A new age of financially feasible renewable energy is dawning around the world as the combination of rising energy prices, increasing efficiency and sales volume of renewable energy options is bringing in a new crowd of customers to the market. Solar energy in particular has been making the leap from providing environmental piece of mind to, in recent years, also being a prudent financial option.

In Rossland, Jeff Herr of Skyward Energy is setting up shop and looking to capitalize on the trifecta of financial and environmental sensibilities, the West Kootenay’s strong appetite for all things green and a strong solar resource in our region.

Originally from Saskatchewan Herr followed a story that is typical of many come-from-aways in our area.

“My attraction to Rossland was pretty obvious. The mountains, the rivers, the trails, the warmer winters… Every winter I’d take several trips out to the mountains to go skiing. I had always thought about moving and I figured well either I get my three weeks of holidays and drive to the mountains and back or I live out here in the mountains and get my three weeks to go back home. When you live here you get the best days on the hill, your gears already set up and you're ready to go so I made the obvious choice.”

A mechanical engineering technologist by trade, Herr initially spent his first two years in the region working for AMEC out of Trail. Like all entrepreneurs however there was that little voice inside of him that longed to take control of his own destiny and get into business doing something he truly loves and has a passion for. That little voice grew louder and louder and ultimately he made the great leap from job security into the unknown wilds of entrepreneurship. As someone who gets fired up at the thought of doing something meaningful, something that truly makes the world a better place and something he can get behind and feel good about the world of being in business on his own has led to long yet satisfying hours in setting up his new venture Skyward Energy.

Taking the necessary courses and education Herr built on his growing passion for environmentalism and launched Skyward Energy as a fully qualified, local solar technology provider specializing in the design and install of grid-tied PV and solar hot water systems.

“I always had an interest in renewable energy. In 2006 I started becoming more aware and educated about peak oil,” explained Herr. “I watched a couple of documentaries and then started digging into it and realized the trouble we're in with the world and our economy being so tied to oil. Things are going to change though and I figure in 20 years the world is going to be a vastly different place and I want to be part of that change.”

Bringing a strong understanding of the world energy picture Jeff examined and investigated various renewable energy options out there before settling on Solar.

“If you look at the various technologies out there sure solar is expensive but it's coming down a lot and will continue to come down,” added Herr. “The key equation to look at though is the amount of energy it takes to create the panel and what it provides in a lifetime. In that equation it's got some of the best returns in renewables. That's what really matters.Wind and hydro are generally a bit better in this respect, but the big thing solar dowsn't have is much maintenance. When you talk about ethanol fuel production and hydrogen for example there is more fuel going in than there is coming out and that's a sure path to un-sustainability and bankrupting world economies.”

That equation is the very basis for what Peak Oil is all about. While Peak oil is defined as the point where the extraction rate of oil can no longer increase due to the difficulty of extraction. In a nutshell it is that tipping point when the amount of fuel required for extracting, refining, transporting and delivering the oil becomes greater than the oil being extracted.

Skyward has already got its first two projects off the ground in the Kootenays. The first was a solar hot water heating system in Rossland that came online this spring. Herr is particularly interested in solar hot water systems as their longevity,low maintenance and ability to reduce household water heating bills by up to 60% make them a strong option for reducing our reliance on big utilities and their rising energy costs.

“The payback is longer at today’s energy prices, but energy prices are going up and up so that period is getting shorter and shorter. With the grid tie system there are no moving parts so it's really awesome. The maintenance is little to none and it lasts for 30 plus years. I remember the first time I saw an inverter on a wall and it just shows watts and that's power being made through a big fat wire coming out of the inverter... totally silent, no moving parts just sitting there making power.”

A true practitioner of what he preaches, Herr is currently constructing his own home in Rossland which will ultimately be an ongoing experiment in new technologies. Starting with a 5kw grid tied PV (photovoltaic) system he expects to be living bill free in the near future. With that system in place as little as 5 hrs of sunshine a day will provide an average homes electricity needs of around 25kwh/day.

Interestingly enough Rossland, even with our snowy winters is an ideal climate. Our solar resource in terms of hours of sunshine over the course of a year is very near on par with the likes of Kelowna and Grand Forks. On top of that PV solar panels operate at higher efficiencies the colder it is and the higher altitude you are at. This is counter intuitive to what many people would think for solar, expecting hot weather to be best. Hot weather indeed is more desirable for solar hot water systems, but for electrical generation PV panels increase in voltage half a percent per degree Celsius down. Typically so9lar panels are rated at a standard testing condition of 20 degrees Celsius and 1000 watts per square meter brightness of sun. At higher elevation the watts per square meter increases with less atmosphere to go through allowing Rossland to benefit from our 1,100 meter elevation. In addition to that the reflection from snow cover on the ground yet again increases the efficiency of the panels.

With all of the key indices seeming to trend locally in a positive direction perhaps Rossland may soon in and ideal world for Skyward Energy be known as Canada’s solar city as opposed to Canada’s Alpine City? If Jeff has his way he’ll soon be converting houses all across the West Kootenay with solar systems, continuing on his path of making use of the most constant and reliable energy system we’ve got here on earth…The Sun.

For more information check out Skyward’s new website at www.skywardenergy.ca

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