The Drake Landing Solar Community is the first community to be completely solar powered in all of North America. It is located within the town limits of Okotoks, Alberta, Canada. This development is a prime example of how simple living a greener lifestyle truly is. Located throughout the community you’ll notice over 800 solar panels on garage roofs, they are responsible for the production of 1.5 mega-watts of thermal power during the summer and work to supply heat to the district heating system. The entire system meets 90% of the annual heating and hot water needs of the community’s residents.

The community has 52 homes and has installed multiple solar panels on the roofs of the homes and garages. Gylcol solution runs through an insulated piping system and connects the solar panels together. The solar panels work during the day by absorbing energy during the day and work to heat the glycol solution. The glycol solution then travels through the piping system and reaches an underground heat exchanger located in the community’s centralized Energy center. The heat is then transferred from the heat exchanger to water that is stored in a temporary storage tank. The glycol solution returns to the solar collector system. The Energy Center is equipped with temporary thermal storage tanks and long-term thermal storage tanks.

During the warm weather months water that has been heated is transferred to the underground borehole thermal energy storage BTES system utilizing a series of pipes. The water heats up the earth that surrounds it thus increasing the ground temperature to 80 degrees. The warm water is then returned to the short term storage tank so that it can be heated again. The heat that is stored underground is insulated with sand, clay, a waterproof membrane, high density R-40 insulation, and other landscaping materials. The heat that is stored is used during the winter to provide both heat and hot water to the entire community.

The homes are moderate in size and range anywhere from 1492 to 1664 square feet. The homes require low energy, which is designed specifically for use with the energy system in place. The homes are very close to one another which creates a neighborhood where everything is in walking distance. It also reduces the length that the fluid for the solar heating system is required to travel. Conservation of water is mandatory in all of the homes. The homes were built utilizing materials that were manufactured locally, and recycled materials were used during construction. The homes will be certified to Natural Resources Canada’s R-2000 Standard for energy efficiency and also the Built Green Alberta program.

Drake Landing solar Community is setting a huge precedence and holding the bar high for energy efficient building.