Pearl Lorentzen
Lakeside Leader
Installing solar panels was “two years in the making,” says Barb Courtorielle, executive director of the Friendship Centre.
The 97 panels were installed by Generate Energy from Sherwood Park starting on August 6. It took around a week. The crew is led by Rae-Ann Wadey who has six years of experience installing solar panels.
The goal is to “reduce our electrical bill and to become more energy efficient,” says Courtorielle.
In February, TeckEra did an energy audit of the Friendship Centre, says an email from Courtorielle. The audit looked at the equipment and energy involved in energy consumption. The final report recommended energy conservation measures connected with reductions in energy use, costs and greenhouse gas emissions. The funds for the audit came from Alberta Indigenous Community Energy Program (AICEP).
Before the solar panels were installed, the Friendship Centre spent around $2,300 a month on electricity. Funds for the panels came from a government grant of $91,000.
The solar panels are expected to supply roughly 75 per cent of the monthly electricity, Courtorielle says. In the two years since the original quote, the solar panels decreased in price. The final price is a third of the original quote.
Courtorielle is currently applying for a federal government Urban Programming for Indigenous Peoples (UPIC) grant for the second step of making the centre more energy efficient. The timeline is quicker with the work needing to be completed by the end of March 2020.
She plans to apply to replace windows and doors and is gathering quotes.
Conference on energy efficiency
In the same vein, the Friendship Centre is also hosting an Indigenous Energy Efficiency Champions conference on October 19 from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. David Suzuki is the keynote speaker. The event includes lunch made by the Friendship Centre. Tickets are $25 and available on eventbrite.ca. Sales end August 23.
