A 52 House Solar Community

There is no doubt that this news may seem a little strange to be coming out of Alberta, ya know with the whole oil sands/companies invading the province, but a solar powered community has been built in Okotoks, Alberta, Canada.

Titled the Drake Landing Community, there are 800 solar panels located throughout the community on garage roofs, and they produce 1.5 mega-watts of thermal power during a summer day and supply heat to the district heating system.

Heres how it works:

• its a 52-house subdivision to have space and water heating supplied by solar energy
• Solar energy is captured year round by the 800-panel garage mounted arrays
• There is a combination of seasonal and short-term thermal storage (STTS) facilitate collection and storage of solar energy in the summer for use in space heating in winter
• Borehole thermal energy storage (BTES) is an in-ground heat sink for seasonal energy storage
• Short-term thermal storage (STTS) tanks are the central hub for heat movement between collectors, district loop (DL)/houses, and (BTES)
• DL moves heat from the STTS to the house

Okay so not the simplest explanation but heres the bottom line, a full on 52 house subdivision that runs on solar power! Come on’ right? It’s great to see Alberta making some positive moves to help fight against the impact the oil sands are having on that amazing province. Click here and here to learn more about this amazing community and company.

Keep it Green,

Paul