A social housing development in Surrey, British Columbia is getting a green energy upgrade with the addition of a grid-tie solar power system from Carmanah Technologies Corporation (CMH:TSX).

As part of BC Housing's commitment to developing sustainable social housing, Greenbrook will be equipped with a grid-tie solar power system designed to provide 10 percent of the development's annual electricity requirements to assist with common area loads such as area lighting and air source heat pumps.

Valued at approximately $1.34 million in total, the photovoltaic system will be installed in stages by Carmanah Technologies under contract with Yellowridge Construction Ltd., with completion scheduled for mid 2010. With a combined capacity of approximately 139 kW, the site-wide renovation project represents Carmanah's largest grid-tie project to date, and Western Canada's largest solar grid-tie project.

Located in Surrey's Newton Town Centre, the Greenbrook complex includes 29 buildings with 127 town houses. The grid-tie system will connect to the electric utility through multiple net metering connection points within Greenbrook's common distribution electrical system.

In designing the photovoltaic system, Carmanah representatives combined a comprehensive site evaluation with best industry practices and practical implementation strategies to design a system that would meet the challenges of local shading issues, fixed orientation of structures and an annual energy target of 130 MWh. This solar power upgrade is one aspect of a site-wide building envelope replacement that addresses a range of other improvements such as drainage, electrical, landscaping and mechanical upgrades.

For more information on this or other solar grid-tie applications within Canada, contact Richard Wayte at rwayte@carmanah.com, or visit Carmanah at www.carmanah.com.