THE BALFOUR SOLAR SCAM?
Part 2 Part 1 is prerequisite reading!
Its a prerequisite to read my blog Understanding solar in the Kootenays first.
I am an Electrical Electronics Engineering Technolgist supervisor retired from a system with over 122 solar powered remote sites. Solar made sense, it was cheaper than flying fuel by helicopters. I know solar.
I haven't seen an honest solar grant application yet and I have seen many.. Since the beginning I have asked to have the deceptive Balfour solar systems on line public monitoring data corrected.
I did try to help director Faust understand I didn't think public grant money for solar power systems was good use of public dollars. I did volunteer to review any bids to ensure good equipment was being installed.
Next I knew the systems were installed. CBT grants state projects must demonstrate a positive return on investment and significant community impact
CBT grants are Not Eligible if they have a narrowly defined benefit
CWF grant eligibility requires prudent use of public funds.
The Pembina Institute was involved with their grant.
Someone wrote this: "The Pembina Insitute which is nothing more than a “gaggle of green gerbils” all sucking $$$ out of us,
There was a public meeting long ago, prior to the Nelson solar garden moving ahead, the director of the Pembina Institute was a speaker, he said half our power comes from coal. Its in the minutes, no negative comments at the meeting appear in the minutes.
Was this Balfour grant honest? You decide. To be eligible it had to have a positive economic return.
The grant application came up with a positive economic return using the IRR method of bookkeeping.
Warren Buffet the godfather of investing calls IRR BULL#$% bookeeping.
Buffett: I’ve been on 19 boards and seen a zillion presentations projecting a certain IRR [internal rate of return]. If the boards had burned them all, they’d have been better off. The IRR is based on what the CEO wants. The numbers are made up.
From an Institue of Finance:
A lot of people in class were surprised when I showed them the example of the Internal Rate of Return.” The Internal Rate of Return, or IRR, is commonly used to evaluate the performance of private equity. “They never realized it’s bullshit.”
Italics with background color are quotes from RDCK documents
From the bid documents.
Each company provided an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) calculation, but the details of how
each company performed the calculation is unknown. It is suspected the calculations are not
similar and may or may not include levelized operation and maintenance costs. Regardless, the
IRR calculations give good guidance to the economics of the system. Cost savings does not take
into account operating, maintenance and replacement costs. They are strictly savings on
electricity bills
Was there due diligence on behalf of the RDCK? They say the details of how each company performed the calculations is unknown and it is suspected the calculations are not similar! Shouldn't they confirm what is being provided? Solar sales people in all my experience are less than ethical. Their motivation is to sell solar systems.
Read that again above they don't take into account costs just savings on electricity.
My analogy, IRR bookeeping. You buy a logging truck for $300,000 and gross $30,000 in the year paying only for fuel $1400. Your gross $28,600, your positive economic return 9.6%.
Dont take into account costs for tires, repairs, wages, permits, licensing, financing. Only account for fuel.
Real expenses over $50,000. In real life you go broke and lose the truck.
If it was grant money the truck would be free all expenses covered and you made $28,600.
Taxpayers bought the truck paid all expenses but fuel and will continue to pay except for fuel.
This is how you get grant money!
Another quote from RDCK info:
Based on information provided by Dandelion, this represents an IRR of –0.4%
Thats not a positive return!
another RDCK quote:
the systems must be economical to ensure public dollars are being spent prudently
Balfour Community Hall Economics:
There are too many inconsistencies and different numbers in the available information. Dandelion Renewables of Alberta were the successful bidder, the bid info suggests they would instal 16.8kW of solar, the deceptive on line info says only 12.4kW its 18.3kW that is actually installed.
The Nelson news article got it right Nelson star .
The bid info says installation was done for $2.68/watt. I am not sure anyone can install for that price but there maybe be equipment out there to meet that number, it can't be the best.
It was installed in 2018, looking up the RDCK annual payments over $25,000 that year I see Dandelion Renewables were paid $66,666. A total of 67kW of solar was installed between all three buildings, even at $2.68/watt thats $179, 560.00. Where does the other $110,000 or so show up as paid?
The graph of solar power below shows a flat topping, this occurs with undersized inverters installed.
On the Dandelion Renewable bid equipment the will install it shows Fronius Primo inverters, its Sunny Boy SMA inverters that are installed.
I can't tell if power optimizers were installed, they are optional, if not installed they saved money.
If what I think is installed its like the old fashioned christmas tree light strings where if one bulb burns out they all go out. Good luck finding that.
Dandelion Renewables bid info shows the word microinverter but its not clear if that was meant to be installed. These are the best and all I would install. They are the most expensive.
The community hall solar system made made about $18 worth of power in December.
Its hard to tell what these systems actually ended up costing from the available information.
If it did cost up to $4/watt with a new roof it could be over $90,000. Just for the community hall.
Part of their bid calculations expected Nelson hydro to pay full retail for any of their excess solar power.
I think Nelson hydro has to come around sooner or later and only pay wholesale for anyone's excess soalr power, right now they pay full retail, that comes out of your electric bill. BC Hydro and Fortis don't do this.
The risk of this happening was mentioned in the preamble bid information. (ie full retail)
This is the current offering and it is unknown whether Nelson Hydro will continue to offer this credit payment.
Nelson hydros bylaw also says they won't buy anyone's power unless it makes economic sense. I keep asking the city management why they ignore their own bylaw, they have their own community solar garden scam going.
THE COMMUNITY HALL NEW ROOF
Did the community hall need replacing or did that only come up after the Alberta solar bidders viewed the site? I know you cannot install solar on that type of metal roof without it almost guaranteed to leak. The grant money had already been secured. Sounds like a danger of losing the grant money.
The following excerpts from RDCK documents.
the Balfour Recreation Commission for the Solar PV Systems Project be amended to include an additional $18,700
For the required roofing upgrade work, quotes from two regional roofing companies were received. Copies of all the quotes submitted were included with the BRC's final CWF application.
515/18 That the Community Works Funding amount of $110,463 approved April 20, 2018 by resolution 297 /18 to the Balfour Recreation Commission for the Solar PV Systems Project be amended to include an additional $18,700 for a total Community Works funding amount of $129,163 disbursed from Community Works Funds allocated to Electoral Area E.
The roof looked good to me, I am no expert.
PUBLIC DECEPTION
This Nelson star article had it correct, this is what I have kept asking to be corrected, anyone using this data for their calculations will be fooled, The systems appear to make more power than they do.
The Balfour Community Hall now has 60 Q Cells solar panels of 305 W each. These panels were installed on the west-facing roof, for a total capacity of 18.3 kW.(why are they still showing 12.4kW installed?)
The Balfour Golf Course now has 132 Q Cells solar panels of 305 watts each. The panels were installed on both the east and west roof faces, for a total capacity of 40.26 kilowatts(why are they showing 24.8kW installed?)
Then we have the deceptive on line public solar data for the community hall and golf clubhouse.
When you go to the three buildings publicly available on line data you will see below.
Below images are
Upon installation the installers sets up the on line data parameters. Was it a mistake on the Community Hall and Golf Clubhouse data? The Seniors centre is correct.
I think they made up these numbers, first off, they must be evenly divisible by .305,
Look at the left hand column on the public on line data for the community hall it never gets over 12kW there is 18kW installed.
Similarly for the Balfour golf clubhouse it never gets over 25kW, a lot of that has to do with solar panels facing east and west instead of optimally south. I am surprised they didn't sell panels for the north side.
Nelson hydro's bylaw says one can only instal a maximum of 25kW, they show 24.8kW for the Golf clubhouse, what is really installed is 40.26kW. I have asked numerous times to have this corrected.
I have pointed this out to Nelson hydro and city management, they have their own solar garden scam to worry about.
The losing Alberta bidder showed a smaller system for the golf clubhouse and in their bid info they state "in order to meet the Nelson hydro bylaw"
The bid info clearly states this requirement:
Many details and requirements are laid out in Nelson Hydro’s bylaw. One of the main stipulations is that projects cannot exceed 25 kW single-phase
When I first checked the Community Hall on line data I was puzzled. It was making the power that could only be made by the best premium equipment in the sunniest places in BC, not Balfour.
Dandelion Renewables proposes a 16.8 kW solar PV system on the entire west face of the Hall’s
roof, consisting of 60 PV modules and 60 micro-inverters on Schletter racking
A city councilor once asked me why I was picking on the community solar garden, I said I pick on all dishonest solar information I find. One city councilor told me the Community Solar Garden was free, its paid for by Nelson hydro. He never got re-elected.
There was a Vancouver Island system on YouTube produced by shaw cable, totally misrepresenting reality. I tried to get it taken down. I finally got a hold of the large international company who supplied the grant money, it was removed.
An engineers Victoria solar sales company did a report for the Ministry of Education showing schools could save money installing solar systems. He got the work. Haida Gwaii school district received solar power systems, I think they are one of the least sunny places on the planet. Arrow Lakes SD got several school solar systems. There was something fishy about all that, they were allowing public on line data. I contacted the SD superintendent and told her I didn't think this was proper use of education funds.
His company sells EV charging stations, he also got a grant to install an EV charging station, its attached to his business building. Its in an old house in the old part of Victoria where most of the houses have been replaced with light industrial. I asked the Fraser BAsin Council for his grant application, they are exempt from FOI legislation.They did supply me with a blank application. It states the installation must be near recreation, food and lodging, on a major travel route, near tourist attractions. So those charging their EV's have something to do.
She took down the on line public data. I asked why, she said it was a security risk.
Our own city councilor Rik Logtenberg had a Nelson business and received a grant for a solar system. It had to meet a bunch of criteria, be highly visible to the public, replicable by all and have a positive economic outlook. I have the engineers report, he claimed annual solar power that could only be made in the sunniest place in NA, Yuma, Az.
I presume the business went under because he and the solar power system disappeared. I asked the building owner about that. He told me they tried to sell it to him. He is in the electronics field he knew better, he told them to get it off his roof. I have kept asking the councilor what happened to it. I have had several stories but no answers. I would like to feel comfortable he didn't sell the system and keep the money. He won't tell me.
Nelson's LVR high school had on of the first solar systems from grant money. The publicly available on line data stopped working 2 years ago. I haven't heard of one student having any instruction on solar power, that was the intention.
Ten schools in SD8 each bought a solar panel contract in the Nelson community solar garden. I haven't heard of any instruction from teachers I have asked, they don't even know about it.
At a school trustee meeting at least 25 attendees from around the district with another who attended with me, he asked if anyone knew about the LVR high school in Nelson's solar system. Only the SD maintenance manager put up his hand.
Columbia Basin Trust grant installed solar power on the Castlegar city hall adjacent to their own Castelgar office building. I expect many more CBT grants funding more public building solar power systems in future.
New Westminster copied the Nelson community solar garden project selling contracts for power from a solar panel, I wonder if anyone down there has figured out the value for money spent? One thing is common about New Westminster, their hydro manager makes the same money as Nelson's although tens of thousands of more customers employees and a larger budget. New West has a board of commissioners involved in electric rate setting. In Nelson its up to the CAO and hydro manager, they pretend council is involved but they don't know what management tells them they just rubber stamp what management thinks they can get out of the public. As long as they stay just under Fortis electric rates nobody complains. I would like a board of commissioners on Nelson hydro rate setting. Certainly rural customers needs some representation and eyes on the inside of their finances.
I have many more stories about grant money that I believe was dishonestly taken.
There has never been any accountability. Dishonest grant applications I must presume happen all the time. Our public pockets keep getting picked and I keep pointing this out.
Is there Karma? I would like to think so.
I
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