Resource World Magazine

o c t o b e r / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 5 www.resourceworld.com 59 "Innovative, private clean energy projects have helped power BC since the 1980s and are a cornerstone of BC's energy policy," said Minister Bill Bennett, Minister of Energy and Mines. "The SunMine Project has the potential to spur interest in development of other solar projects, bringing more jobs and economic benefits to communities across B.C." conTracTinG companY presidenT Takes up residence in neT-zero home Terratek Energy Solutions Inc., a renewable energy company located in BC, recently installed the solar panels for a North Vancouver 'Net-Zero' home. The home is expected to produce more energy than it consumes with features such as eco-friendly heating. naikoon Contracting Ltd. President, Joe Geluch, says he managed the project known as the Midori Uchi or in Japanese, 'green home' because he will be living in it for a year to test it. With the help of an air-to-water heat pump, an outdoor unit con- denses the heat or cold out of the air and puts that into the system to heat water and heat or cool floors. The 2,400 square-foot home uses recycled waste water from its showers and baths to flush the toilets. The roof is built from prefabricated, heat-preserving insulated panels, and the building features triple-glazed windows and the only residential rammed earth wall in Metro Vancouver to reduce energy loss. Geluch says the entire project was completed in 18 months with locally sourced, reclaimed wood and recycled materials. leT iT snow Because most of Canada is known for its notoriously cold winters and snow dumps, the most frequently asked question by poten- tial solar power customers has always been: "So what happens when it snows?" SkyFire Energy, which has designed and installed grid con- nected and off grid solar power systems throughout Alberta, BC, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Northwest Territories and Yukon assures customers that snow has a minimal affect on solar production. This is because with a grid-connected solar PV system, the total annual energy production from the system is most important. The majority of the energy from a solar PV sys- tem in Canada is produced from March to October. Lost energy production due to snow during the darker months of November to February is not as important. Secondly, snow naturally melts off the solar modules. A number of factors affect when and how quickly the snow melts off. The Alternative Energy Program at Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) study tracked individual module perfor- mance based on the most common installation angles and the impact of snow on overall performance. The study was con- ducted over a span of three years (April 2012 – March 2015). They installed two test systems, one on NAIT's South Learning Centre and the other on the City Hall roof in Edmonton. The test systems were constructed to include the following racking angles: 14°, 18°, 27°, 45°, 53° (site latitude) and 90°. To track and compare the impact of snow coverage on solar production, they immediately removed snow from the left column of modules, after every snowfall or before sunrise the follow- ing morning. On average, their Edmonton arrays have required approximately 24 snow clearings per winter to date. solar power provides enerGY for wasTewaTer TreaTmenT Using the sun to help manage the tough job of sewage manage- ment was the approach taken by the Camden County Municipal Utility Authority in Camden, New Jersey. "The amount of sewage produced by any sizable city is simply enormous," said Thomas Körner, General Manager of Canadian Solar uSA Inc. And of course, when one is effectively running a cleanup operation of this magnitude one wants to use sources of energy that are as clean as possible," he added. It doesn't make sense to clean up in one area and soil another in the process. This makes clean solar the ideal energy source for waste treatment. Canadian Solar Inc. recently delivered over 8 MW of solar photovoltaic modules to the US solar power installer and distributor groSolar of White River Junction in Vermont. The modules were specifically purchased for three utility and commercial PV projects. Among the three new PV systems is a 1.8 MW solar project at the Camden County Municipal Utility Authority's wastewa- ter treatment plant (CCMUA). The plant makes use of Canadian Solar's monocrystalline PV modules. The system was designed to span open wastewater treatment tanks, so no extra space was required for their installation. More than being space-efficient and environmentally friendly, the system results in substantial cost savings on energy for the municipality. Thomas Körner said, "Canadian Solar is committed to support- ing its valued partners and customers. We were pleased to be selected as module provider of choice by groSolar's experienced team as we continue to expand in the US market." It is estimated that people in first-world countries produce about 75 litres of waste water per person per day. When one mul- tiplies this number by the hundreds of millions of people who live in North America and Europe, the potential for the applica- tion of solar solutions in this market is clearly vast. n

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