Solar Hot Air and Water in Elmwood- SE
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. …
Solar Hot Water in Woodstock- SE
This evacuated tube solar hot water system with 65 gallon tank provides space heating through wall mounted radiator. The owners of this system are happy with it, however revisions were needed as the system was installed incorrectly. …
180W Photovoltaic on Off-Grid House in Kingston Peninsula- BE, SE
The owner started constructing his off-grid home on a 8.1 hectares (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. The small PV system, twelve 15 W solar panels, for a total of 180 W, powers lights, a water pump, a few appliances, and other …
Solar Hot Water in Ashland- SE
This was one of the first systems installed by Sunwave. It was originally installed to provide water and space heating. However, it produced all of its heat in the summer, when the space heat wasn’t needed. The system was oversized for the users, leading to ongoing problems with overheating, etc. Several components of the original system were not appropriate, such as a water tank that was not CSA approved. …
Passive Solar Home & Solar Hot Water in Burton- PS, SE
This passive solar house is situated on 0.6 hectares (1.5 acres) facing slightly east of due South. The insulated concrete formwork (ICF) construction allows for maximum air and wind tightness and achieves an R-value of R-29 (RSI 5.3) in the walls. The attic is insulated to R-50 (RSI 10.6). There is an insulated 1.22 m (4′) frost wall and the floor of the house on slab construction (no basement) is insulated to R-10 (RSI 3.6). All windows are EnergyStar rated double-glazed. The high-efficiency windows, air-tight construction, and high insulation values allows the house to take maximum advantage of the passive solar feature, storing …
2.1 kW Photovoltaic system & 31.6 kW Geothermal in Riverview- SE, GT
Owner feels strongly that electricians need to be more aware of how to install solar panels and other alternative technologies. Solar panels are net metered. When he first moved, geothermal was working full tilt but it wasn’t very efficient because the house wasn’t finished i.e. the insulation was not put in yet. Too early to see if there was any reduction in his electrical bills. …
Solar Hot Water at Hotel in Grand Falls- SE
This solar hot water system, likely the largest such installation in the province and perhaps the oldest, was installed in the early 1980’s as a result of government incentives to help with high energy costs at that time. Because of the age of the system, record keeping, and a change in management, much of the information relating to installer, costs, etc. have been lost. …
Off-Grid Camp in Sunny Corner- SE
This combination of renewable energy systems provides power for camp in the woods near the river. It would have cost $8000 to make a hydro line to the camp and they would have been forced to cut a 5 m (16′) wide clearing lane through the forest, losing their privacy. Only with the independence offered by a wind turbine and solar panels could they preserve the natural beauty of their wooded area. The hybrid system consists of two 400 W windmills mounted on an 26 m (84′) poll, and three 115 W solar panels, which store power in eight 6 V batteries. These systems are …
Off Grid Carbon Neutral Living at Interpretative Centre in Heron Wood- BE, PS, SE
The Laforge Holstein plant is a biomass system set on 400 hectares (1000 acres) of land that uses organic materials such as potato peels, fries, pizza dough and tomato sauce, mixed with manure and chicken grease residue for biodigestion (anaerobic decomposition). The system has 2 mixing tanks that hold the organic material: tank 1 is used as an energy source and tank 2 is used as a protein source. These tanks are linked to the biodigester using a regular feeding schedule run by a computer program that is linked to all the machinery. The ideal pumping ratio of organic material or feed …
300 W Photovoltaic system in Letete- SE
The 3-panel photovoltaic (PV) array from New England Solar supplies all the electrical needs for 4 people in this off-grid house and the boat building business. Power is stored in 6 Trojan deep-cycle 6 V batteries and includes a 30-A charge controller and 1500-W inverter. The system is now on a second set of batteries since 1991 and went from a set of 4 to 6 batteries. The main concern for the owners is that there are not enough resource people available who know alternative energy systems and equipment and who can help with problems. The owners provide for their total …
