Posted by Rob Baxter in News, Our News, on December 22, 2017
As the year draws to a close and the globe rounds the bend, slowly pointing the northern hemisphere back toward the sun, VREC has much to look forward to in the coming year. Here are a few highlights: Higher-efficiency PV Modules!: 4 years ago, 60-cell PV modules (solar panels) were barely hitting 250 Watts. Today, […]
With falling photovoltaic prices and raising utility rates the economics of solar energy in BC have changed significantly since we first started installing back in 2004. However, we find that some people are unaware of how much it has changed. Often they are relying on outdated information to make decisions. Equity payback (which takes into […]
Posted by Rob Baxter in Front, News, Our News, on December 8, 2017
Another homeowner in Richmond, BC is generating power with Solar Energy. VREC installed this system in August and it has now been generating power for over four months. The system uses 26 Trina modules and micro-inverters. It is expected to generate over 7,100 kWh per year which will cover about 90% of the homeowners electrical […]
Posted by Rob Baxter in Front, News, Our News, on March 20, 2017
It’s the first day of spring, and VREC’s latest PV installation, an 8.1 kW system in Tsawwassen, BC, is switched on and already feeding plenty of power back to the grid. This 27-panel installation will likely more than offset the electrical consumption of the household. This installation for VREC marked our first time using 300-watt […]
Installing PV is different in every jurisdiction. Any number of factors can affect the price, productivity, and profitability of a solar array. Some of the more common factors across the globe are things like shading, weather patterns, and feed-in rates (what the utility pays you for your surplus electricity). VREC has installed both PV and […]
It’s not just economists whose eyes have been fixed on falling oil prices and the value of the Canadian dollar. Whenever fossil fuel prices fall, the overall financial appeal of renewable resources is bound to be questioned. But this blanket assessment can be deceiving. While some large-scale renewable energy investments may be delayed due to […]
This summer, VREC installed a new solar pool heater on the roof of the Slumber Lodge in Hope, BC. Solar pool heaters have allowed for GHG-free 3-season pool use for decades. Water is simply circulated through hundreds of small rubberized tubes on the hot roof whenever the roof temperature exceeds that of the pool. The […]
VREC has installed 2 new Photovoltaic projects in Tsawwassen, British Columbia.
A big thank you to Argyle Secondary School’s Environmental Club for inviting VREC to participate in their first Sustainability Fair, which brought in businesses and organizations from all over the lower mainland that are working toward goals of reducing our environmental footprint and sharing the tools to do so. While our mini solar hot water […]
VREC recently received an email from Robin Hanvelt, a customer whose garage and house are now proudly bearing 21 solar photovoltaic panels. In most industries, no news is good news once a project is finished. So when an email popped up from Robin with the subject, “Should I expect this type of peak power in […]