Promoting Solar PV in Alberta
The Landmark Building Integrated Solar Photovoltaic (PV) project developed, validated and demonstrated a cost-effective solar PV solution and a business model for integrating solar PV into production housing. Funded through Round 7: Renewable Energy in 2013, the project identified the challenges of solar PV adoption in Alberta while demonstrating a cost-effective solar PV solution and a business model for integrating solar PV into production housing.
Solar PV technology converts sunlight directly into electricity, allowing households to generate renewable energy on-site, which offsets grid electricity consumption and reduces overall carbon footprints. Because of this, solar PV is a promising renewable energy solution for housing. However, at the time this project was funded, high initial cost, impact on building aesthetics and lack of stakeholder participation impeded its market diffusion. After a three-month preparation, developing a marketing and sales plan, working with sales, estimating and accounting teams to finalize execution details and training the salespeople, Landmark launched a solar PV promotion program in March 2014. For a limited time, any new homebuyers would receive two 250-Watt solar PV panels at no cost, on the condition that they purchase a 2-kW or larger solar PV system for their new homes. Due to the supports from the project, Landmark was able to provide these early adopters a very competitive price of $2.2/Watt. Additionally, during the project, the Landmark Group installed 199 solar PV systems in residential homes, achieving a total installed capacity of 895 kilowatts and an estimated annual energy generation of 1,082 megawatts.
Identifying the Barriers to Market Adoption
During the project, Landmark implemented marketing strategies, including an interactive solar PV calculator, and found they were crucial in helping customers understand the benefits of solar PV systems. Additionally, collaborations with manufacturers and contractors helped lower system costs, underscoring the importance of strategic partnerships for scaling solar PV integration in residential construction.
Despite these successes, market adoption of rooftop solar PV was limited. Based on the experience gained from this project and a study of solar PV adoption in other jurisdictions, Landmark identified the four main barriers that prevented the wide adoption of solar PV technology in the Alberta housing market at the time of project conclusion in 2018.
- Despite the substantial reduction in the levelized cost of electricity for residential solar PV, it remained higher than Alberta’s grid electricity price. This gap hindered broader market adoption.
- Many homebuyers were reluctant to make the large upfront investment required for solar PV systems, as no financing mechanisms existed to help spread out the costs.
- There was no guarantee that solar PV investments would be reflected in home resale values, adding financial risk for homeowners.
- The electricity generated by the distributed solar PV system was mostly used by users in the community, but the solar PV system owners did not get any credits for savings in demand transmission service charges.
What’s next?
This project marked a step forward in making solar PV more accessible despite the challenges. Alongside this project, Landmark had another project funded by ERA to develop net-zero homes that included solar PV and yielded similar results. However, more recently, there has been significant growth and adoption of zero-energy and zero-carbon homes, which include solar PV. This growth is driven by rising interest in sustainable living, government incentives, and the decreasing costs of solar technology and energy-efficient systems. Additionally, government program initiatives encourage builders to meet higher energy standards and build to zero-energy-ready standards.