Does it have to be perfect? Even partial coverage would at least reduce demand from the grid and lower electricity bills for all. Winnipeg could be covering rooftops with panels wherever possible (and tenants could be hanging them from apartment balconies & windows like they recently approved in New York). Right now it's just farms and other businesses doing it, which they probably wouldn't be if it weren't for the fact solar starts paying for itself immediately upon use. I suppose these places have just worked something out on their own for when snow starts accumulating and/or are resigned to more of the benefits coming from longer summer days than in the winter. (I wonder if there's a possible market for accessories like heated "windshields" that can make snow clearing easier and less likely to invite damage.)

[–] ValueSubtracted@startrek.website 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Sure, but this article is about the lack of utility-scale solar capacity (read: large solar plants), not small-scale, individual efforts.

[–] LostWon@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Yes, it is. I guess I'm just thinking that as bills rise and capacity shrinks, there could be a provincial govt-led effort to reduce demand on the existing grid.

[–] ValueSubtracted@startrek.website 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I'd definitely love to see some grants or other assistance to get people building their own capacity.

[–] ikidd@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 19 hours ago

They had it but you had to use commercial installers and approved equipment sold through an installer. It came out to 3X as much as DIY, and they'd only cover half. Utter corporate welfare, I just bought the stuff myself and installed it and saved about $10,000