News from The Green Team

Sōl Power Official Startup

Solar & Green building Open House Held Saturday October 29, 2011

Exciting news – our 48 solar panels are now live! They are connected to the Toronto Hydro electrical grid and are creating clean, “green” energy for our community!

Although Sōl Power has been fully operational since October 20, we held the “official opening” at the Solar and Green Building Open House hosted at the church Saturday, October 29.

What’s more – there is a large computer monitor mounted on the wall outside the church office (above the food donation box) which features a rotating series of interesting displays about our energy creation. One screen in the display shows a graph that profiles the conversion of solar energy into electrical energy over the course of the day. You can see it go up (from zero) when the sun rises, its fluctuations throughout the day as the sun moves through variable cloud cover, and go back to zero when the sun sets.

Another screen shows the amount of money that we have earned so far that day. It also shows the savings in the release of greenhouse gases – the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere if we had created the same amount of energy with our current generating plants in Ontario. Finally, it shows the equivalent amount of greenhouse gases expressed in “number of kilometres driven” by a vehicle.

A third screen in the display shows the efficiency with which we are creating solar energy, ranging from 0% to 100%. This is dependent on the time of day, and the shading and brightness of the sun at that time of day. Go and have a look at the display! When it becomes available for publication, we will provide you with a URL where you can see for yourself, at any time, the same display as at the church.

On the wall beside the monitor there is an excellent photograph of the roof of the Stewart East Hall showing the solar panels, all oriented due south (the most efficient orientation at our latitude).

The congregation owes a great deal of thanks to Steve Tower, leader of the Green Team, whose vision and commitment translated into hours and hours of research, investigation, and dogged effort. He was ably supported by many volunteers including members of the Green Team, a specially-commissioned evaluation team, and others who assisted with the evaluation of contractor proposals, review of proposed technologies, final selection of technology and contractor, contractor negotiations, and oversight of the installation. At the risk of offending someone who was inadvertently left off the list, particular mention should be made of the support provided by: Carole Bennett, Dennis Bradley, George Cancilla, Paul Eckel, Laura Johnston, Fred Leslie, Michael Perkins, Doug Peter, Ian Reece, Bob Shirer, Elsa van Vliet, and Gil Watson, and other members of the Facilities Committee, the Green Team, and the Board of Trustees.

At the Solar and Green Building Open House, Sōl Power was dedicated to Skip Willis, who was a noted climate change expert and member of our congregation, and one of the key catalysts for the formation of the Green Team and its initiatives.

Now that Sōl Power is up and running, the Green Team will be focusing on projects to make our building more energy efficient. There is little virtue in creating clean, “green” energy if we overuse it through waste and inefficiency. In the meantime, if you have any questions about Sōl Power or the activities of the Green Team, please contact any member of the team: Carole Bennett, Dennis Bradley, Laura Johnston, Dave Laughton, Michael Perkins, and Steve Tower – Lead.

View the Sōl Power Story from the Open House (pdf)

See how our Solar Power Plant is doing.
View the total energy produced, total CO2 avoided, total dollars earned as well as
daily and hourly production figures and graphs.