Solar Hot Water Heating Acceleration Project
January 2005 to December 2006
Developed by B.C. Sustainable Energy Association (BCSEA)
Project Details
Project Advisory Team
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Project Details
Solar Water Heating is a mature, economic and sustainable
technology that can contribute towards energy efficiency
in B.C. while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Increasing
population and urbanization in B.C. and in other provinces
in Canada continue to exert unprecedented strain on utilities.
Since solar hot water systems have the ability to contribute
to the reduction of peak loads, they can also contribute
to utility load management goals. This technology has the
potential to be widely used in homes and businesses across
BC. In B.C., domestic hot water accounts for 20-30% of
residential energy consumption and another 50% in homes
that use hot water for space heating. Solar hot water systems
are designed to last twenty to forty years, minimize environmental
impacts and help community economic development through
the building of a sustainable industry economy. However, there are still many barriers to the widespread
use of solar water heating systems in B.C. These barriers
include a lack of public awareness and understanding about
this technology and a deficiency of easy financing options
for the purchase of these systems. It has been seen that
the dominant roles of Denmark, Germany, India, Japan, and
Spain in renewables are the product of conscious policy decisions
that have created demand for these technologies including
low-cost financing and other subsidies, education and stakeholder
involvement. Towards this end, this project will be instrumental
in developing demand for such policies. This project will
test the potential for the rapid acceleration of solar water
heating in pilot communities where such barriers are removed.
This project will:
1. Develop a Project Advisory Team consisting of representatives
of MEM, WLAP, B.C. Hydro, SESCI and CMHC that will guide
the project. This Team will also be involved in the cross-fertilization
of ideas and initiatives of energy alternatives among
these various institutions. NRCan and an Industry Advisory
Team
will also aid in the technical aspects of the project.
2. Select 3 to 4 B.C. communities that have a high potential
for solar heating and enthusiasm for solar as the pilot
communities for the project.
3. Investigate the financial barriers that limit the adoption
of the purchase of SWH systems and develop an action plan
to address these barriers.
4. Work with the solar industry in BC to install 100 solar
hot water systems in the pilot communities with the assistance
of financial incentives, NRCan grants and community involvement.
5. Increase public awareness of solar heating through press
interviews, a workshop at the SESCI conference in Vancouver
and showcase information presented at various Home Shows
across B.C.
6. Contribute towards improved policy development on solar
hot water heating at the provincial and national levels.
The intended outcomes of the project are:
1. Increased knowledge of the potential for solar hot water
in different communities in B.C.;
2. Increased awareness and knowledge of targeted community
members about solar hot water heating;
3. Increased knowledge of financial barriers to the installation
of solar hot water heaters and means of overcoming these
barriers;
4. Increased networking of business and institutional stakeholders
on solar hot water heating;
5. Increased public awareness and knowledge of SHW;
6. Improved viability of the solar hot water industry through
increasing demand for these systems;
7. Improved solar hot water policy development at the provincial
and national levels.
Project Status – April
2005
- The Project Advisory Team is in place and has developed
the selection criteria for the pilot communities.
- The Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection has
provided seed funding for the initiation of the project.
- The City of Dawson Creek has come forward to become
the first community to confirm its commitment to
this project.
City staff enthusiastically support this project
as a way to promote solar in their community.
For more information, please contact:
Nitya Harris, P. Eng.
Project Leader
nharris@horizon.bc.ca
Project Advisory Team
- Allan Dobie, Senior Consultant, Research and Information
Transfer, CMHC
- Patrick Mathot, Manager, Power Smart, BC
Hydro
- Allison Morrison, Senior Environmental Coordinator,
Corporate Sustainability, BC Hydro
- Andrew Pape-Salmon, Senior Policy Advisor - Energy Efficiency
and Conservation, Alternative Energy Policy Branch, BC
Ministry of Energy and Mines
- Donna Sanford, Senior Policy Analyst, Climate Change
Section, BC Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection
- Terry White, President, Solar Energy Society of Canada
Last Updated: October 11, 2005
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