“We expect the first solar water heaters to be installed in May 2012,” Julian Boyle from the energy and environmental office of HRM confirms.
Interested house owners have been able to fill in a preliminary online form since December 2010. About 2,000 householders have already applied, although not all homes will meet the criteria. “The people in our region do have too high expectations of what solar can contribute to hot water and space heating in their homes,” solar building designer Don Roscoe, a man with 30 years of experience, explains. “Many houses are so poorly insulated that we have to tell people to first improve insulation before purchasing a solar water heater.” Don Roscoe is member of the Solar Nova Scotia Society, a voluntary association which worked closely together with the city administration to draw up the solar programme.
