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Kelowna is Solar Community of the Year

Kelowna Is Solar Community of The Year


Posted by Nitya Harris on February 24, 2009
 City In The Okanagan Puts Plans Into Action

Randy Cleveland, Guy Dauncey and Nitya Harris

SolarBC is proud to recognize the city of Kelowna as our 2008 Solar Community of the Year, for recognition of their leadership towards becoming a SolarBC Community.
“Thank you so much for letting me speak to you on our plans to make Kelowna truly a Solar City,” said civic properties manager Randy Cleveland, speaking on behalf of Mayor Sharon Shepherd, who was unable to accept the award at the 2009 Solar Summit due to a flight cancellation.
“Last September, our City was named one of six SolarBC Communities and was asked to take a leadership role in developing the market for solar hot water and raise awareness of SolarBC.
As a popular tourist destination, Kelowna is known world wide for its beautiful sunshine. Every year, Kelowna receives 2,000 hours of bright sunshine and, during the summer, we have 300 hours of sunshine per month.
As we move forward on solar projects, and harness the power of that sun, we hope that Kelowna will soon also be known as a leader in renewable energy use.
Leaders are almost always good goal setters.
The tips I have heard about reaching your goals are to write it down, break it down, and remind yourself.
The goals we have set for our City is to reduce overall energy consumpations in municipal buildings by 20 per cent by 2010.
Solar energy is vital part of us reaching this goal.
Setting a goal is NOT a spectator's sport. It requires action.
Steadily, the City has embarked on several solar projects.
Most recently, the City partnered with Carmanah Technologies Corporation and the Government of Canada on a project that will see 100 solar-powered lights in a number of different public spaces – illuminating trails, parks, transit stations and civic buildings.
In our downtown, we have 22 solar-powered parking kiosks. In an effort to dramatically reduce the 10,000 double-A batteries consumed annually by parking meters, the kiosks have replaced 173 traditional electric parking metres.
You can even enjoy the sun - and the energy savings – by crossing the street in Kelowna.
Our solar-powered pedestrian signals are 90 per cent more efficient and brighter than their traditional counterparts and reduce the need for running electrical service to remote sites.
Business in our community has also turned to solar technologies.
In 2002, local Best Western hotelier Greg Salloum installed a $250-thousand solar system to heat 145 guest rooms, two hot tubs and a 90-thousand-litre swimming pool.
This system uses 101 solar panels to power the hotel’s large heat pumps, which heat water for both domestic usage (taps) and the hotel’s hot water heating system.
This retrofit alone prevents 90 tonnes of carbon dioxide from being released into our atmosphere per year!
And the pay-back is quick – a mere six years after installation.
At our world class ski resort, two hotels at Big White are using similar solar systems to heat outdoor swimming pools.
It was this community spirit we turned to when we envisioned Kelowna as a Solar Community. To be successful, we knew adopting solar energy would need to be a community endeavour.
One of our first steps has been to form a community-based Solar Steering Committee.
Our city staff joined forces with energy partners FortisBC and Tereasen Gas and, together with the Okanagan Environmental Industry Alliance, we are exploring both civic and community solar initiatives.
An alliance of manufacturers and suppliers, the Okanagan Environmental Industry Alliance promotes the growth of residential, commercial and industrial markets for environmental products, services and technologies.
The City will be working closely with the Alliance on an exciting project to bring solar to the Okanagan Valley.
The Okanagan Shuswap Solar Project is funded by the Government of Canada ecoENERGY for Renewable Heat Program and will support the installation of 600 solar hot water systems in new single-family homes – four hundred and seventy targeted for the Central Okanagan.
The City is working with the project staff to help facilitate the permitting of residential installations within Kelowna.
For the City, our lead solar project will take place at the City-owned Kelowna Family Y facility, home to the Athans Pool, which is named after Olympic diver George Athans Senior who competed in 1936 Berlin Games and the 1948 London Games.
The facility, originally built in 1981, has been identified as one of the municipal buildings having the greatest potential for utility consumption savings.
We are developing a preliminary design for a pool dehumidification system coupled with a solar water heating component.
The retrofit will see solar panels installed along the roof, collecting the energy from our warm Okanagan sun.
Circulating water transfers the collected energy to a storage tank. This solar-heated water will preheat shower water and assist in pool heating.
On sunny summer days, no extra heating may be needed, while in winter the preheated water will reduce the energy needed to raise the water’s temperature.
The solar energy will provide an estimated annual reduction of 35.7 tonnes of greenhouse gases.
This facility, already a well known example of the City partnering with the community, will be our lead project to publicly promote the use of solar water heating.
We hope by leading by example, other commercial and institutional buildings will consider solar water heating as a viable option.
The demonstration site will also be used to train municipal staff and inspectors.
The success at the Kelowna Family Y will pave the way to bring solar heat to our other aquatic facilities, the Parkinson Recreation Centre and our soon to be complete new waterpark – the H2O Adventure and Fitness Centre.
The final design for the project is expected this spring with installation set for this fall, during our regularly scheduled maintenance shut down.
Our hope is to see solar water heating before the end of the year.
Indeed, 2009 will be an exciting year for our community as together we learn more about the power of the sun.
Plans are already underway to provide a community workshop to help our residents learn about installations, incentives and savings.
I’m excited to watch who will step forward to embrace this energy efficient technology and be our new community champions.
Solar energy is an abundant energy resource and what better way than solar panels on your roof to showcase your commitment in living green.
So it is my hope, that the next time you come to visit us in Kelowna, you be compelled to look up and count the roofs.”