Editor:
The Sunshine Coast Community Solar Association has urged the District of Sechelt to install solar panels on its new Operations Centre. The site is a perfect location for solar and the architect designed the roof specifically for that. The cost of solar panels is now so economically viable that such an investment is fiscally responsible in the long term.
Our non-profit association was established to encourage solar energy on the Sunshine Coast. We have engaged in educating the community as to the benefits of solar and organized two popular solar panel bulk-buy campaigns. Recently we saw a feasibility report prepared for the district about installing solar panels on its building and were dismayed that the payback for solar panels was assumed to be 56 years and that BC Hydro rates will stay the same for that whole time! With hydro rates set to go up three per cent April 1, the report is already out of date.
The school district, which recently installed solar on one school roof and plans to do more, anticipates a payback of 14 years, more in line with our own figures. With battery technology becoming ever more economical, energy from an array of panels will be able to be stored for use in peak times and/or during power outages in the near future.
We urge Sechelt to take the initiative and demonstrate long-term fiscal prudence; approve installing solar panels on the operations building during construction, a far cheaper option than post construction. We encourage all our local governments on the Sunshine Coast to plan for solar panels on all new construction, particularly sites with such excellent exposure and alignment as the operations building. With human-caused global warming now leading to ever more catastrophic weather events, it is critical that all of us, individually and collectively, reduce our carbon footprint quickly and become part of the solution.
Gayle Neilson, Chair, Sunshine Coast Community Solar Association
