Norwegian vertical PV specialist Over Easy Solar has deployed its first commercial installation in Canada. Local utility BC Hydro is monitoring the installation as part of plans to roll out vertical PV in areas of British Columbia where snow poses a challenge during the winter.
Vertical solar specialist Over Easy Solar has deployed its first vertical solar installation in the province of British Columbia, Canada.
The installation is located on top of Vancouver’s Science World, a museum located in the central part of the city, and forms part of a CAD 39 million ($27.4 million) retrofit at the museum that also includes air-source heat pumps, electricity chillers and the installation of five inches of insulation inside the museum’s dome. Together, the retrofits are expected to reduce the museum’s energy use by 42%.
Over Easy Solar’s vertical rooftop installation at the museum is a 19.5 kW system spread across three arrays that comprises 76 units of its latest vertical PV unit, the XM-3, paired with ST125 feet which are specifically optimized for gravel roofs and regions with heavy snowfall.
Rob Baxter, co-founder of VREC Solar, the installation company that deployed the system, told pv magazine that Over Easy Solar’s vertical system is the perfect solution for weight-limited roofs.
