Fort St. John

The solar hot water system on Fort St. John’s City Hall is a testament to the slogan: "The Energetic City" as the decision to do so was one based heartily on enthusiasm. "It’s hugely important for municipalities to lead by example because you need something physical to show people, so that you can talk to them about how it works," says Planning Technologist Jennifer Decker. "The installation on the City Hall was a way to provide leadership and educational opportunities in-house."

The new Solar Community of Fort St. John is committed to promoting the use of solar energy through education in the community and leadership through its actions. As such, the city is currently offering $3000 incentives for isntalling solar hot water on residential homes. This, along with the SolarBC incentive of $2000 is a huge savings for any homeowner looking go solar!

SolarBC is in its final months of the program, and federal incentives for solar thermal will run out at the end of this year. In addition, the solar thermal industry in Canada has suffered over this summer with the sudden cut to the ecoEnergy retrofit program on April 1, 2010. The Minister of Natural Resources, Christian Paradis, has indicated he will support us in asking for funding in the upcoming budget if the industry can use the summer to meet with their local MP's to convince them to support the industry's request. This work is critical and his office has been clear - we need to ensure local MPs will support any request the Minister puts forward.

There’s a solar revolution happening in BC as local governments around the province are passing resolutions to sign on to the new Solar Hot Water Regulation bylaw.

The regulation requires all new single family homes (where applicable) to be built to accommodate future installation of a solar hot water system for water heating. Communities signed on so far are:

These new communities join our existing nine, to receive funding that will enable them to further develop solar hot water programs and other solar initiatives in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote clean energy and a sustainable energy future. "These seven new Solar Communities are showing how solar technology can be a part of their energy solution," said Minister Blair Lekstrom, who made the announcement in early June. "We now have a total of 16 Solar Communities across B.C., with innovative and sustainable energy solutions like solar hot water to help us become energy self-sufficient, while improving the environment in which we live."