SolarBC Executive Director, Nitya Harris, Presents to BCSEA Vancouver Chapter Meeting

Members and public learn how program is harnessing policy and technology to energize solar hot water in the province

BCSEA Vancouver chapter members and guests gathered on Tuesday, Nov 5th to hear an engaging and informative overview of SolarBC, presented by the program's Executive Director Nitya Harris. Held at the YWCA Program Centre, this well-attended presentation revealed both the technical and social scope of SolarBC, a program of the BC Sustainable Energy Association dedicated to facilitating the installation of solar hot water systems on homes and buildings throughout the province. Harris gave a great summary of the groundwork that has been laid, both in terms of policy and collaboration with the provincial governement, and the technological research and development to make solar hot water increasingly accessible.

Under one of it's most interesting initiatives - Solar Communities - six locations, each with unique conditions (Saanich, Kelowna, Tofino, West Vancouver, Dawson Creek and West Moberley First Nation) have been selected to take a leadership role in developing the market for solar hot water systems. Each community will receive funding, and assistance with marketing, training, and solar policy development.

Attendees at the presentation also had an opportunity to learn about different approaches to solar hot water from around the world, both on a smaller individual home scale, and innovative community-sized systems. With the price of traditional non-renewable energy sources on the rise and advancements in both technology and policy for solar systems, the financial and environmental benefits of solar hot water are clear. Not overly-complex or prohibitively expensive, solar hot water systems range from simple homemade panels to more elaborate community-wide collection, heat-storage, and distribution systems. In most cases, the systems are pre-heating water that will then be brought to the final temperature with a more traditional electric or gas-fired water heater. This vastly decreases the conventional energy demands on domestic hot water systems, which can account for a significant portion of residential energy usage.

Nitya Harris's clear and interesting presentation culminated with a question and answer session and some insight and additions from audience members. It was a great introduction to both the SolarBC program and solar hot water systems, and everyone learned something new. Some BCSEA Vancouver chapter updates and news rounded out the evening. These monthly chapter meetings and presentations are open to the public and are a great opportunity to come and see what the BC Sustainable Energy Association is all about and to become a member and get involved! See you at the next meeting!