I read with great interest the article in December 9th edition of the Moose Jaw Express titled “City begins installing solar panels on buildings as part of $1M project”.
The article may illustrate a tipping point. The cost of generating electricity by harnessing sunlight has dropped to the point that it makes sense both from an economic and environmental perspective.
To paraphrase it will cost 1 million dollars to convert Yara Center to LED lighting and install 730 solar panels on Yara Center, Mosaic Place, and the building housing city hall and Moose Jaw Police Station. The federal and provincial governments will cover $760,120 of the cost and City of Moose Jaw will cover the remaining $238,931.
The project is estimated to reduce the city’s utility bill by $170,000 annually as well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 829 tonnes a year. Now that is a good investment! The entire million dollar cost will be saved in just 5.8 years and the city’s portion of the cost will be paid in utility savings in just 17 months! Solar panels are projected to last for at least 25 years so the project will save Moose Jaw’s tax payers in excess of 4 million dollars!
That is a really positive outcome; we the citizens of Moose Jaw are collectively not only reducing our carbon footprint we are also saving money.
Robert Bellamy
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
