August 12, 2008
SOLAR NEIGHBOURHOODS wants to help you reduce your home’s energy use and tap the power of the sun. We will guide qualifying homeowners in Ward 30 through the purchase and installation of a solar water heating system and help you access to up to $2,000 in cash incentives. Solar hot water is a well-developed zero-emissions renewable energy technology that is in wide use around the world. Now, Solar Neighbourhoods is working to make it part of life right here in Toronto.
Don’t miss this chance to reduce your home’s climate impact, tackle rising utility costs and be a part of Solar Neighbourhoods! Register today at www.solarneighbourhoods.ca
Home Energy and Solar Ready Assessments Have Started —
First Come First Served, So Register Now!
SOLAR NEIGHBOURHOODS is pleased to announce a partnership with Windfall Ecology Centre to carry out home energy efficiency and solar site assessments. Windfall Ecology Centre has been in operation since 1998 and is a non-profit, community-based environmental organization with extensive experience delivering ecoENERGY home assessments throughout the GTA. A home energy assessment is necessary for households to qualify for the federal and provincial solar incentives, as well as the Solar Neighbourhoods financial incentives.
City helps solar rise higher
CONCERNED that your solar system might push your home above the building height limit allowed by the city? We have just received some great news from the City's Building Division. Solar domestic hot water panels are officially exempt from the measurement of building height. The conditions on this exemption stipulate that the solar panels must not be more than 5m above the height limit for the lot, that they do not cover more than 30% of the roof area and that they do not face the street, otherwise the height restrictions may apply.
Solar Neighbourhoods believes that this should be sufficient to cover most cases, especially here in Ward 30. However, we are not certain that this height exemption will apply to Photovoltaic (PV) systems, so stay tuned.
RISE Again is rising to the challenge
If you want to benefit from the purchasing power, knowledge and judgment of an experienced group of solar champions, consider getting in touch with RISE Again, Riverdale’s own grassroots community movement for solar power. The reincarnation of RISE (Riverdale Initiative for Solar Energy), the group that inspired neighbourhoods around Toronto to go solar, RISE Again is once more bringing together Riverdale residents to research and buy solar water heaters as a group.
In July, RISE Again held two well-attended public meetings to educate and organize community members interested in the collective approach to participating in Solar Neighbourhoods. More meetings will be held in the coming months. For more information, visit: www.riseagain.ourpower.ca
Sun shines on Toronto
DID YOU KNOW? Toronto doesn’t have it bad when it comes to solar potential. In the summer months, Toronto receives as much (and sometimes more) solar energy than Miami, Florida! Year round, Toronto has better solar energy potential than Freiburg, Germany, one of the most advanced solar cities in the world!
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