Solar systems in the city (Ottawa)

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada truly is a solar city. As a sometimes solar contractor I know this from all the systems I've installed but I also see a growing number of systems I'm not familiar with, and I discover new ones all the time. Below are a sample.

Solar power/photovoltaic systems in Ottawa

Buying power from the grid/power utility is far cheaper than installing a solar system and going off-grid... unless you take advantage of Ontario's microFIT program. This allows you to generate your own electricity using solar and sell it to the grid at a much higher price than you pay when buying electricity from the grid. So in the city, almost all solar power systems are doing this. To learn more, see the solar power section.

Passive solar house including green roof, abundant south facing windows for heating in winter and overhangs to shade them in summer, superb insulation, a geothermal system for heating and cooling, high performance doors and very energy efficient windows.

On the right is solar power and on the left is solar hot water heating. I don't know if they're selling power to the grid. With such a small system they may have some batteries and use the power themselves for a few appliances.

This one's a restaurant!

Grid tied feed-in tariff microFIT system.

Solar thermal/solar hot water systems in Ottawa

Solar thermal involves using the sun to heat water, usually for tap water, shower, dish and clothes washing, but sometimes for space heating too. To learn more, see the solar hot water section.

Evacuated tube system good for 2 or 3 people.

Large one for a group of people.

Flat panel system good for 2 or 3 people.

Smaller solar heating system.

This set of 48 townhouses each has 2 solar collectors heating water for them, giving a total of 96 collectors (Heliodyne GOBI 406 collectors.)

Solar pool heating systems in Ottawa

Using solar to heat pools extends the swimming season by a month or two on either end. To learn more, see the solar pool heating section.

Solar pool heating system.

Solar pool heating system.

Solar pool heating system.

Solar pool heating system.

Solar air heating systems in Ottawa

With solar air heating, indoor air is circulated through a box, usually mounted on a wall, which allows the sun to heat it before flowing back indoors. To learn more, see the solar air heating section.

Cansolair solar air heating panel.

Solarsheat solar air heating panels.

A row of panels installed on the roof.