System Size

11kW

Panels

36

Est. Annual Production

14mWh

 North Haven Solar

In 2022, North Haven Community Association was selected as an ideal site for solar by Enmax and the City of Calgary. A program was underway to install solar panels on community halls around the city at no cost to the organization. The hope was the communities would share the success of the installs with their communities.

After completing a scheduled upgrade to the community halls electrical panel and service, Enmax’s selected installer mounted racking (horizontal metal brackets) on the South East corner of our roof. Given the height and sight line to the horizon, this was an ideal location as it gets great morning sun exposure which continues on until the early evening. Roof mounted commercial inverters were then added along with 36: 400 watt solar panels. The panels are wired in parallel to increase the voltage output, making it more usable by the building. The power produced leaves the panels in DC (direct current), and the inverters convert this power to AC (alternating current). From here the power heads through a disconnect so firefighters could turn off the system in an emergency. Next stop is the a connection on the bottom of the electrical panel. From here the power gets used by the building when needed and available.

The city replaced our electrical meter with a “bi-directional meter” which now tracks the flow of electricity in and out of the building. Homes and buildings with solar will send un-used power back onto the grid for a credit, so other nearby homes can unknowingly use the power produced by the hall. It’s somewhat like water pressure, so the closer you live to the community hall, the more likely you are to receive some of our additional power!

The system is sized for the hall so that the power produced by the panels annually, is ideally 1:1 with the power consumed by the hall annually. This however isn’t an even spread. We will consume much more power in short dark winter months than we produce in solar. We will also produce considerably more power in the long sunny summer months than we consume.

Solar For Your Home

On April 22, 2023, North Haven Community Association hosted a Residential Solar Panel Information Session. Presentations from some of the attending organizations can be found below.

SkyFire Energy Presentation - Click here to download PDF Presentation

Solar Alberta Presentation Recording -