The UU Church of Olinda has installed about 10 kW of solar panels on the south and west side of its roof under Ontario’s microFIT program. The installer was Green Sun Rising of Windsor.
The panels were connected to the grid at the beginning of 2013. In accordance with rates released on March 22, 2012, the church receives 54.9 cents/kWh.
The panels are projected to provide about 12.5 MWh/yr, which will return rooughly $6,000 each year. Â The system for the essentially turnkey setup cost just under $60,000 plus tax plus hydro hookup fee. This translates into about a 10% return on investment for the next 20 years.

The system was funded as an investment of the Lloyd fund, viewed as an attractive guaranteed investment for about 15% of the current fund, returning 10% of the investment each year for at least 20 years and probably for much longer since hydro rates are expected to increase several fold over that period. All payments will be returned to the fund.

The net payments received to date, as provided by Treasurer Peter LeClair (2013) and Helen Moore (2014 to present):

February 2013: $312.87
March 2013: $407.11
April 2013: $616.84
May 2013: $1152.36
June 2013: $664.84
July 2013: $687.35
August 2013: $776.29
September 2013: $598.41
October 2013: $416.14
November 2013: $285.48
December 2013: $149.88
January 2014: $227.29
February 2014: $410.10
March 2014: $730.72
April 2014: $534.18
May 2014: $798.25
June 2014: $759.27
July 2014: $779.58
August 2014: $714.25
September 2014: $509.47
October 2014: $458.96
November 2014: $200.93
December 2014: $191.05
January 2015: $196.54
February 2015: $293.72
March 2015: $5664.37
April 2015: $672.53
May 2015: $798.80
June 2015: $638.49
July 2015: $861.93
August 2015: $685.15
September 2015: $569.31
October 2015: $492.45
November 2015: $260.23
December 2015: $184.46
January 2016: $306.89
February 2016: $344.22
March 2016 $493.00
April 2016: $632.39
May 2016: $749.87
June 2016: $813.01
July 2016: $812.46
August 2016: $662.03
September 2016: $501.24
October 2016: $508.37
November 2016: $264.01
December 2016: $174.52
January 2017: $172.87
February 2017: $410.04
March 2017: $418.28
April 2017: $673.01
May 2017: $787.75
June 2017: $813.01
July 2017: $705.40
August 2017: $619.21
September 2017: $586.27
October 2017: $384.79
November 2017: $260.71
December 2017: $149.27
January 2018 $171.23
February 2018: $301.34
March 2018: $552.78
April 2018: $581.88
May 2018: $738.89
June 2018: $788.30
July 2018: $670.82
Aug 2018: $600.00
Sept 2018: $423.77
Oct 2018: $313.97
Nov. 2018: $130.05
Dec. 2018: $189.89
Jan. 2019: $164.02
Feb. 2019: $233.20
Mar. 2019: $427.54
Apr. 2019: $500.56
May 2019: $641.65
June 2019: $641.10
July 2019: $730.04
Aug. 2019: $648.79
Sep. 2019: $445.11
Oct. 2019: $379.23
Nov. 2019: $144.26
Dec. 2019: $208.49
Jan. 2020: $140.40
Feb. 2020: $311.15
Mar. 2020: $403.39
Apr. 2020: $570.83
May  2020: $729.49
June 2020: $777.25
July 2020: $697.10
Aug. 2020: $570.28
Sep. 2020: $558.20
Oct. 2020: $395.70
Nov. 2020: $218.92
Dec. 2020: $142.41
Jan. 2021: $213.16
Feb. 2021: $426.92
Mar. 2021: $683.86
Apr. 2021: $511.47
May  2021: $787.07
June 2021: $764.56
July 2021: $675.62
Aug. 2021: $675.07
Sep. 2021: $461.51
Oct. 2021: $395.37
Nov. 2021: $216.66
Dec. 2021: $211.72
Jan. 2022: $197.44
Feb. 2022: $356.10
Mar. 2022: $416.49
Apr.  2022: $634.99
May  2022: $725.03
June 2022: $842.52
July 2022: $683.31
Aug. 2022: $672.33
Sep. 2022: $499.94
Oct. 2022: $393.43
Nov. 2022: $202.93
Dec. 2022: $131.01
Jan. 2023: $203.48
Feb. 2023: $412.10
Mar. 2023: $515.04
Apr. 2023: $470.11
May  2023: $889.67
June 2023: $689.08
July 2023: $667.93
Aug. 2023: $610.57
Sep. 2023: $431.18
Oct. 2023: $287.52
Nov. 2023: $224.36

The net received for 130 months of operation is  $63,918 for an average of $492/month and $5900/yr, quite close to the estimate and giving a ROI of over 10% after subtracting the amount Hydro One has assesses the church for account registration and administration. We had not anticipated these charges, but fortunately, they are relatively small, currently amounting to $6.10/mo.

Here are some useful links:

The installer:  http://GreenSunRising.com

The solar panel project at the Unitarian Congregation of Guelph, with active meters of  power generation:

http://guelph-unitarians.com/guelph_unitarians/home_page.php

The solar panel project at the Neighbourhood Unitarian Congregation in Toronto:

http://www.nuuc.ca/solarpanels.htm

Solar panels being installed on roof of the UU Church of Olinda

Installed panels on south-facing roof of church

Completed solar panel installation on church