Net Positive

A full year of occupancy in our home and we’ve been eagerly awaiting the energy data. The results are in and are better than expected 😅. 38.4 GJ consumed, 41.5 GJ generated - 108% net positive for the year! We produced enough solar on our roof to cover our home energy needs and nearly half of our EV charging. Super pumped to see orange (generation) outpacing blue (usage) for 7+ months of the year.🎉

Through BC Hydro’s self generation program, when we generate more solar energy than we use, the kWhs get credited back to our account to offset our next bill. We’re on track for a $300 overall energy bill for the year which includes heating, cooling, cooking, all appliances and EV charging.

Lots more to unpack from a year’s worth of energy data:

• The solar production estimate was spot on (predicted = 41-43GJ, actual = 41.5GJ

•The energy model was surprisingly accurate as well (predicted = 38GJ, actual = 38.4GJ) –> We used slightly more energy than modelled for space heating + cooling and ventilation –> We used slightly less energy vs modelled for hot water and plug loads (see table)

• In a typical house, 70-75% of the energy goes towards heating and hot water. Compared to pre-reno, where our home used 160GJ for heating + hot water (of 185GJ total), our net zero home used 10x less energy for heating, cooling and hot water (15.4GJ combined for the year) - amazing! ☑️

• There is a large portion of energy use categorized as “other”, essentially lights, plug loads, and unmetered appliances. This is consistent with our energy model but looks outsized because our heating consumption is so low.

• We produced ~11,500 kWh of solar energy in the last year, a quarter of which was used instantaneously in the house, and the rest sent back to the grid.

• More fine-tuning could be done to shift large loads (e.g. EV charging) to when the sun is shining or generally shift to off-peak times.

We’ll be sharing our energy data with ZEIC’s Nearzero4 stream that looks at performance of NZ and Passive House projects in use - really interested to see how other homes compare!

@twinlionscontracting @capitalhomeenergy @puresolarcanada