Public solar array funded

With $6-million dollars in federal funding announced today, the District of Summerland will be harnessing the power of the bright Okanagan sun.

The money will allow the district to construct a one megawatt solar panel array to provide power for the municipal grid, in addition to a two megawatt battery bank.

“We own our own utility, its gives us a great advantage in utilizing our own grid — we don’t have to depend on anybody else,” mayor Peter Waterman said.

The particularly cutting edge part of the project, the battery storage bank, will allow the District to keep the power supply smooth overnight or on gloomy days.

In the event of the power outage, it will also give the district a bank of electricity to draw on for emergency services.

"It really puts us on the map in leading with green energy," Waterman added.

Alternative Energy Coordinator Tami Rothery says the district currently purchases about 93 gigawatt hours of electricity per year from FortisBC to redistribute to residents.

“The array that we are planning, just on its own without the battery storage, would be able to provide about one gigawatt hour worth of electricity for our community.”

First Things First Okanagan, a local green energy and climate change advocacy group, is excited by the news.

“We think this is a very good step forward for the Okanagan, it’s progressive idea,” member Jim Beadie said. “We know that we need to have alternative that is functioning well and that people can see that there are alternatives to a carbon economy,”

Details such as the location and design of the array will be worked out in a full feasibility study in the coming months.

The entire project is expected to cost $6.9M.