Renewables NB

Solar domestic hot water panels on roof & hot air sheets on side

This four bedroom, three level home has great southern exposure. The owner has experience in the construction field and has also taken training in performing solar hot water installations. He decided that he could get great value from installing two solar thermal technologies – a very efficient solar hot water system from Enerworks and two Solar Sheets to provide space heating, one on the main floor and one on the upstairs level.

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The owner started constructing his off-grid home on a 20-acre woodlot in 1996-97. He strove to have as low an impact as possible for the construction, and did this through a number of ways: all wood was milled on site from local sources, recycled materials were used whenever possible (such as old doors), he uses a composting toilet so as to reduce the use of water. He supplies all of his own firewood from the woodlot.

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This passive solar house is situated in a residential area and blends into the surrounding mixed forest environment being adjacent to a City woodlot. The high insulation levels of ICF (insulated concrete form) construction, R-30 to R-50, are key to the passive solar heating. The generating element of the passive solar heat is the 2 storey south wall of 80% glass made up of EnergyStar rated high performance windows with triple glazing. On the interior, the space behind the windows is a full open floor to ceiling area of 20 feet high encompassing the living room and dining area. The solar heated air circulates by natural convection throughout the open space and reaches into the rooms off the solar space.

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3.5 kW Raum Energy wind turbine

This is the second such turbine installed in Canada. The turbine is intended to be near zero maintenance by using the latest technologies (Gearless, brushless, permanent magnet), so as to be easy to operate.

The only problem with the wind turbine so far is that it has produced more energy than expected, which resulted in having to replace the original grid-tie inverter (rated for 3.5 kW) to a series of 3 1.3 kW inverters. Each inverter works independently to meet the energy production requirements at any given time. Also, the turbine produces some noise, which has been reduced by adding insulation to reduce vibration in the tower.

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This passive solar house is built in an almost rural setting within the town of St. Andrews with a view of Chamcook Harbour and Passamaquoddy Bay on the north and east side. The north to northwest side is sheltered by a grove of softwood trees. The solar face of the house is facing basically true south and is up of 50% glass. The windows are EnergyStar rated high performance windows with double glazing. The floor surfaces are masonry heat sink absorbing material. The roof overhang is designed to keep the summer sun and solar heat from entering the interior of the house. On the interior, the space behind the windows, is a full open floor to ceiling area of 12 feet high encompassing the living room, and large open entrance area. The solar heated air circulates by natural convection throughout the open space and reaches into the rooms off the solar space.

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