The climate in the Lower Mainland can be quite nice for most of the summer season, but we also endure the typical Pacific Northwest “raincoast” overcast and rain for many months during the wintertime. Many people might call it a “solar sunshine hours challenged climate”, and the mention of economic applications for solar water heating panels may be greeted by a certain amount of skepticism.

Considering that White Rock enjoys about twice the sunshine hours per year compared to North Vancouver and other north shore communities, it would make even the most open minded engineer cringe if someone suggested the use of solar water heating panels in North Vancouver. Well, that’s what the City of North Vancuver wanted to find out - could solar water heating panels work on the roof of their new library building at 14th and Lonsdale?

Omicron’s engineering group, along with advice from local solar panel suppliers, performed a feasibility study based on the average sunshine hours statistics for the north shore and determined that there would be a payback of between 12 and 15 years for solar water heating panels at that location. Since the City of North Vancouver was an “owner-operator”, this wasn’t a problem. There are now over 100 flat panel solar water collectors being installed on the roof of the new library building, which are designed to supplement the local Lonsdale Energy Corporation’s district energy plant across the street.