By Jessie Weisner

Medalta completes study on solar energy

Dec 4, 2018 | 3:55 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — Solar energy is becoming more attractive to businesses and organizations in Canada, and now Medalta’s National Historic Site is looking into it.

Energy Efficiency Alberta funded a feasibility study on how Medalta would go about implementing solar.

According to Aaron Nelson, executive director at Medalta, changing fuel sources is familiar to the historic site.

“In the late 19 century the first bricks in Medicine Hat were fired with coal, and in the early 20 century we tried to transition to natural gas,” says Nelson. “When Medalta was built in 1912, it was built on electricity and here we are the very beginning of the 21 century thinking about ‘how can we transfer more of our energy use to solar electricity.”

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Medalta currently has about a $60,000 energy bill each year, and they believe the right solar setup could eliminate that bill.

The study says that could be achieved by installing 431.2 kilowatt rooftop solar and ground-mounted carport system at the main Medalta site and a 404.4 kilowatt rooftop solar system at the Medicine Hat Brick and Tile Site.

A price tag for the panels hasn’t been released, but the province does offer subsidies for solar projects.

Although nothing has been approved yet, Nelson says the site is ideal for new innovation such as solar.

“I really do see that this would be a really good site to invest in,” says Nelson. “To highlight that technology, and also to assist a not-for-profit to lower their operating costs.”

An open house will be held on December 8th from 1 to 2 p.m. at Medalta, covering the entire study, along with images of the proposed solar system.