Largest Solar Cooling Project Awarded for Retirement Village in Canada
Canadian Solar-Cooling Project awarded by the German „dena Solar Roofs Program for Foreign Market Development
The up-to-date largest Canadian solar-cooling project is awarded by the for Foreign Market Development 2009/10. The innovative project is proposed by a consortium of German and Canadian companies NARVA, s-power and Proterra Solar. Günter Schaffron, CEO of s-power explains: “The Canadian-German Oxford Gardens project in Woodstock, Canada, is one of the biggest of its kind to be realized in North America. s-power is very proud to cooperate on this project with NARVA and Proterra Solar.
The NARVA vacuum tubes and the s-power collector are 100 % made in Germany, which guarantees a high quality in terms of capacity and durability.â€
The project is currently being constructed at Oxford Gardens, a retirement village in Woodstock, Ontario, and includes the installation of 162 solar collectors. “Approximately 40% of the building’s air conditioning load, during the summer months in addition to an important contribution to the domestic hot water heating, pool heating and space heating will be covered by the solar-cooling system. This represents a significant portion of the energy consumption for the retirement homeâ€, states Bill VanHaeren, co-owner of the Oxford Gardens retirement home.
The opening ceremony for Canada’s largest commercial scale solar-cooling and thermal heating project will take place on November 9, 2010. Major political leaders and industrial stakeholders of the renewable industry are expected to attend.
The pilot project is initiated by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) and the Deutsche Energie-Agentur GmbH (dena) – the German Energy Agency – under the dena Solar Roofs Program. The program is carried out in the framework of the „Renewable Energies Export Initiative“ and offers comprehensive support for German solar energy companies wishing to enter promising export markets. “Participating in the dena Solar Roofs Program gives us the unique opportunity to present our innovative and superior products through a pilot project in Canada – an important prerequisite for successfully entering the North American market. Our commitment to the project would not have been possible without the support of the German Energy Agencyâ€, explains Uwe Zimmermann, marketing manager of the German company NARVA.
The use of renewable energies, particularly solar technologies, is gaining importance throughout the world. The German and Canadian solar industry is positioned to play a key role in this promising and dynamic market. The project is intended to encourage the further use of solar cooling and thermal heating systems in Canada with proven German technologies and will demonstrate its practical benefits. “We take our role in the renewable energy industry very seriously because our products will have an impact on protecting the climate for generations to come,†states Suni Ball, general manager of the Canadian partner company Proterra Solar.
FURTHER INFORMATION
About the project:
Oxford Gardens is a recently renovated retirement home with 110 residents and 101 individual suites. A 90 ton electric chiller is currently used for the air conditioning of the 9,900 sqm building and over 3,000 L of hot water is used on a daily basis. The forward-looking management of the retirement home, concerned with the fluctuating and rising costs of energy, began researching alternative energy sources. The solar cooling and thermal heating project proposed by the German-Canadian consortium enables the management to achieve savings for heating, cooling and hot water. The project includes the installation of 162 solar collectors onto the roof of the retirement home. These collectors will absorb the light from the sun’s radiation which converts to heat and then transfers into solar liquid. This heated solar fluid will then be used to heat the domestic water, pool, space heating and to run the absorption chiller.
About the project initiators:
The German companies NARVA and s-power both have the same founder, thus optimizing the vacuum tube production through NARVA and offering high-quality collectors through s-power. NARVA, producing vacuum tubes since 2007, has over 40-years of experience in the field of glass manufacturing and processing and extensive knowledge on coating and vacuum processes, as well as experience in the field of glass-metal-compounds. The patent-protected glass-metal-compound between sheathing and absorber makes the collector by s-power highly performing and durable.
Proterra Solar, established in 2008, in Woodstock, Ontario, is an international supplier of solar thermal technology to the North American renewable energy sector. From its inception, Proterra Solar has been committed to being a leader in the solar thermal industry. Proterra Solar is the exclusive distributor for Canada and the U.S.A. for the German s-power evacuated tube collectors, which feature the award winning NARVA brand evacuated tubes.
Additional Canadian partners in the solar thermal cooling project include Trigon Construction Management, Oxford Plumbing and Zolaryz. Trigon Construction Management, with offices in Woodstock and Toronto, offers more than three decades of construction industry experience. Oxford Plumbing Inc. has been active since more than 10 years in the industry and its renewable energy division is an asset to the Oxford Gardens’ project. Zolaryz has extensive experience in the installation of large commercial buildings and has been installing solar hot water systems for over 9 years.
About the German Energy Agency (dena)
The Deutsche Energie-Agentur GmbH (dena) – the German Energy Agency – is the centre of expertise for energy efficiency and renewable energy sources. It focuses on the development of sustainable energy systems. dena’s aim is to ensure that energy is used in both a national and international context as efficiently, safely and economically as possible with the least possible impact on climate. dena is working with stakeholders from the worlds of politics and business and from society at large to achieve this aim. Shareholders in dena are the Federal Republic of Germany, KfW Bankengruppe, Allianz SE, Deutsche Bank AG and DZ BANK AG.www.dena.de/en
About the dena Solar Roofs Program
The “dena Solar Roofs Program for Foreign Market Development†was developed by the Deutsche Energie-Agentur GmbH (dena) – the German Energy Agency. Launched in 2004 this program, co-financed by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, supports German solar energy companies entering new markets. Within the framework of the program reference and demonstration projects are installed on the roofs of designated institutions in the different countries around the world. The installation is accompanied by comprehensive marketing and training programs. These ‘beacon projects’ impressively present high-quality solar technology made in Germany.
Renewable Energies Export Initiative
The “Renewable Energies Export Initiative” was launched by the German Parliament in 2002 and is run by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology. The main objective is to contribute to climate protection by stimulating the acceptance and use of renewable energy around the world.
By showcasing Germany’s technical expertise in the field of renewable energy and by organising business trips to and from Germany, the export initiative facilitates business contacts between companies in Germany and abroad. The platform www.renewables-made-in-germany.com provides information about German RE technologies and contact data of German suppliers.
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