APEGBC Innovation article on SunMine

Posted on by Michel de Spot

From brownfield to SuNfield.

Most people visit Kimberley for the snow; now, perhaps, they’ll visit for the solar power.

On June 22, 2015, the city flipped the switch on the 4,032 solar-cell modules mounted on 96 trackers that make up SunMine, the first redevelopment of a former industrial site into a solar plant in Canada, and BC’s largest-ever solar project. It’s also the first solar project in BC to sell power to the BC Hydro grid, and the first and only solar plant owned and operated by a Canadian municipality.

That’s a lot of firsts, but get ready: there are more.

Read here  an excellent article from APEGBC Innovation magazine describing the SunMine solar project in Kimberley,  BC.

 

SunMine Opening Ceremony Pictures

Posted on by Michel de Spot
Attendees
Flipping the switch
Switching the switch
Don McCormick, Mayor of Kimberley
SunMine view
Min. Energy and Mines, Bill Bennett
?A’QAM Chief Jim Whitehead
SunMine view
EcoSmart President and CEO, Michel de Spot
Mayor of Kimberley, Don McCormick
Teck CEO, Don Lindsay.
SunMine view
Bennett & McCormick
Flipping the switch
Don Lindsay, CEO Teck
Bill Bennett, BC Min. Energy and Mines
SunMine view
Don Lindsay, CEO Teck
Attendees
Michel de Spot, CEO EcoSmart
Bill Bennett, BC Min. Energy and Mines
Mayor of Kimberley, Don McCormick
SunMine view
Flipping the switch
EcoSmart President and CEO, Michel de Spot

SunMine Partners & Quotes

Posted on by Michel de Spot

EcoSmart

The EcoSmart Foundation is a not-for-profit Canadian corporation based in Vancouver, BC. Canada. EcoSmart develops activities and projects fostering technical solutions and innovations towards a sustainable economy. In the past five years, it has increasingly focused its efforts on renewable energy, in particular PV solar energy. EcoSmart operates out of Vancouver and is a governed by a board of directors, made up of volunteer members, from across the country, who represent research, government, and the private sector. EcoSmart has been primarily responsible for developing and incubating SunMine. Continue reading SunMine Partners & Quotes

Solar Maps of Canada

Posted on by Michel de Spot


Solar maps of Canada based on monthly data provided by NRCan.
Click on an image to view it in more details.
The maps give the average solar energy DC output in kWh/kW from PV modules installed on various mounting systems: Fixed, Vertical-Axis Tracking,  Horizontal Axis Tracking,  2-axis tracking.

The calculations take into account the angle of incidence, the ratio between direct and diffuse irradiation, the average ambient temperature and their effects on PV efficiency.
The maps are based on a 10 km x 10 km grid, i.e. each ‘pixel’ represents an area of 10 x 10 km,  an extremely fine resolution.

Other maps: