Frequently Asked Questions

When you emit no greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. When we reach Net Zero, global warming will stop.

Shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Start by installing solar panels on your home or business.

Yes. Solar panels capture energy from the sun and then generate electricity. You can use that power instantly, store it in a battery or send it on to distribution lines.  

If you buy energy when the price is low and sell it to the grid when prices are high, you can lower your electricity costs and profit from the energy you release to the grid.

You will need a special meter called an interval meter. These new meters track how much electricity you use every 5, 10 or 15 minutes. With an interval meter, you can release your energy when prices are high and use energy when prices are low.

Alberta’s regulations say micro-generators get one rate. Your rate is the same when you buy and when you sell. With the current regulation, you cannot have a high rate for credits and a lower rate for the power you use—unless you have an interval meter.

A small-scale energy producer who generates renewable power from sources like solar, wind, or hydro. In Alberta, the Alberta Energy Regulator distinguishes micro-generators from large power plants. 

Not really. Solar panel technology dates back to 1954, when scientists at Bell Laboratories generated electricity using a toy Ferris wheel.

Today, more and more Albertans are becoming micro-generators to lower their electricity prices and move away from traditional power plants that use fossil fuels like coal or natural gas to generate electricity. 

Batteries can store solar energy. Without batteries, there is no way to store the electricity solar panels generate. Solar panel batteries capture and store electricity, so you can access it later or send it to the grid. 

Solartility has software that manages your battery, monitoring electricity prices for you and releasing the energy when prices are high.

The grid is Alberta’s electricity network, made up of transmission and distribution lines. Electricity flows from power plants through transmission lines to local distribution lines and into homes or businesses. If you generate solar power, it connects to the local distribution lines in your area (e.g., EPCOR or ENMAX).”

The Alberta Electrical System Operator sets the price, which is the pool price.  This price fluctuates depending on supply and demand. The price ranges from just a few cents per kilowatt-hour at night to up to 99 cents during peak hours. You can check current prices at AESO’s website aeso.ca.

If you are a micro-generator, you can request an interval meter. 

If you have an interval meter, you will be treated like a large micro-generator, paying pool price for your exports and then the market rate for your imports.

Request one from your retailer. Under theElectric Utilities Act, the Micro-generation Regulation states that micro-generators can request interval meters. Micro-generators who request interval meters, and get one, should receive the same treatment as a large micro-generator.

A device that measures the flow of electricity to track how much we use. There are two types of meters: cumulative and interval. Most residential and small commercial meters in Alberta are cumulative.

Cumulative meters track how much electricity you use throughout the month. It’s like the odometer in your car. Imagine driving from Calgary to Fort McMurray. You check the odometer when you get in your car. When you reach Fort McMurray, the numbers have changed. They jumped about 700 kilometres to reflect the distance you covered.  The odometer reading doesn’t share any details, like where you had to slow down, where you could pick up speed, and whether you took a rest stop along the way. The odometer simply compares one dial reading to another.  

Similarly, if you compared odometer readings once a month, you would know how many kilometres you drove that month, but you wouldn’t know when you drove them. Cumulative meters operate the same way. All we know is how much power you used over the month—nothing more. We don’t know when you consumed it, and we don’t know how pricey electricity was when you had the power turned on. 

Interval meters store minute-by-minute data. They track how much electricity you use every 5, 10 or 15 minutes. It is like an odometer in your car that tells you when you drove those miles.

The system in Alberta assumes that only industrial sites or large commercial sites warrant interval meters. In Alberta, all residential sites receive the same treatment whether you have an interval or cumulative meter. There are no incentives to use your power at cheaper times or export it at expensive times, because cumulative meters don’t provide that kind of information.

You can benefit from using your power at cheaper times and selling it when prices are highYou also avoid how the Micro-generation Regulation locks you in. The regulation states that microgenerators can have only one rate. You sign up for a single rate. You receive that same rate when you draw power and when you sell it. With an interval meter, that changes, so you can sell high and buy low.

A car or truck that uses electric power instead of gas or diesel.

Electric vehicles draw electricity from batteries.

Switch to Solartility. If you’re not a micro-generator yet, sign up for solar panels then switch to Solartility.

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