Solar Energy

Solar panels provide all the energy we need and then some. We sourced them through a worker owned co-op, Viridian. Once the install was done they made the house a subject of a case study post on their site.

We hoped to have an all electric house (i.e no oil tank, no natural gas hookup) so we began exploring solar early in the game. The original blower door test showed how leaky the house was. We got an estimate of the potential energy we could generate with solar on our site. Our house is near the top of a hill and benefits from a long unobstructed south facing roof. We learned that we ought to be able to run the whole house on the solar panels —— if we could insulate well. From John Ho, the city sustainability officer, we learned of a neioghborhood solar bulk buy. The Fernwood neighborhood association had partnered with Viridian. The more of us who signed on, the better the rate. Viridian rep, Steve Unger, became a valued team member as he worked and reworked the layout of the panels and product mix with Taylor (our contractor) and David (architect) and us to marry energy demands and aesthetics. The whole package of panels cost $27,000 installed. (details below) It will be a while to payout, but a year after the job was completed, we have a credit with BC Hydro for $311. It feels really great to see the meter running backwards as power is put into the grid.

The Viridian case study was done in the spring of 2021 - the first of a number done by our specialist partners. Steve deployed Viridian marketing director, Sarah Allan to work on the assignment. Sarah is a local woman of many talents - Vic High and U Vic grad. She spent three years in Belgium at NATO working in defense before returning home to Canada when Covid hit. She took drone photos of the house one sunny day then returned a week or so later. We talked for an hour and our conversation was distilled to seven minutes. It demonstrates how crucial the solar panel planning was to the success of the whole net zero endeavor. Viridian Blog Post Video. Steve Unger has since moved on to Shift Energy Group - another operation to consider when installing solar. He was wonderful to work with.

Less than a year after we solar-powered our house, the government of the Province of BC introduced rebates. Homeowners can earn up to $5000 in credits. Be sure to ask about this when you get quotes as the rebates can significantly reduce the payback time for switching to solar. In addition, the city of Victoria has launched a nifty mapping tool that lets you see the potential to generate solar energy on any given building in town. More about in in this CBC radio segment.

To nerd out on how BC solar performance ranks among Canadian provinces, check out energyhub.org an informational website for sustainable energy. The infographic below was researched and assembled by U Vic students in Cam Owens Geography class on sustainable cities.

A bulk buy in Fernwood led us to Viridian

Viridian is the colour between green and blue, representing the balance between ecology and technology which we are committed to. It is also the name of the solar company - a workers’ cooperative we learned about through our Fernwood neighborhood association and are using to design and install the system that powers our house. There are many good options in BC. Some of the purveyors have been vetted by the province. You’ll see much more info on our solar package as we get closer to the install date

You can get an estimate of how much solar you can generate

Here is the report we received from Viridian Solar. It is interesting to look at how this interacts with the demands of systems - and models of various amounts of insulation in board and outboard to balance the system.

How Do Solar Panels Lessen Air Pollution?

This treatise from LG comes from the website for Arctic Solar Ventures founded by Stephen Trimble.