The Dickie’s were building their retirement home in Lake Country, BC, and were committed to making it as sustainable as possible. They implemented a 10.4 kilowatt solar system, which is generating nearly all of their power.
Why solar?
We have been involved in the alternative energy industry (geothermal, in our case) for some time now, and when it came time to build this home, we were determined to do the best that we could in terms of sustainability, low operating costs, etc.
How much of your energy mix is coming from solar annually?
From the electrical perspective, we would be very close to generating more electricity than we use. This would include by far the bulk of the heating, and all the cooling as well, since it is electricity that is running the geothermal heat pump.
Our net electrical costs, from May to May of the last year averaged $17 per month — this would be less than the service cost of the electricity, so our consumption (for a 4,200 square foot home) was covered exclusively by the solar panels.
It must be noted, however, that we do use an instant hot water heater for our domestic hot water.
What are the main benefits of your system?
The main benefit is quite simply “doing the right thing.” In the whole house build, we took great pains to do that, and the electrical generation was just a part of that.
Economically, though, we also feel really good about the return, and what will, as time goes on, be our payback period.
Why did you choose Terratek?
We chose Terratek primarily because of a recommendation of one of our geothermal dealers, but the vibes with Landon were also very good.
It was a good decision — the quality of workmanship and the after-sales service have been really, really good.
A case in point would be that we put in a new router system, and that caused a loss of contact with the inverter. While definitely not a problem that was caused by anything that Landon did, he came by and sorted everything out.
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