Nancy Bepple isn’t a typical net-zero homeowner. She lives in an older home that wasn’t designed to be energy efficient, but Nancy happens to be one of those rare individuals who are very careful about their electricity usage. Consequently, 8 solar panels sufficed to meet her needs and BC has another net-zero energy home.
Continue reading BC Has Another Net-Zero Energy HomeBy Roy L Hales
There are slow pockets, but most of British Columbia’s solar contractors are busier than ever before. Riverside Energy Systems, in Kamloops, is finding it difficult to keep up. Rob Baxter, of Vancouver Renewable Energy Co-operative, thinks we may have reached a tipping point, “more people want to support solar energy.” Alevtina Akbulatova, Net Metering Specialist with BC Hydro, said 90 projects were connected to the grid during 2014. She added, “There are already 99 this year and I could approve a few more by the end of the day.” Add in the 1 megawatt of capacity from SunMine, the province’s first utility scale solar project, and BC’s Solar capacity Is doubling.
By Roy L Hales
Kevin Edgecombe’s passion was enflamed ed during a trip to Nepal in 2009. His wife, Linda, was one of the Directors of IWEN (Intercultural Women’s Educational Network), a charity that rescues females from bonded labour and provides meaning to their lives through education. After seeing the extent to which the program liberated young women, he decided to get more involved. A builder by trade, it is only natural that he would come up with a program like “Classrooms for a Cause.” In 2012 he led a team of volunteers that built two classrooms at the Chainpur School in Godhawa, Nepal. Now he is building a 4,000 square foot multi-functional facility, called Unako House, in the Dang region of Nepal. The name Unako means “it’s hers” in Nepalese. The building will hold a community center, classroom, workshop, kitchen, large meeting room, two retail outlets and living quarters for a caretaker. Though the grid is very intermittent, there are excellent solar conditions. The building will be solar powered and truly Unako: a house of their own.
Continue reading Unako: A House of their own
On February 28, 2014, BC Hydro filed an application to the BC Utilities Commission to increase the nameplate capacity limit under Net Metering from 50 to 100 kW.
There are presently around 250 rooftop solar installations, generating around 2.1 MW, in the province.
