High Schools Look Skyward to Heat Water Systems

Five Vancouver high schools will install solar thermal panels this spring to heat water in a slow, but growing effort by the school board to "green" the district. Lord Byng, David Thompson, Vancouver Technical, Windemere and Charles Tupper will get the panels thanks to funding through SolarBC, a provincial organization that encourages less reliance on fossil fuels.

Five Vancouver high schools will install solar thermal panels this spring to heat water in a slow, but growing effort by the school board to "green" the district. Lord Byng, David Thompson, Vancouver Technical, Windemere and Charles Tupper will get the panels thanks to funding through SolarBC, a provincial organization that encourages less reliance on fossil fuels.

"If SolarBC wasn't doing this, we wouldn't be doing this. We couldn't afford the up front costs," explained Kevin Millsip, Vancouver school district's sustainability coordinator.

SolarBC and federal funding from the ecoENERGY for Renewable Heat Program cover most of the cost of the solar thermal panels. Each unit is priced at about $24,000, but the school board will pay between $2,000 and $2,500 for each.

SolarBC selected 20 schools across the province for funding through its Solar for Schools project to help reduce the carbon footprint and energy costs for schools.

"[The units] should be installed mid-May through mid-June," said Millsip, a former COPE trustee who was hired as the district's first sustainability coordinator last May. His position is partly funded by the Vancouver Foundation.

Solar hot water systems convert sunlight into heat through solar collectors mounted on the roof. The supply of solar energy comes from radiation generated by the sun rather than just visible sunlight, so even cloudy days provide enough energy for a solar hot water system to be effective, according to the SolarBC website.

King George secondary installed the district's first solar hot water system in 2007. The Vancouver School Board now has a group called Solar Schools, with representatives from all six schools with solar panels, whose aim is to educate the community about the capacity of solar power and look for more opportunities to introduce it in the district.