FUTURE LOOKS BRIGHT FORSOLAR POWER IN ALBERTAPlugging into Alberta’s abundant sunshine makes a lot of sense. The resource is free, it generates no pollutants or greenhouse gases and its use can cut household energy bills by up to a third.

Passive solar systems have long been popular in Alberta, using large south-facing windows to absorb the sun’s heat. Active solar thermal systems – which use mechanical means to provide space heating and domestic hot water – have also come a long way, thanks to technology advances and falling installation costs.

This issue of C3 Views looks at another type of emerging solar power in Alberta – solar electricity, or solar photovoltaics (PV) as it’s commonly called. Solar PV is the fastest-growing form of global energy, and it’s finding increasing favour in Canada as the technology improves, prices drop and demand subsequently grows. The Alberta government has also recently pledged to make it easier for solar PV users to sell their surplus electricity to their utilities through what is known as net metering.

Climate Change Central is actively working to promote solar electric systems. We are involved in the Alberta Solar Municipal Showcase, in which up to 20 Alberta municipal organizations are installing small solar PV systems on their buildings. We have also supported solar PV initiatives at Cochrane High School and in the Net-Zero Energy Home program.

Hopefully, in the not-too-distant future, solar PV systems will become a common sight on the roofs of Alberta houses and buildings.

A Climate Change Central Newsletter

IN THIS ISSUE

Solar PV Slowly Shines on Alberta Page 2 • How Solar Photovoltaic Systems Work Page 4 CASE STUDY: Kerry Wood Nature Centre Harnesses Sun Page 5

Alberta’s Solar Electric Potential Looks Promising Page 5 CASE STUDY: Cochrane High School goes with Solar Scoreboard Page 7

Alberta Solar Municipal Showcase Page 7 CASE STUDY: Jasper Installation in the Alberta Solar Municipal Showcase Page 8

Net-Zero Energy Housing Page 8 CASE STUDIES: • Passive and Active Solar for Space and Water Heating Page 9 • Solar System Powers Net Zero Electricity Home Page 10

The opinions in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of Climate Change Central, un-less indicated.

© Climate Change Central

SIMON KNIGHT, PRESIDENT & CEO,

CLIMATE CHANGE CENTRAL

C3 VIEWS | MARCH 2007 | ISSUE 19

SOLAR ALBERTA

C3 VIEWS | MARCH 2007 2

SOLAR PV SLOWLY SHINES ON ALBERTAKyle Kasawski has a little power plant on the roof of his Edmonton house. This solar system produces virtually all his home’s electricity in the summer and about half his power year- round.

“I have an old house, and during the summer, my power bill would only be $2 a month if we had net metering,” says Kasawski, VP of sales and marketing with Conergy, a leading provider of solar electric services in Alberta.

Kasawski is one of a small but growing number of solar photovoltaic (PV) users in Alberta. The solar PV sector – which produces electricity, instead of the hot water and space heating produced by solar thermal systems (see sidebar, Passive and Active Solar for Space and Water Heating on p.9 ) – is the fastest-growing energy sector in the world, with an average growth rate of 25 to 35 per cent over the past 10 years; in Alberta, it’s grown about 30 per cent annually over the past seven years. “Anywhere you see electricity, you can have solar power,” says Alberta solar pioneer Gordon Howell of Howell-Mayhew Engineering Inc.

Solar PV is currently about a $1-million-a-year industry in Alberta, producing some 1.5 to 2 gigawatt-hours a year of electricity. An estimated 98 per cent of Alberta’s solar PV installations are off-grid applications. There are thousands of these systems, typically used in remote locations that are too expensive to run power lines to or use gas generators in. Perhaps the most visible of these are solar-powered roadside signs, which have been in use for several decades. Less noticeable are PV systems for telecommunication and mountaintop repeater stations or for railway communication or at remote oil industry and forestry sites.

“The largest consumer of PV modules in Alberta is the oilpatch, which uses them primarily for remote wellsite and pipeline monitoring,” says David Kelly, president of Sedmek Inc., a Calgary-based renewable energy services company. “They’re not big installations, but there are lots of them.”

In the consumer market, off-grid solar PV is popular with owners of cottages, cabins or remote homes, who might face the alternative of spending $15,000 per kilometre to have a conventional power line extended to their property. “Remote sites typically have no economic barriers. That’s why that market is so big,” says Howell. “A small, $5,000 system is pretty attractive compared with a $30,000 power line or even a $2,000 generator that you have to baby sit.”

Solar systems are also increasingly finding favour, as a reliable source of power, with recreational vehicle (RV) owners. “Ninety-five per cent of our activity is off-grid homes and

INSTALLED PV POWER IN THE REPORTING COUNTRIES BY APPLICATION (%) IN 2005

Source: International Energy Agency

RVs,” says Conergy’s Kasawski. “There are a lot of niche markets where solar PV makes the most economic sense.”

By contrast, there are currently only about 40 grid-connected solar PV systems in Alberta, typically two to three-kilowatt systems in homes such as those of Howell (2.3 kilowatt), Kasawski (1.6 kilowatt), Kelly (2 kilowatt), and Avalon Master Builder (3.7 kilowatt) in Red Deer. There are also a handful of demonstration installations – for example, at the Alberta Legislature (2.9 kilowatt), the University of Calgary (40 kilowatt), electric utility Epcor’s headquarters (13 kilowatt) and on municipal buildings (1 kilowatt), the latter as part of the Alberta Solar Municipal Showcase.

The reason for this scarcity of grid-connected systems in Alberta is simple economics. The price tag for a typical residential installation is $20,000 to $40,000 with a current payback of nearly 100 years, when compared with the cost of subsidized coal-fired electricity. While the cost of solar PV modules has come down from over $300 per watt in the late 1970s to under $10 per watt today, there’s still a sizable financial disincentive for widespread public acceptance.

“The economics of PV grid-tied systems are not great, unless you want to do it for market-ing reasons or to promote a green image,” says Kelly. “The economics on solar thermal are way better, with a payback period of 10 to 20 years.”

Those economics haven’t been a deterrent in countries like Japan, which boasted an installed PV capacity of 1,132 megawatts in 2004, or Germany (794 megawatts), compared with the Canadian total of 4 megawatts. That’s because such countries have regulations that require utilities to buy back excess grid-connected solar electricity at much higher rates than what they sell their conventionally-produced electricity for (because solar power still comprises a relatively small proportion of the total electrical generation, these

CUMULATIVE POWER CAPACITY INSTALLED IN CANADA

Source: International Energy Agency

C3 VIEWS | MARCH 2007 3

POTENTIAL FOR BIVP IN OPEC COUNTRIES

Source: Unleashing the Potential of On-Grid Photovoltics in Canada

In PV systems, the sun’s energy is directly converted into electricity by photovoltaic cells, which are semiconductors, generally made of silicon. These cells typically are 10 centimetres by 10 centimetres in size and generate about half a volt of electricity as long as the sun shines on them.

To produce larger amounts of electricity, these cells are grouped together in modules, or panels. A series of linked modules is known as an array.

PV modules generate direct current, the type of electricity produced by batteries. An inverter is thus needed to convert the direct current into the alternating current that most electric devices require and that utilities deliver.

Because PV cells work only when the sun is shining on them, off-grid systems (such as for road signs or cottages) require batteries to store the electricity for use at night or on cloudy days. Batteries are not required for grid-connected installations, which tap the utility’s system when the sun is not shining. A growing number of grid-tied users are able to sell their surplus electricity to the utility through a concept known as net metering.

regulations don’t significantly add to utility costs or consumer bills). Such incentives have also helped spur the rapid growth of the grid-connected solar PV industry in Spain, with the United States expected to soon follow suit.

Thus while 98 per cent of Canada’s solar PV market is off-grid, about 80 per cent of the rest of the world’s market is grid-connected. But the Canadian numbers could change significantly with the recent announcement that Ontario will require utilities to buy solar electricity for 42 cents per kilowatt hour; conventional power in the province sells for about six cents per kilowatt hour. Already, a consortium has announced plans to build up to 50 megawatts of solar PV farms across Ontario. The incentive should also help shorten the payback period for residential grid-connected systems to about 15 years.

Alberta currently has no incentives for grid-connected solar PV. But Alberta Energy Minister Mel Knight recently announced it will soon become much easier to connect solar and micro wind power to the grid and sell any excess electricity back to the utility through net metering. That should significantly improve a net metering process that is now cumbersome and expensive for individuals to go through.

“Germany, which is not known for being a particularly sunny country, is second in the world for generating solar electricity,” says John Rilett, director of energy efficiency and conserva-tion at Climate Change Central. “It took a significant amount of government encourage-ment and incentive to create the right environment for solar to take off in Germany. If the systems can be successful there, I see no reason why we can’t make them work here.” Howell is also optimistic about the long-term future of grid-connected solar electricity in Alberta. “When they built the first car and the first airplane, no one took them seriously either,” he says.

“You have to have the same mindset when buying solar PV as when people are buying an SUV or granite countertops, “ he adds. “Those products don’t have paybacks. People usually buy them for status reasons. It’s an easy pitch if you’re trying to convince people to buy solar PV. They tell me they do it for leadership reasons, for a green image, for energy security, to be the first on the block and to reduce their environmental footprint.”

C3 VIEWS | MARCH 2007 4

Source: Alberta Solar Showcase

RESOURCES

Primer on the Technologies of Renewable Energyhttp://www.pollutionprobe.org/Reports/renewableenergyprimer.pdf

HOW SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEMS WORK

RESOURCES

Solar Energy - Powerful, Proven, Practicalhttp://www.cansia.ca/downloads/cansiaindustrybrochure2006.pdf

An Introduction to Photovoltaic Systemshttp://www.canren.gc.ca/app/filerepository/0FB66385C0904D4FB129670EB0F63368.pdf

CanRENhttp://canren.gc.ca/tech_appl/index.asp?CaId=5&PgId=121

The Canadian Solar Industries Associationhttp://www.cansia.ca/more/PV5e.asp

Solar Energy Society of Canada Inc.http://www.newenergy.org/sesci/sesci_e.html

While PV modules are typically installed on the roof of a building, they can also be incorporated into the building’s design. They can thus be integrated into window panes, for example, or built right into the walls.

CASE STUDY: KERRY WOOD NATURE CENTRE HARNESSES SUNKerry Wood was a determined trailblazer whose writings helped establish 26 wildlife sanctuaries. It thus makes sense that the Kerry Wood Nature Centre in Red Deer is today blazing trails of its own in preserving the environment.

The centre’s solar installations are the largest in Red Deer and the first grid-connected solar photovoltaic system in central Alberta. The first system was installed in 2004, providing 2,400 watts of solar power; a second system added 2,200 watts two years later. Both systems benefited from fund raising by the Red Deer Naturalists, which helped with the installations and is now raising money for two more systems.

“The largest impacts of the solar project are on the regulatory side and in the demonstration value,” says Todd Nivens, the centre’s programs coordinator. “Because of the centre’s pioneer-ing efforts, future solar installations in Red Deer will now be less cumbersome. They have significantly less red tape to cut through than we did. There have been a couple of high-profile projects in Red Deer since our solar PV system went up.”

“Each system is a learning and growing process,” says Gordon Howell of Howell-Mayhew Engineering, who worked on the solar system design and installation for the nature centre.

The nature centre’s goal is to install four solar PV arrays. Each array provides about three per cent of the building’s power, thus decreasing the use of coal-fired electricity and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Already, the two installed systems save the centre nearly $400 per year in utility costs.

“The public reaction to the solar project and to our other sustainability upgrades has been huge,” Nivens says. The centre hosts Sustainable Energy Days, which showcase the solar project along with the centre’s high-efficiency furnaces, heat recovery ventilator, reflective light tubes, in-line flash water heater, waterless urinal and dozens of compact fluorescent bulbs.

ALBERTA’S SOLAR ELECTRIC POTENTIAL LOOKS PROMISINGWhat’s not to like about solar-powered electricity? Your fuel is a free, plentiful resource, especially in sunny Alberta. Solar photovoltaic (PV) power, as it’s called, produces no pollutants or greenhouse gases, and installing a system on your house can eliminate your overall home energy bill. Once in place, solar PV systems are reliable, virtually maintenance free and work well in extreme conditions.

“There’s a lot of opportunity for solar energy in Alberta, particularly in the southern part of the province where we get more annual sunlight than Miami,” says John Rilett, director of energy efficiency and conservation at Climate Change Central. “We’re seeing more buildings being put up with solar technology integrated into them, but it’s still a very small piece of our energy market.”

“Right now, the use of solar energy is coming out of a real grassroots effort from a handful of keen individuals who are promoting it,” Rilett says. “But I think as the technology progresses and it becomes more cost effective, weíll see more private sector and government interest.”

The good news is the cost of solar PV installations has been falling steadily over the past couple of decades and is now less than $10 per watt. “Costs typically go down about 20

C3 VIEWS | MARCH 2007 5

C3 VIEWS | MARCH 2007 6

RESOURCES

Solar PV electricity and market characteristics: two Canadian case-studies Ian H. RowlandsRenewable Energy Volume 30, Issue 6, May 2005, Pages 815-834

per cent every time the market doubles in size,” says Gordon Howell of Howell-Mayhew Engineering. Specifically, greater demand drives down prices through increased competition, more investment in plants and research and development, and improved economies of scale.

As well, solar modules have improved their efficiency from 14 to 17 per cent over the past decade, compared with 30 to 40 per cent for electricity generated by fossil fuels. This improved efficiency reduces the size and number of PV solar modules needed to produce the same amount of power, and thus cuts costs. Giving the steadily dropping costs, solar electricity is expected to be globally competitive with other electricity energy sources by 2015 to 2025, when the cost is expected to be about $2 per watt.

There are also some untapped, innovative markets where solar PV could make economic sense even sooner. “Alberta has good levels of intense solar radiation that often coincide with peak electric system demand and peak electricity prices,” says Ian Rowlands, an associate professor in the Faculty of Environmental Studies at the University of Waterloo. In particular, a Rowlands study showed that power generated during periods of strong solar radiation, in mid afternoon, could perhaps be used to help meet surging electrical demand during the same time period, when power prices can jump considerably. Indeed in Ontario, there were 20 times in 2005 when the purchased cost of peak-period electricity was higher than the cost of PV-generated power.

“Even a modest amount of peak shaving, from solar power, could make a valuable contribution to moderating prices in summer” says Rowlands. Such contributions could also help electricity systems with coal-fired utilities reduce their environmental impacts.

The biggest spur to increased PV grid-connected solar in Alberta would be financial incentives, like the 42-cents-per-kilowatt hour that Ontario is now offering for solar electricity. “I think Alberta should watch closely what Ontario’s doing and, if itís successful, come out with something similar,” says Kyle Kasawski, VP of sales and marketing for Edmonton-based Conergy. ìI think consumers, commercial users and even utilities would all support it. It would also help diversify Albertaís economy and increase our knowledge base.”

That knowledge base is already growing. For example, Calgary-based Sustainable Energy Technologies has developed a five-kilowatt, grid-tied inverter, used to convert solar energy into electricity. The primary destination for the company’s product is Spain, where a 57.5-cents-per-kilowatt hour incentive has helped make that country the world’s fastest-growing PV solar market. The inverters are typically used there in solar trackers, which are amassed on pieces of land, much like wind turbine farms.

ANNUAL SOLAR RADIATION OF ALBERTA1971 TO 2000

Source: Alberta Agriculture and Foods

When a new Grade 10 science curriculum in 2000 started emphasizing climate change, Cochrane High School teachers Stephanie Bennett and Earl Binder started brainstorming about “walking the curriculum’s talk” with their students. Not satisfied with assigning a research paper or building models, the two teachers opted for a project with a local impact. After a year-long feasibility study, the decision was made to install solar panels and a wind turbine.

Students joined in to raise money, promote the plan and investigate the many logistics of what became known as The Sustain-able Development Project (Climate Change Central contributed funding to the project). Phase One involved installing 30 solar panels, connected to the grid and contributing one per cent of the school’s electrical usage. A residential wind turbine was also added and though not grid connected, it feeds a laptop computer that measures the solar power usage and related statistics.

The project’s Phase Two includes 10 solar panels, which feed four lead-acid batteries connected to the gymnasium

light-emitting diode (LED) scoreboard. When the batteries are fully charged, the excess electricity goes to the grid. The system is designed for 10 hours of continuous use, sufficient for games during the week and weekend tournaments.

Bennett says the students at Cochrane High School have left a wide-ranging legacy. Several other schools in Alberta, Ontario and even England have begun investigating solar power after hearing about the Cochrane project. And a Cochrane town councilor recently suggested powering some public buildings with solar energy.

But the biggest impact has been on the participating students, who hosted open houses and spoke at several meetings in Cochrane, Calgary and Kananaskis Country. “The students gained confidence from the public speaking they

did and were charged by the positive feedback they received,” Bennett says. “Through exercising their civic rights, getting involved in something they believe in and going against the grain, these students grew emotionally and intellectually, building self-esteem and affecting their future choices.”

CASE STUDY: COCHRANE HIGH SCHOOL GOES WITH SOLAR SCOREBOARDC3 VIEWS | MARCH 2007 7

ALBERTA SOLAR MUNICIPAL SHOWCASEThe number of grid-connected solar electric installations in Alberta will likely double this year, thanks to a unique demonstration project.

Under the Alberta Solar Municipal Showcase, up to 20 municipal organizations in the province are installing one-kilowatt solar photovoltaic (PV) systems on their buildings. Medicine Hat, Pincher Creek, Jasper and the Association of Alberta Municipal Districts and Counties installed their systems in 2006, with the remaining participants to join the program later this year.

“The overall purpose is more educational than technical,” says program coordinator Janne Hicklin. “All of the participating municipal organizations want to demonstrate leadership in sustainability and are quite willing to install a grid-connected solar PV to demonstrate one technology people can use to address our energy challenges. There are not enough examples in the province of grid-connected PV solar, and we wanted to showcase their potential in highly-visible locations throughout Alberta.”

Each one-kilowatt system produces enough electricity to meet about one-sixth of a typical household’s electrical needs. Once the PV systems in all 20 municipal organizations are installed, the combined systems will generate roughly 23,000 kilowatt hours per year, thus reducing annual greenhouse gas emissions by 20 tonnes.

The Alberta Solar Municipal Showcase will highlight some of the opportunities for widespread acceptance of solar PV in Alberta. “This is a three-fold opportunity. First, it expands the leadership role that municipalities can take in demonstrating these systems. Second, municipal staff and public can gain experience with and the awareness of grid- connected PV. Third, it can help to influence the government to make the regulations as simple as possible (such as net metering and the paperwork needed for approval),” says project consultant Gordon Howell of Howell-Mayhew Engineering Inc.

Up to half the showcase’s $700,000 cost is funded by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), with additional support from Climate Change Central. That means each municipal organization will pay about $17,500 to participate in the FCM program, which concludes at the end of 2007. The PV systems, of course, will keep on generating for decades to come.

Last October, the Town of Jasper installed a one-kilowatt solar photovoltaic system on the roof of its activity centre. Town officials were keen to investigate alternative energy as a means of demonstrating environmental stewardship within spectacular Jasper National Park.

The Jasper project is part of the Alberta Solar Municipal Showcase. The project is half funded by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, with support from Climate Change Central and ME first! program.

“It was an excellent learning process and a wonderful opportunity to be part of something innovative and environmentally responsible,” says Nicole Ward, environmental stewardship coordinator for the Municipality of Jasper. “It allowed us to demonstrate our commitment to environmental stewardship in a new and exciting way.”

The power generated from the expandable solar PV system directly offsets the electrical needs of the activity centre. A computer displays real-time solar energy production and irradiance and the amount of greenhouse gases avoided.

“It was a learning process from start to finish in terms of the project planning and eventual installation, says Ward. “The benefits of the project have made the process worthwhile, though.”

CASE STUDY: JASPER GAINS INNOVATIVE SOLAR SYSTEM

NET-ZERO ENERGY HOUSINGFive years ago, it would have seemed a far-fetched dream. But it is now quite possible to build a Canadian house that, over the course of a year, requires no net consumption of external energy sources for heating and electricity.

These net-zero energy homes – which rely heavily on alternative energies like solar and geothermal power, as well as robust energy-efficiency measures – are becoming more widespread, thanks in large part to a federally-supported project to build 14 such demonstration homes in Canada. It’s all part of a Net Zero Energy Home Coalition plan to see 1,500 of these houses started across Canada in the next five years, with a long-term goal of shifting all new home construction to net-zero energy by 2030.

RESOURCES

Alberta Solar Municipal Showcasehttp://www.lassothesun.ca/

C3 VIEWS | MARCH 2007 8

C3 VIEWS | MARCH 2007 9

PASSIVE AND ACTIVE SOLAR FOR SPACE AND WATER HEATINGWith more than 2,500 kilowatt hours of free solar energy hitting the average home each day, Albertans could make huge cutbacks in their electric and natural gas bills by using the sun’s power to heat their homes and hot water. The trick is in knowing how to capture this endless supply of solar power effectively and economically.

“Using solar energy can reduce our heating needs very efficiently,” says solar power pioneer Tang Lee, a professor in the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Environmental Design. “The key is to integrate solar design into our buildings, rather than relying on expensive technology and trying to incorporate it into a building after the fact.”

So-called “passive” solar heating occurs all the time, with the sun’s rays entering the house through windows and being trapped like in a greenhouse. By carefully placing windows and choosing heat-absorbing materials, Alberta homes can maximize the captured sunlight year-round. An air-tight building envelope and high-efficiency insulation are also crucial for keeping the captured heat inside. At the same time, passive cooling techniques can be implemented by incorporating shades and reflective materials to minimize overheating from the more direct sunshine of summer.

Solar energy can also be captured and stored more actively. Solar collectors, for example, can be used to convert the sun’s energy into heat for immediate or later use. Such systems are typically used to pre-heat a home’s hot water supply or for radiant space heating.

RESOURCES

Active Solarhttp://www.newenergy.org/sesci/publications/pamphlets/active.html

An Introduction to Solar Water Heating Systemshttp://www.canren.gc.caapp/filerepository/BC4150C5F0A34FC7A872AA6039AB1904.pdf

Passive Solarhttp://www.newenergy.org/sesci/publications/pamphlets/passive.html

PASSIVE SOLAR SPACE HEATING

Source: Solar Energy Society of Canada

ACTIVE SOLAR WATER HEATING

Source: Solar Energy Society of Canada

Solar electricity can play a large role in helping these houses meet their net-zero energy goals. In Red Deer, for example, Avalon Master Builder is constructing Alberta’s first commercial net-zero energy house. This grid-tied house was recently selected as one of 12 winners in Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s EQuilibrium net-zero energy housing competition.

Another competition winner, Canadian Housing Energy Sustainable Solutions (CHESS), is building a net-zero Red Deer house that combines solar electric and solar thermal for power and heating. A third winner, Habitat Studio and Workshop Ltd. is building an Edmonton duplex in which solar electricity is an integral component. The fourth competition winner from Alberta, Echo-Logic Development Team, is developing Echo Haven, a complete community of 25 Calgary low-impact houses, featuring grid-tied solar photovoltaic systems.

RESOURCES

Federal Government’s Eco Energy for Renewable Heat initiativehttp://www.nrcan.gc.ca/media/newsreleases/2007/200702a_e.htm

Unleashing the Potential of On-Grid Photovoltaics in Canadahttp://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/site/mse-epe.nsf/vwapj/PV%20English%20version.pdf/$FILE/PV%20English%20version.pdf

Perhaps the most cost-effective use of solar energy in Canada is to heat domestic hot water. Natural Resources Canada estimates that half of an average Canadian home’s hot water needs can be supplied by solar energy. Solar hot water systems typically include a roof-mounted solar collector panel that is used to heat an anti-freeze solution, which is then pumped into an indoor storage tank, where it heats the potable water supply. Many systems also include a small photovoltaic solar collector to power the pumps required to move fluid through the system.

Lee says tremendous energy savings can be achieved using smart design and low-tech solutions to maximize solar power. “Using solar power should be a mindset, not a technology,” he says. “Becoming more efficient and reducing your energy consumption is the first step. Then with proper placement of windows and using materials that trap heat… maybe not as efficiently as a solar collector, but at a price you just can’t beat.”

DISCOVERY lll ECO-HAVEN RIVERDALEEQUILIBRIUM CONCEPT HOME

C3 VIEWS | MARCH 2007 10

CASE STUDY: SOLAR SYSTEM POWERS THE NET-ZERO ENERGY HOMEProving that home buyers can enjoy extreme energy efficiency at a reasonable cost is the lofty mission of a leading Alberta house builder. To show it’s possible, Avalon Master Builders has created the country’s first unsubsidized net-zero electricity home in Red Deer. Called Discovery II, the 1,587-square-foot single-family residence was unveiled last June as a show home.

“Our corporate vision is to build 100 per cent of all homes as Net-Zero Energy Homes by the year 2015 for no additional cost to the consumer,” says Avalon’s Calgary General Manager Kevin Gunn. “Building homes off the grid is nothing new, the ultimate challenge is to do it in an affordable and sustainable manner that meets the needs of today’s home buyers.”

Beginning with highly insulated, air-tight construction and energy-efficient lighting and appliances, the Discovery II home requires far less power than typical new homes in Alberta. A photovoltaic power system and solar space and hot water heating make the home almost energy self-sufficient.

The goal of Discovery II was to create a home that generates at least as much electricity as it uses over a year. The home’s solar system generates approximately 4,500 kilowatt-hours of

electricity each year. That’s enough to supply the average home with about 70 per cent of its annual electricity needs but more than enough to meet all of Discovery II’s power needs.

“The house is connected to the grid, so it can draw power when necessary and put it into the grid (if regulations allow) when it is producing a surplus,” Gunn says. “It doesn’t mean the residents don’t have an electric bill, it means that over 12 months their net electrical consumption will be zero.”

Producing this much electricity from solar power results in a 3,900-kilogram reduction in greenhouse gases. The home also saves 1,380 kilograms in annual greenhouse gas emissions through its superb insulation and use of solar space and water heating systems, which reduce natural gas bills by an estimated $220 per year.

Avalon’s next project, Discovery III, will be a net-zero energy home that creates as much heat and electricity as it consumes in a year. “We see the need, the benefit and the opportunities in Net-Zero Energy Homes for our company, consumers and society,” says Gunn.

Climate Change Central is a unique partnership between Alberta businesses, governments and the environmental community, aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Its multi-stakeholder programs focus on innovation,technology,education and public participation to strengthen Alberta’s environmental energy advantage.

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