Client Name: Greenview Villas
Project Type: Development-wide Solar Photovoltaic (PV) System and Solar Hot Water System Installation
Project Timeline: All Systems completed May 2010
Client Requirements:
Solar Bermuda Ltd. was contracted by OWC Contracting to supply and install 9 solar hot water and 9 solar PV systems with battery back-up in its first ‘green’ housing development.
Project Considerations:
The overall energy goal for Greenview was to have the residential development be as energy independent as possible WITHOUT having home owners be negatively impacted from a personal comfort or aesthetic perspective. To this end, we worked closely with OWC in the overall system design and layout from solar array location on the roof to the electrical room design and interconnection.
In the event of a power failure, the Developer did not want to restrict the availability of power to the home-owner. Therefore in the case of a utility power outage, each house is provided with power, except air-conditioning, which allows each unit to be fully functional during prolonged power failures.
Final Result:
Each of the 9 two-bedroom units were outfitted with a 50 gallon Heliodyne Hot Water System and a 1,350 watt battery back-up PV System that was grid-tied in order to participate in BELCO’s net-metering programme. Each solar hot water collection was mounted on the southern end of the roof, the closest point to the heater location, which allowed for a short pipe run and a more pleasing aesthetic look.
Each PV system was sized to provide two days of back-up power to critical loads such water pumps and refrigerators. The PV system provides solar produced power to the entire house and also sells back excess energy production to BELCO. In the event of a utility power failure, the solar system immediately provides back-up power from the batteries to the home. With additional energy conservation habits, the individual home owners could, in fact, have power for weeks, without traditional electrical power being supplied. Testament to this is the fact that the first family to move in lived without a BELCO feed for approximately 2 weeks!
Overall the system for Greenview has been a great success. One year later the units are now interconnected with BELCO, allowing for excess power to be sold back to the Utility. The combination of solar hot water and PV contribute to an average monthly utility bills ranging from $60 – $180 per unit.
Update:
A utility power failure occurred during Hurricane Igor in September 2010. All battery back-up systems remained online and kept power on in the residential units as expected.