Generating Solar Power in Your Home – Does it Make Dollars and Sense?
Fortis BC and the Wilden Living Lab are collecting real-life data.
“As home builders we are challenged by today’s home buyers who are asking: What if I go solar? How much does it cost me? When is it going to pay back?” Scott Tyerman, owner of AuthenTech Homes and builder of the Wilden Living Lab speaks from his own daily experience. “The Wilden Living Lab is a great opportunity to collect some real-life data so that we can provide solid answers to these questions.”
Fortis BC has installed advanced meters into the Home of Tomorrow to record the electricity generated by the solar panels. This energy will be fed into the Fortis BC electricity grid and homeowners will be compensated for the solar energy produced in their home on their annual bill.
Mark Warren, Fortis BC Director of Customer Service, says that Fortis BC is excited to be supporting the Wilden Living Lab and help equip the two homes with advanced meters in order to compare their energy consumption. “The Home of Tomorrow will be Energy Star New Home certified.”
The Home of Today is being built to current building codes directly adjacent to the Home of Tomorrow and will be the comparison model for the research conducted by UBCO’s School of Engineering. The monitoring of both homes over the course of three years will show exactly how the owners of the Home of Tomorrow will benefit from the solar energy generated and from other innovations such as the geothermal heat pump, better insulation and more energy-efficient appliances.
“All new homes in BC are solar ready,” says Don Pineau, President of GreenTech Solutions. “The BC building code requires solar conduits to go from your mechanical room up to your attic space. So if you decide to go solar even with your finished home, it’s really easy.”
