Susan and Bruce Crofts
Riverdale, Toronto, Ontario
RISE

When was your system installed?June 2006
What size is your system?1kW (5 panels of 195 W)
Where were they installed?On our roof...racked...facing solar south.
What was the rough cost of your system?The cost of the system installed taxes in +/- $10,000.00
Highest daily output?5.650kWh on Sat. Jul. 8th /06
Why did you decided to install solar panels on your roof?We want to send a message to the Federal and Provincial governments and OPG that homeowners can and want to act to solve the problem of peak demand for electricity. We are trying to draw attention to the fact that there are options to the 550 mW power plant planned for the Portlands. We want to create a demand for government financial incentives for the capital costs of PV solar systems for homeowners.
What was your most exciting ‘solar moment’?We can run our fridge (there's just the two of us at home now and we survive with just a bar fridge), answering service, fax, TV, 2 clock radios and a light and the electricity meter stays still when our solar system is on line. We understand that during a grid blackout, we can turn off the power at our fuse box and this will divert the solar power we produce into our home to maintain these needs.
What tips would you have for someone considering purchasing such a system for their home?Even though it is in some very, very, very, small way, we feel we have been able to model and promote the use of renewable energy, given a boost to the solar industry, improved air quality and reduced problems associated with global warming. By acting for a solution we've reduced the part we've played in the problem of overconsumption of Earth's resources.
Take a shot a trying to convince others why they should also purchase a solar system for their home.We don't have to do a thing. The system goes on line itself with morning's first light and stays on line as long as there's light. It turns off by itself too. In the 2 1/2 weeks we've been keeping track of the information on the Inverter's LCD (liquid crystal display) touch screen, the system was on for 14 hours, 5 minutes and 19 seconds on Sunday July 2nd. Neighbours, friends and family are very interested in our solar PV project and our popularity at social events has improved. Though we know it takes a long time to pay off, we expect the 1kW system will meet 1/3 of our electricity needs.