The most expensive off grid inverter mistake in Ontario is choosing a modified sine wave unit to save $180 on a Tier 2 system, because the harmonic distortion from a modified sine wave off grid inverter destroyed the furnace control board of a property owner in Fergus, Centre Wellington within 6 weeks of commissioning, and
The most common Ontario solar panel output mistake is assuming the 100W STC rating on the back of a panel is the number that will appear on the SmartShunt, and a property owner on Stone Road in Guelph, Wellington County discovered this in January 2024 when she called to report her new system had failed
The most common Ontario solar battery cost mistake is comparing the shelf price rather than the cost per usable cycle over Ontario operating conditions, and a property owner on Paisley Road in Guelph, Wellington County discovered this when she bought a standard 100Ah AGM battery for $220 to save $300 on her initial solar battery
The most common Ontario off grid plumbing mistake is burying the supply line at 0.8 metres, and a property owner on Kortright Road West in Guelph, Wellington County discovered this in January 2023 when the supply line to her off-grid cabin froze solid after a four-day cold snap because the line was buried 0.4 metres
The most common Ontario solar energy cost mistake is comparing the panel invoice to the monthly hydro bill rather than calculating the Levelized Cost of Energy over 25 years, and a property owner on Steeles Avenue in Halton Hills understood this when she received a $58,000 Hydro One connection quote in fall 2023 and spent
The solar storage ontario location that costs Ontario property owners the most is a standard unheated garage in November, because a property owner in Rockwood, Wellington County stored his RV with a 100Ah standard LFP bank in an unheated detached garage from November through April and discovered in May that the bank would not accept
The most common Ontario off grid propane mistake is treating propane as a backup fuel rather than a primary heat fuel, and a property owner on Eramosa Road in Guelph, Wellington County discovered this when he tried to run his cooking, hot water, and supplemental electric space heating on his Tier 2 battery bank through
The rv solar ontario system that fails every October morning is not the system with the wrong panels or the wrong controller, but the system with a standard LFP battery in an unheated exterior compartment, because a camper at Elora Gorge Conservation Area in Wellington County ran a 200W array on a late-October weekend and
The Ontario RV Solar Guide: Heated LFP, the Tier 1 Spec, and the January Reality Check Read More »
The most expensive micro inverter ontario mistake is paying the per-panel MPPT premium on an unshaded Ontario roof, because a homeowner in Guelph added approximately $800 in micro inverter hardware to a clear south-facing 8-panel array and his Victron SmartShunt showed identical daily harvest numbers to his neighbour’s identical array running a standard string inverter.
The most common solar heater ontario mistake is connecting a 1,500W electric space heater to an off-grid battery bank, because a property owner in Orangeville, Dufferin County did exactly this in October and his Victron SmartShunt showed the battery bank at 8 percent SoC every evening by 6 PM within the first week. This happened