CANADIAN RESEARCH and DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES

Hot Sun's Research and Development Mission

Beginning in 1986 we started with a solar heating product called Solarmat made in Vancouver BC. Our intrigue came from the fact it was a 4x8 (3 sq m) solar collector advertised for $99. At low temperature water heating conditions it collected almost all the solar radiation that fell on its surface. All hot water heating loads begin as low temperature loads. The solar radiation that falls on 3 sq meters in Vancouver or Toronto in a year is 14GJ and one GJ of natural gas including burner inefficiencies is or was about $10. No other solar or clean-tec option has this kind of free market potential. The math here says we can potentially do solar at a one year simple payback period!

37 years later here we are with what we consider to be the world's most advanced and well developed solar thermal solution. We've developed ways to secure our systems to roof spaces with the integrity of the roof and esthetics as primary considerations. We can fit limited available space using a custom size approach where effectively the solar collectors can be fitted to the roof. We have developed PV grade roof mounting and our technology is flexible meaning it can freeze with water in it and it is fully field serviceable. If there is a problem, it can be fixed with inexpensive parts.

In BC we've had the pleasure of working with municipalities to reduce their carbon footprints using smart solar on municipal facilities. Its the largsest scale projects with the largest water heating and pool heating loads that we have the opportunity to really collaborate and learn with others. These projects taught us that there are new possibilities and new arenas to explore with our technology. Our day to day mission remains to exploit low temperature applications where our simple collector technology can be very competitive with fossil fuel alternatives allowing solar thermal energy uptake a starting point.

Meanwhile, our solar pool heating business has thrived as several major Southern California solar contractors have recognized our benefits and created market dominating residential solar pool heating businesses based on the Powerstrip capability.

Our Canadian contracting partners are Renew Energy and Vancouver Renewable Energy and Argosy Pools and others.

Our mission statement is not a catchphrase. It is complex. The world is complex. Our mission is to move the state of the alternative energy art forward. We are constantly improving our unglazed solar collector technology and looking for applications that make sense.