ludicrousity

Greetings from the Halton Residential Solar Project (HRSP)!

Since our series of public meetings and Solar Fair, we have been staffing up, talking to the vendors, creating this master list of about 430 homeowners, and having discussions with the area municipalities. In particular, we organized and held a meeting for municipal employees from across southern Ontario to discuss issues around solar domestic hot water systems, with a goal of facilitating the installation of those systems in Halton and across Ontario.

We held a series of public meetings in early fall, and were excited about the response.

• Mon. Sept. 22 at Oakville Town Hall – 122 people attended
• Thurs. Sept. 25 at Burlington Main Library – 55 people attended
• Wed. Oct. 1 at Milton Sports Centre – 30 people attended
• Thurs. Oct. 2 at Georgetown Cultural Centre – 60 people attended

At those meetings, we had a package available which included a summary sheet on photovoltaic systems and solar domestic hot water systems, with a one-page sheet from each of our vendors. Click here to download all of this information.

The culminating event for the fall series was our Solar Fair, held on Sat. Oct. 4 at the Halton Regional Centre. All eight of our vendors had a display at the event, as did a couple of home energy auditors. Approximately 200 people attended the Solar Fair.

If you missed these meetings, we are planning more for early in 2009. Our project in its current form continues until November 2009. Here are some steps you can take now.

1. If you would like to talk with other homeowners in Halton who are interested in installing a solar system under HRSP, you can join our online Google group by emailing solarhalton-subscribe@googlegroups.com. This group met in person last week for the first time.
2. Our project team is available to talk with you about solar options for your home. If you have questions or would like us to come out and do a home visit, please email us at hrsp.admin@gmail.com or call Rabia Yazdanie at 905-847-9965.
3. If you are planning to install a solar hot water system, you need a home energy audit within the previous 18 months in order to qualify for the $1,000 government grant. In any case, getting a home energy audit will also point out ways in which you can make your home more energy efficient. A lot of these efficiencies result in less energy wasted while heating your home, thus reducing your use of fossil fuels and giving you long-term financial savings. Click here for more information on this, including a short list of energy auditors.
4. If you know what type of solar system you want, you are welcome to contact any of the vendors directly. Please let them know that you are part of the Halton Residential Solar Project, so that they can include you in the calculation of the bulk homeowner discount which most will be offering as a rebate at the end of 2009. Click here for contact information.

Now that we have this listserv functioning, we will be sending periodic updates and information, including a list of steps involved in a solar installation, and financial considerations.

If you have questions that you would like to see answered, please email us at hrsp.admin@gmail.com.