***Session 6: Free Clean Power - Renewable Energy Sources in Homes | 3.5 Hours***

The state of the art in Photovoltaic is evolving quickly. When the choice to add PV to a home is made, the next 25 years of power is being purchased, in essence, “up front”, With technology getting better every year and the cost per kWh dropping and energy costs rising, when does it make sense to jump in? This session looks at the practical requirements for PV installations, some recent costing data, a review of PV in real world BC installations and the technology options for both grid-tied and off-grid systems. A discussion about ramping the value of renewable energy installations with other high efficiency choices will highlight the complexity of over-all energy efficient design and construction. This session will even peak into alternate renewables such as wind, solar thermal, passive solar heating, and run-of-river. For now, it looks like PV is king but the future may hold some new truths and surprises as the public’s opinions evolve. What are truly the lowest environmental impact design choices and is energy efficiency actually an assurance of environmentally positive benefits or is energy efficiency truly driven by economic factors?

***This online course is available On Demand. There are no tests required***