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In post incentive 2011, Hot Sun Industries Ltd. sold and completed two major commercial projects for the City of Richmond, BC based on the advise and guidance of Associated Engineering Ltd., a premier Canadian engineering consulting firm. The first was a 3000 sq ft solar pool heater for Richmond's South Arm outdoor pool. This is a classic application for solar thermal. A seasonal outdoor pool is only heated at the time of the year when its sunny and warm so our unglazed low cost uninsulated solar panels are a good choice here. The system is monitored online with Hot Sun's proprietary real time web based technology at http://www.powerstripsolar.com/Control/SouthArm . While it is true that outdoor seasonal pools are definitely best heated with unglazed solar panels as opposed to more expensive flat plate and evacuated tube type solar thermal collectors, the fact is this isn't the most ideal application for our technology. With only 3 or 4 months of operation we don't have the opportunity to displace as much natural gas per year as we would in an indoor pool. Indoor pools do not benefit from direct solar gain so even in the peak of a summer heat wave, indoor pools require a great deal of heat and outdoor pools, not so much. The best application for solar thermal technology we have ever discovered is heating year round indoor pools with unglazed solar panels. We can do some of these systems with a ten year simple payback period against natural gas in Canada. If we can do that in Canada imagine what we can accomplish in better solar climates with higher energy costs? First we need to prove this Canadian technology capability in Canada. We hope to do that in 2012 with the largest solar thermal system in Canada on an indoor pool in a BC municipality.
The second municipal project we completed for the City of Richmond in 2011 was actually a solar hot water heater using our unglazed Powerstrip collectors. Our product and capability was chosen in this case because we could deliver by far the best economic return on investment with an unglazed solar collector system compared to more traditional solar hot water heating technology using insulated higher temperature boxed and glazed or evacuated tube collectors. While this all seemed like an obvious choice to the independant consulting engineering firm, its not so obvious to non-engineers. Traditionally solar hot water heating has always done with higher temperature boxed and glazed or evacuated tube type solar collectors. Every case is different and it is very important in renewable energy application to understand the full scope of the project. We will monitor the results of the Minoru Aquatic Center solar hot water heater in 2012 and hopefully prove the power and viability of our unique approach to the solar hot water heating challenge which has always been to get the cost down and the economic justification for projects like this up. Hot Sun is working hard to develop web based control and monitoring technology allowing fair comparison of everything in the less than transparent clean tech world. We believe our monitoring technology is actually the key to beginning the process of moving away from our addiction to cheap and easy fossil fuels. If you can't see the carbon or measure it in real time then where is the incentive to reduce your footprint? Its not in your energy savings on your natural gas bill unless you are a facility with a lot of showers like a prison or an aquatic center. Stay tuned.
At Hot Sun we're heavily engaged in R and D. Ken Wright is an engineering graduate from UBC (1984) and his brother Gordon Wright PEng also graduated from UBC 4 years later in 1988. After simmering for decades we're putting it all together and tackling many technological hurdles in partnership with our many friends and colleagues with incredible expertise in many related fields. Please feel free to call Ken Wright directly at 604 298 7095 to discuss related collaboration and technology transfer with your organization. Hot Sun can refer you to a good solar hot water supplier/contractor in your area and one of our dealers around the world can solve all your swimming pool heating needs. We're also interested in evaluating high commercial water heating loads in an effort to see if solar hot water might be justifiable.
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200 m^2 of Powerstrip at the Minoru Aquatic Center
the 20,000l storage tank and piping
Ken Wright, Hot Sun, right rear. Richmond mayor Malcolm Brodie front right.
Charlie Smeenk, Associated Engineering left rear. John Yap, Provincial MLA left. Alice Wong,federal MP front and center
Ken Wright explains the system at the grand opening in mid November 2011 as the system monitor shows 72kw being delivered.
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