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Greenwashers continue to waste taxpayers dollars

Letters to the editor
By Letters to the editor
January 15th, 2013

The Editor, The Nelson Daily

Did you know Nelson now has $50,000 dollars of grant money in solar power panels? 

This is grid tie PV solar, or in other words, it is hooked to the power grid and if there is excess power the meter spins backwards making money. 

The data for the first system on a public building has been in place for two years now shows it has made $300. 

If it were real money and not grant money, a 25 year loan would have cost  $3167 by now or $2800 more than if nothing were done. 

This was a Solar BC grant.

Now LiveSmart BC recently gave a grant for $25,000 to our local Energy Heroes, on a private building the grant applicant, which is a new business, doesn’t own and statistically this business may not be around in five years.

Who owns these panels then? 

Also the panels were not installed at the optimum angle because the building owner didn’t want attachments to his roof, so the panels were laid flat. 

Now the efficiency is reduced, go figure?

The only one who benefits is the installing company.

This last installation was by a company who just attended CBT’s workshop on how to apply for grant money.

As an electronics technologist with experience in remote solar power where it makes sense because there is no alternative, this makes me very angry.

I am sure there were many deserving grant applicants for this money.

How do they feel knowing this second set of useless $25,000 solar panels now lie buried in the snow doing nothing for the community?

Our pockets are being picked by people who produce no value, never have, and never will. It is being done in the name of saving the planet.

As the bumper sticker says: “If you are not outraged, you have not been paying attention.”

Of course the greenwashers mantra is “we have to start somewhere”, I have to yell then “start somewhere that makes sense.” 

Subsidies don’t make unaffordable power affordable it just changes who pays.  You and I are paying for this . . . I don’t want to pay.

Max Yanke, Nelson B.C.

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