTD shown- Year To Date
Upper Lifetime 85.4MWh

Solar panels were installed on the roof of Banff Town Hall in August 2013. It's a 18 kW system with 72 panels that generates 17,500 kW hours of electricity each year. 


Let me show you some of what this tells me.

Lifetime 85.4MWh or 85,400kWh since installation Aug. 2013, an 18kW system.

85,400kWh/64mo. =1334kWh/mo avg x 12 mos = 16012kWh/yr.

 presume electricity is valued at Nelson residential retail today 10.36c/kWh x 16000kWh=$1657/yr

Lets use Nelson solar garden installed cost per watt  $5.90/watt

System 18,000kW x $5.90/watt =$106,200 system cost.

Business case borrowed 3.5% for 25 years is $531/mo for 25 years of $6372/yr


Paying $6372/yr to make the equivalent at full retail of $1657 in power, pretty expensive power.

That is why Nelson won't show any meaningful data.

Let s  do the Nelson Community Solar Garden calculations.

They admist to $339,000 install plus security cameras, stolen copper, stolen solar panels and security cameras and other costs all extra.  I suggest $400,000 isn't out of line.

Borrowed over 25 years at 3.5% thats $2000/mo for 25 years or $24,000 annually.

Nelson hydro makes power for 2c/kWh and buys half from Fortis for 4c/kWh, avg 3c/kWh.

Annual solar garden power if made from clean green waterpower  61,000kWh x 3c/kWh =$1830
Selling that for 12c/kWh would get us $7320-$1830 = $5500 profit lost.

Lost profit of $5500/yr + $24,000 system business cost payments/yr = Total cost $30,000.

Plus the solar garden increases our carbon footprint, why did this happen?
The manager of Nelson hydro brought city council a business case.

Our solar garden in winter when we could use power, worthless..

If we could see some of the real data we could see how shading affects panel power output, they won't show us.  Who would install solar panel systems so the front row shades the back????

In 2016 Nelson hydro earned a bonus of $800,000 in power because highwater started earlier and laster longer. (see orange above)  The manager told me it costs 2c/kWh to make power.  That $800,000 equates to 40,000,000 kWh.
Equivalent to 1000 solar gardens at $339,000 ea =$339M or 

The image above shows in orange all the water spilling over the dam unused power from spring runoff through high summer lake levels.  The time when most annual solar power is earned and we can't even use the waterpower.

Here we see excess water flowing over the dam that isn't making power, that would be the orange shown above from April through September.  If we can't even use the cleaner greener waterpower what are we doing spending $500,000 for solar panels at the dam when that power is worthless to us?

This is what should concern us, low winter water levels when we consume the most power and purchase the most excess power .  Solar is worthless.

Not only is solar out of sync with seasons(we need power in winter) its out of sync with daily use that peaks in the morning and evening while solar peaks midday.. It can't be stored solar must be used when its made, we don't need it in BC.

And above is an actual Nelson solar system annual power graph showing almost all power made mid summer and nothing in winter when we need it most.

And after one year its beginning to self destruct, once a perfect straight line  the ground mounting and wooden system is moving, this will become a technological dinosaur and fall apart long before those who are making payments on their 25 year contracts.


Nelson has a 7 km primary water line with two microhydro potentials.  An engineering report says this line installed in 1926 needs replacing, the power made would help pay for it, nothing is being done, we waste money on solar panels.