IWAV successfully completes significant Croftonbrook housing solar system installation

By Salt Spring News

Health & Wellness, News & Events - December 12, 2022

Islanders Working Against Violence (IWAV) is pleased to announce the completed installation of a large photo-voltaic system to the new apartment buildings at Croftonbrook. This is likely the largest solar project in the Gulf Islands, with 298 solar panels installed over 3 buildings and 134.1 kW capacity.

In May 2021, IWAV partnered with Salt Spring Community Energy (SSCE) to initiate this project with the shared goal of generating local green energy for affordable housing. Salt Spring Community Energy is a not-for-profit society of local citizens concerned with sustainability, encouraging renewable energy and clean technology on Salt Spring Island. Salt Spring Community Energy was able to provide technical expertise through the Request For Proposal (RFP) process to select the solar energy contractor. SSCE also provided project oversight, digital recording of the installation and will assist with the install of education monitors in the buildings.

In 2017-2018, IWAV designed the buildings to be solar-ready but didn’t have the funding approved for the addition of photovoltaic technology. Through 2021 and early 2022, IWAV and SSCE worked on fund development and were able to receive contributions from CRD (Grant in Aid), Salt Spring Island Foundation, VanCity’s enviroFund, Mid-Island Co-op, Mauro Family Foundation, 100 Men Who Care and private donations. IWAV raised $52,500 towards the total cost of $250,000, with the balance forming part of the mortgage.

“This unique partnership between green energy proponents and affordable housing operators has been a success – to utilize our infrastructure and provide green energy for our residents and the local grid. IWAV is so grateful to all of our funders for their support to make this possible!” ~ Kisae Petersen, IWAV Executive Director

The solar installation occurred over the past two weeks with a large crew to install the panels and balance of systems on the two apartment buildings and workshop. It was installed by Hakai Energy Solutions, a company based in Cumberland, who was the successful applicant to IWAV/SSCE’s Request for Proposal. IWAV and SSCE are pleased to have worked with Hakai Energy who provided professional service with quality equipment and performance.

IWAV provides 74 units of rental housing at Croftonbrook for low to moderate-income residents, who are individuals, seniors, people with disabilities and small families. This solar project will be used to generate energy for the common load of the buildings which will reduce IWAV’s operating expenses and support ongoing affordability for residents. In the peak season, this technology will also generate additional energy that will supply the local grid at a level equivalent to the annual use of 12.1 average single-family households.

Croftonbrook’s new buildings have other sustainability features including grey water recycling, energy-efficient design, water-saving devices and design, heat pumps and energy-efficient lighting fixtures. Electric vehicle chargers will be installed in 2023 and the energy will be offset by the solar production.

“It was a pleasure to work with the IWAV team on this substantial energy project. Their vision and commitment over many years of development ensured not only success but a path to a sustainable future.” ~ Kjell Liem, Salt Spring Community Energy

Photos courtesy of David Denning and Ron Watts

By Salt Spring News

Salt Spring Exchange news and editorial account for general public news, community contributed stories and official news releases. View all posts by Salt Spring News

6 responses to “IWAV successfully completes significant Croftonbrook housing solar system installation”

Colin Coe

2 years ago

I must be missing something. BC Hydro supply to our region of BC is already 100% hydro electric. So there is no environmental benefit from this expensive installation. Unless they have installed back up battery storage this system will not provide power during a power outage. Battery storage is expensive - they cost about $700 each for a high quality deep cycle battery. such as a Lifetime battery. This solar system will produce its peak output during the summer when BC Hydro has a significant surplus. They resell this surplus at a low price .Occasionally BC Hydro has a peak constraint but that is typically in Jan & Feb mostly in the afternoon and early evening when solar is virtually non existent. Our winter cloudy weather, short days and low angle of sunlight significantly reduces solar output capability at the very time when it is most needed. Our peak demand is during the winter.
Furthermore the polysilicon wafers for the solar panels are mostly produced in China using coal generated electricity. At least the factories I visited. Using the existing BC Hydro infrastructure rather than installing a redundant system. The funds raised could have been used more effectively than for this project.
But perhaps there are aspects that are not obvious.
1. Kjell Liem
  
  2 years ago
  
  Wayne Gretzky has said, "I skate to where the puck is going, not to where it has been."
  
  And in this context solar energy can be thought of a new breed of energy that includes efficiency, smart loads, local generation, and energy storage. This can create energy resilience, energy security, and reduce the need to burn gas and other fossil fuels. And for this scale of project, the cost of the solar energy beats the cost of Hydro, keeping rents affordable, keeping energy dollars on the island.
  
  People are less interested in funding the permanent flooding of riparian valleys, farmland and the displacement of First Nations from their hunting, fishing and forging territories. At least that's what I hear.
  
  BC Hydro might not be concerned about the summer drought conditions, but forecasts for the PNW hydro systems are looking ahead at summer shortfalls. The glaciers aren't gong to last forever. It makes sense to diversify our energy sources. In my opinion anyways.
  1. Colin Coe
    
    2 years ago
    
    All sounds good but a solar project here makes as much sense as also installing a wind turbine at this location to displace the solar energy. BC Hydro is not short of energy and is in any case spending about $20 billion to add more hydro at Site C (not a project I agree with but it is nevertheless proceeding). For much of the year BC Hydro exports electricity through its subsidiary Powerex. During extreme winter cold events they are constrained but this is exactly the time when solar power in BC is at its lowest capacity due to clouds, short days and the low angle of the sun. This solar project does not displace one ounce of fossil fuels. Rather it will "sell" power back to the grid when it doesn't need it and the facility will draw the most power from the grid when it is the most constrained. The net result is to create higher rates for other Hydro customers than would otherwise be the case.
    I am not aware that BC Hydro has any transmission grid constraints in serving Salt Spring or the Gulf Islands.
    
    As for storage, there is no indication that this project has any but if it did that would provide at least some system efficiency benefit. I checked and a single Lifeline (car battery sized) deep cycle battery costs $700. Setting up a battery bank and storage controller system is an expensive project but may be worth considering here given that the solar system is already in place.
    
    While it is no doubt a cool technology it has zero "green" impact. With a capital cost of $250,000.00 the payback will probably take 20 years plus. That's what my friends at BC Hydro indicate is the average for a BC solar project.
    Solar is not cheaper in SW BC than existing Hydro once you incorporate the initial capital cost. While residents will realize a savings on their monthly bill a more direct and effective and cheaper approach would have been to simply obtain donations to create a fund to reduce monthly Hydro bills.
    
    BC Hydro does not fill its reservoirs from glaciers but mostly from snowmelt which at least recently has been fairly robust.
    
    If anyone wants to fund a solar project for environmental reasons then do it somewhere where the sun shines over 300 days a year and where it will directly replace existing diesel generated power- such as Central and South America or Africa.
    
    Surely this group must have far greater priorities. It is disappointing that the groups donating to this project didn't do some basic due diligence to understand that the primary driver of adding "green" energy has no validity in this case. They should have suggested other project grant alternatives such as adding more insulation, heat pumps or anything that was actually effective. Is $250,000. such a small amount of money these days that it doesn't matter?
    
    My objection is not so much with this group who are no doubt trying to do the right thing but rather those who spin this wasteful use of funds through a false narrative. Wayne Gretzky didn't skate to where the puck wasn't ever going to be.
    1. Kjell Liem
      
      2 years ago
      
      Colin we have experience with solar since our 2014 installation on the high school. Solar works great here.
      
      My question is your narrative. As far as winter peak is concerned that needs to be balanced with other grid and generation concerns. There is never one single metric to consider. In fact BC Hydro had to restrict water flows in our region in July. This is the exact time that solar peaks. [https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/cold-dry-weather-threatens-fish-habitat-but-not-power-supply-b-c-hydro-1.6686557]
      
      If you prefer energy from the mainland or the north east of the province, well... okay. If you like your investments in the $1B+ range, that's your call too.
      
      As far as ideas for better use of funds, the building is super insulated and has heat pumps. As I mentioned the solar is part of a package. it's 2022 and we have great energy options, available locally, that save money and energy from on island resources.
      1. Colin Coe
        
        2 years ago
        
        Dear Kjell, typically the BC Hydro system has its greatest supply surplus in the April through June period. Any solar returned to the grid at that time will simply see more water spilled over the dam. So solar results in a waste of a zero carbon resource during this period. Or it is sold at the Mid C hub for a very low price. Sometimes during this runoff period at a negative price. Stream flow can be limited in certain areas during the summer for salmon. But since power demand in our region is very low at that time it any impact on generation only affects exports to California. Not BC. And the article headline indicates that generation was not Impacted. With regards to the high school solar project I would very much like to see their output by month. Is that public? I suspect that their maximum output is mid June through Labour day when their demand is low due to summer vacations. "Selling" this back to the grid is counter productive from a system perspective. So not really an efficient solution. With regards to the desire to have locally produced power- why is this a benefit? Those electrons from the Peace or Columbia dams move pretty quickly as you know. In about the time of one keystroke. So replacement of one zero emission energy source for a local zero emission energy source is a meaningless concept.
        Along with others we fought Site C and lost, so they are building a $20 billion 1185 MW facility that will further exacerbate our power surplus.
        
        Regarding my narrative - it is fundamentally sound and based on decades in the energy business. Including as a DSM manager for BC Hydro Power Smart. BC is largely in a power surplus with the exception of potential constraints during a winter cold snap. The physics are pretty clear- solar generation capacity is limited during our winter period due to cloudy skies, short days and the low angle of the sun. You must have the data from the school. What is the capacity load factor average for January versus July? It is difficult to believe that they are equal.
        
        You indicate that I am supportive of mega projects. That assumes that an incremental project must be developed to meet core load needs. That is not the case.
        
        Spending money on even more redundant power capacity just doesn't make sense. Unless you ignore the initial cost of the installation of the solar system. If you assume that it is a zero cost then yes it works well and reduces the users cost. But someone pays for the capital cost. Even if donated it is money that would have otherwise gone to some other worthwhile use.
        In reality what is happening is that you (or whomever is paying for it) is simply prepaying their Hydro bill out 20 years and recovering the value over time.
        If the school had aligned itself with a third world school in a sunny climate and allowed that school to eliminate their reliance on diesel fuel generation- often transported hundreds of miles in armed convoys then that would be meaningful and measurable environmental and social benefit*. As it is the school solar project s simply an indulgent First World vanity project. It is visible virtue signaling. Nothing more.
        
        * the example above is exactly what occurs in Southern Mexico Belize Guatemala Nicaragua.
        
        But as I noted, apparently these days spending a few hundred thousand dollars is somewhat meaningless these days. So whether or not it makes economic sense is irrelevant it seems. So be it. But just don't justify it on environmental grounds or contend that it is critical to stabilize the local BC Hydro grid unless you have proof that this is the case. I don't believe that it is.
        
        Also, I checked the province snowpack data. For the past three years it has been well above average. In 2021 and 2022 in all regions. In 2020 in the areas east of the Cascades where the reservoirs are. From 108% to 121% of normal. For the west coast it is really only the California Sierras that have had low snowpack.
        
        There is a lot that can be done in our region to improve energy efficiency. Limiting the burning of wood for home heating is one. Solar, with no storage backup is neither environmentally nor economically sound.
        
        Kjell Liem
        
        2 years ago
        
        You don't seem anti-solar Colin. You are happy to see it elsewhere. But you've now seen hydro production limited during summer in our region, due to historically low water levels, and you say that doesn't matter. I think it does.
        
        There are a few reasons local generation equals energy security going forward. 1000+ kilometre transmission systems are becoming vulnerable in the face of climate disruption: fire, flood, and landslides. The disruptions last year cost our economy on the order or $10-16B, and that's not a one time thing. Our legacy infrastructure is also at some risk: from cyber warfare, or, looking at the situation in Ukraine, conventional warfare.
        
        No one is claiming that the project that you seem too resent is the answer in itself. But I believe that it's in the right direction (where the puck is going). Batteries can be added to solar panels for when the grid is broken as you noted.
        
        You aren't wrong about the seasonality of our solar resource. But seasonality does not stop island gardeners from growing vegetables even if that production is based on calendar.
        
        Economically, the project pencils. The cost of the solar electricity is cheaper than what the utility sells it for and has a positive return financially. If that wasn't the case this would never have been approved. I think your concerns are more system wide. And since you opposed Site C (thank you!), you also know that the system we inherited isn't an even playing field. We are spending $2million a day on the most destructive project the Canada has ever assessed environmentally. Solar is a charm compared to a new mega dam. And selling to grid avoid the energy losses from transmission.
        
        The misinformation I hear over and over though is seems to be encouraged by the utility, is that Big Hydro is carbon free, or zero emitting. No scientific studies claim that. Any studies that show minuscule footprint that are decades old, and likely the product of hydro utilities themselves. Modern studies, like the ones from University of Washington just south of us, use modern methods that show a surprisingly significant CO2e/kWh. Much higher than solar panels. Solar panels do not emit, while hydro reservoirs and the turbines, emit methane and other climate gasses.
        
        We may not agree on the best way to run an electricity system, but there are clear advantages to clean, distributed generation, along with efficiency and more intelligent energy use. Not a vanity project. Not simply virtue signalling. Something effective, practical, and an achievement.

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