The smoky haze that has settled over the Okanagan Valley is affecting much more than just visibility and breathing, it is also impacting solar power arrays.
Many buildings around Kelowna rely on the use of solar panels to produce energy and the haze is causing a reduction in power output. On the Kelowna campus, Okanagan College buildings have a photovoltaic solar array installed. The data from an online monitoring website indicates that the energy output from the system has drastically gone down since the smoke moved into the area.
The last relatively clear day in Kelowna was Saturday, August 22nd and the data shows that the top of the canopy over the outdoor heavy equipment yard at the Kelowna campus produced 1,103 kilowatt-hours of energy. On Sunday – when the smoke from fires south of the border moved in and occluded the skies – the array produced just 462 kilowatt-hours, a reduction of more than 58 per cent.
When the smoke lightened a bit Monday, the array was able to produce 715 kilowatt-hours. Tuesday’s skies blotted the sun as well – the array was able to produce 692 kilowatt-hours, a reduction of 37 per cent from Saturday’s output.
The array on top of the canopy includes 793 solar photovoltaic module panels. The outdoor shop covered by the canopy was built as part of the Trades Training Complex renovation and expansion project currently underway along KLO Road.
The energy which is produced from the solar panels helps to power various parts of the Okanagan College building.
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