[Dearth]

A friend of mine installed solar panels at his cabin (it is lived in yr round)at a huge cost but its what his wife wanted

Benefits he found
-even minimal light generates power even with the snow covering more than 70% of the panels
-his power costs are virtually nil now still has hydro hookup as well as generator backup hydro is only used for his outdoor plugs
-side benefit one of his solar panels is used to heat water during non winter months and does a great job of it
-relatively maintenance free(no need for tree removal or hydro maintenance all lines underground)

Downsides
-battery bank takes up fair amount of room in his basement
-snow load broke a solar panel even with insurance still cost him a pretty penny to replace
-ice buildup a major issue on one of his panels(close to chimney from fireplace)
-he will never ever get back what he put into it costwise

He likes the solar power but as he told his wife if you want solar power on another place she will have to find a way to pay for it as it cost him close to $70,000 to install what they have at the cabin and that was with all discounts too

He is all for green energy but the cost especially up north does not make it a viable attractive solution as everything has to come out of Hongcouver or Edmonton and cost of shipping and even repair costs a lot.