The Sunshine Coast Solar Association (SCSA) will be looking at rooftops in the coming months as the group searches for a partner for a community solar project. The solar array project would provide an opportunity for locals to invest in green energy without putting solar panels on their rooftops.
Matt McLean is spearheading this project, working for the SCSA until the end of March, thanks to a grant from the Sunshine Coast Community Foundation. McLean also works for the Coast Car Co-op and the Sechelt Downtown Business Association. He will be joined by four UBC Environmental Science students who have committed to working with SCSA to analyze potential community array sites.
The community solar array will be placed on a large rooftop, somewhere on the Sunshine Coast. Ideally the rooftop needs to have sufficient space to hold the solar panels and have sufficient solar exposure. The building itself would require sufficient energy consumption to make the solar array worthwhile for the building owner.
“The system will be connected to the grid to make up for any over or under supply. However, we hope that most of the energy can be consumed by the building the array is placed on,” McLean said. He anticipates that the building owner would buy electricity from the solar panel on the roof and excess electricity would be sold back to BC Hydro at normal rates.
The cooperative that invests in the solar array would own the system and the building owner would be producing green energy on the rooftop, “contributing to a greener Sunshine Coast,” McLean said. It is hoped that investors would see a return on investment at some point, but it’s too early to speculate what that might be, McLean said.
In the past few years the SCSA has focused its efforts on solar panel bulk buys for individuals; however, the solar array offers an opportunity for people who want to invest in solar energy but can’t do it individually. “Some people want solar but can’t put in into their houses,” McLean said.
He said the SCSA has heard from people who rent houses and can’t install solar or others who have limited sun on their property, but they would still like to support green energy on the Coast.
Currently the SCSA is trying to determine the level of individual investment that would work best for the project and to help determine that number, the group is inviting residents of the Sunshine Coast to complete an online survey before the end of November. McLean is hoping to get a couple of hundred responses so SCSA has a good sample.
“I want to hear from everyone, not just green-minded people, to see if this is a good fit for the Sunshine Coast,” he said.
For this initiative SCSA is working with Rhiza Capital (Community Futures investment cooperative) and Solshare in Vancouver.
The SCSA online survey can be filled out before Nov. 30, at goo.gl/forms/dCTXRXj9MoeCYf7m2
