Rob McMonagle, SolarCity Program Manager, Toronto Atmospheric Fund March 31, 2010

1. Inspecting Residential Solar Water Heating Systems Rob McMonagle, SolarCity Program Manager, Toronto Atmospheric FundMarch 31, 2010

2. Future Events All webinars run from 1-2:00 p.m. EST Webinar 1 – Developing a Building Permit Process for Solar Water Heating - Wednesday, March 24 Webinar 2 - Structural Requirements for Installing a Residential Solar Water Heater on a Roof - Friday, March 26 Webinar 3 - Inspecting Residential Solar Water Heating Systems - Wednesday, March 31 Webinar 4 - Permitting of Residential Solar Water Heating Systems - Wednesday, April 14 NOTE: All presentation will be posted on www.solarpermits.ca a few days after the webinar

3. Solar Permits Overview Developed by the Toronto Atmospheric Fund (TAF) to share knowledge gained through the largest single-city solar hot water project in Canada (Solar Neighbourhoods). TAF is the City of Toronto’s climate agency. TAF supports the development and implementation of leading-edge ideas with the potential for large emission reductions. TAF is working to support greater deployment of renewable energy in Toronto as a way of helping the City reach its emission reduction targets. Solar Permits is made possible by an investment by the Government of Ontario and the Government of Canada.

4. Workshop Agenda • 1. Introduction to Solar Water Heating • 2. Solar Technologies • 3. Toronto’s Interest in Solar • 4. Toronto Building’s Requirements for SDHW • 6. Inspection Requirements • 7. Installation Issues and Best Practices • 8. Open Discussion

5. Thank you Thanks to the Ontario Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure and Natural Resources Canada for their support of this project

6. 1. An introduction to solar water heating

7. Solar Technologies • There are four distinct technologies that collect energy from sunlight • Passive Solar – collects heat and light through natural (passive) processes • Photovoltaic or PV – produces electricity directly as a result of the material’s properties • Solar Air – produces hot air for space heating • Solar Water – produces hot water for pools, industry and residential applications • We’re focusing on solar domestic hot water (SDHW)

8. Overview • For an overview of solar hot water in Canada and internationally, please see webinar #1.

9. 2. Solar Domestic Hot Water Technologies

10. Understanding the Technology • Types of systems are broken down in two areas: • 1. The system type – classified by the type of freeze protection used: • Seasonal – potable water is heated directly – similar to a conventional water heater • Drain Back – water is used as the heat transfer fluid • Closed Loop – an anti-freeze heat transfer fluid is use • 2. The type of solar collector used: • Flat plate • Evacuated tube • Systems types can use either flat plate or evacuated tube collectors

11. Year-round Systems • Drain back and closed loop systems • Collectors on the roof – tank in the utility room

12. Solar Hot Water System Schematic (Simplified) Photo Credit: NRCan

13. Seasonal Systems • Tank is on the roof • Potable water is heated directly (and stored in tank) • Drained in winter • In some climates a seasonal system is used year around – however there is no “automatic” freeze protection • Some systems use heat tape to provide limited freeze protection

14. Solar Collectors • Two types of collectors • Flat plate • Evacuated tube • There is no consensus of what type of collector is better (flat plate or evacuated tube) • Evacuated tube may work better in marginal light conditions but will not self melt snow cover • Flat plate is less flexible in sizing and if broken will need to replace a larger part of the system

16. Solar on the Roof – Roof Conditions • Two roof types • Flat roof • Sloped roof • Two roof structure types • Rafter • Truss (prevalent in homes built after 1990s) • Two system types • Tank on roof (seasonal) • Tank in the utility room (year round)

17. Solar on Sloped Roofs • Solar Neighbourhoods in an older downtown neighbourhood • Older buildings tend to have structurally stronger roofs

18. Solar on Flat Roofs • Solar Neighbourhoods in an older downtown neighbourhood • About 30% of installations done on flat roofs • Higher concern of water leakage • Increased wind loading • Variety of roof covering

20. Seasonal Systems (tank) on Roof • Limited experience with in Solar Neighbourhoods as no sales of this product were made • However the developed product span table for one seasonal system is comparable to span tables for systems with just the collector on the roof • Seasonal systems are about ½ the size of year around systems

21. 3. Toronto’s Interest in Solar

22. Toronto’s Solar Initiative Action item from the Climate Change Plan (2007): “develop a pilot residential solar domestic hot water program” Prior to 2007 30-50 SDHW systems (estimated) were installed in Toronto annually (without building permits) Austria: 10,000 systems annually for equivalent population base (2.5 million) • The Toronto Solar Neighbourhoods Initiative was developed to identify challenges and support barrier resolutions • Target of 100 system sales in one neighbourhood • Report will be available later this spring

23. Reason for Interest in SDHW: Climate Change Targets • To stabilize CO2 concentration under 400 pap: • Global CO2 emissions peak by 2015 • Reduction of Canada’s energy related CO2 emissions from today’s 15.8 Gt/a to approx. 2 Gt/a by 2050 • Per capita emissions of approx. 1 t CO2/capita • Canada needs a reduction of “4 in 5” t CO2/(Kopf, Jahr)

24. Residential Hot Water’s Role in CO2 Reductions • SDHW Systems can provide 0.4 – 0.7 t CO2/year reduction in Toronto (but more in high carbon energy jurisdictions) • Over system life (20 years) = 8 -15 t CO2 • It is the single largest reducer of CO2 that a homeowner can make • Plus it is highly visible (unlike caulking or weather-stripping)

25. Canadian Financial Support for Solar Hot Water is Growing Support has grown rapidly over the past two years. In 2008 total was $500 As of March 2010 total is now $2,500 (31% of cost) Typical support internationally is 50%

26. Where is Solar Neighbourhoods? Solar Neighbourhoods was a pilot program of the City of Toronto to overcome barriers to early deployment of residential SDHW systems Ward 30: “Riverdale” About 15,000 single family homes 1 of 44 wards in Toronto Expanded to 3 other wards in October 2009 Program is now over – preparing report to Council

27. Accomplished – the Highest Density of SDHW Systems Installed in Canada 100 SDHW systems sold 1 in every 150 homes (100/15,000) Prior to program there were 10 systems in ward (estimated) If we did this in all of Toronto 4,400 systems sales But remember Austria 1 out of every 7 homes That level would equal 2,200 installations in the ward!

28. 4. Toronto Building’s Requirements for SDHW Systems

29. The Cost of Regulatory Compliance in Toronto

30. Toronto Process to Regulating SDHW Systems • Plan Review • Compliance to CSA F379 • Compliance to Ontario Building Code • Structural • Backflow Prevention • Other system components • Site Review (compliance to zoning bylaws) • Inspection • Compliance to CSA F383: Installation of Packaged Solar Domestic Hot Water Systems • Compliance verification to the Ontario Building Code

31. Toronto Solution: Installations to Codes and Standards To insure that SDHW installations are installed according to: The Ontario Building Code Manufacturer’s Instructions CSA F383 Toronto Solution: Toronto Building requires that installations by done by CanSIA certified Solar DHW installers or inspected upon completion by a P.eng Toronto Solution: Development of a commissioning document which complies with CSA F383 Note – F383 does not provide good guidance to regulators and needs improvement However – CanSIA certification is not provincially recognized Work needs to be started to develop a provincially sanctioned training certificate

32. CanSIA’s Canadian SHW Installer Certification

33. Toronto Solution: Certified Plans for SDHW Systems Toronto Solution - Certified Plans Stamped engineer drawings and letter stating that the system is in conformance to F379 Acceptance that this is a “standard product” rather than a one-off site-specific engineered system Extensive review by Toronto Building of support documentation Normal charges are waived for the review during the Solar Neighbourhoods Initiative – normally this would cost in range of $2,000 7 systems have been issued certified plans Step 1: Contractor works with a professional engineer Reviews both mechanical and structural requirements in the OBC City of Toronto developed guidelines for this review Step 2: Contractor submits documentation to Toronto for review Step 3: Toronto Building issues a Certified Plan which is kept on file Step 4: When contractor submits for a building permit, no plan review is required

34. Toronto Solution to Backflow Protection • Changes to Ontario Building Code in January 2010 clarified requirements: • Where potable water is used (seasonal system) no backflow preventer is required • Where a single walled heat exchanger and heat transfer fluid is relatively harmless, then a DCAP backflow preventer is required • All others – an RP backflow preventer and an inspection by a certified backflow preventer inspector • As part of the submission to obtain a certified plan contractor must submit: • A letter confirming that the heat transfer fluid is relatively harmless • The heat transfer fluid’s safety data sheet

35. The Toronto Solution to Roof Structure • City of Toronto’s Building Department has developed a simple methodology to determine if the roof conditions can withstand the structural loading of the renewable energy project for rafter roofs • Truss roofs require a different solution • Step 1: Development of product structural drawings • Stamped structural drawings • Span Table • Sample load calculation (for review by Toronto Building) • Letter of conformance by P. eng.

36. Structural Drawing (example) SAMPLE

37. Structural Drawing (example) SAMPLE

38. Toronto Solution for Rafters – Solar Roof Report • Roof inspection report is done showing the conditions of the roof at site of proposed solar installation

39. Last Step • Verify that the solar span table is inside the actual roof conditions

40. Solar Neighbourhoods Experience • Through Solar Neighbourhoods TAF has evaluated 65 Roof Reports • There are projects that were approaching the max • Only 1 project ran into structural challenges (rafter span greater than required by the solar span table) • Project was able to proceed by moving the collectors onto the flat roof • No contractor reported that a sale was lost due to inadequate roof structural conditions – however it appears that some were “pretty close”

41. 5. Inspection Requirements and Process

42. Toronto Building’s Process for Permitting SDHW Systems Toronto Building’s Solar Working Group has developed a number of forms and documented procedures to facilitate inspection: SDHW System Report Solar Roof Structure Report Solar Backflow Prevention Report But it’s still a work in progress!

43. Inspection Bulletin Covers 3 main areas: Installation on the roof Backflow prevention Plumbing safety

44. On Site Inspection - Roof

45. On Site Inspection – Roof Report Verification that roof conditions meet solar span table requirements is part of plan review Inspection verifies that location of solar collectors is as shown on drawing Best Practices: contractors should be taking pictures of their roof installations Particularly if not visible from ground

46. On Site Inspection – Plumbing Safety

47. On Site Inspection – Backflow Prevention

48. #3: Review of the Completed SDHW Inspection Report The inspection report is to verify conformance to F83 There are some additional elements (i.e. regarding structure) added to the inspection report There is no need to verify items – responsibility rests with the Certified Installer

49. Comparing F383 Tests to Toronto Building’s Inspection Report • There needs to be some significant changes to F383 section 13: System Tests to make it a valuable tool for commissioning and regulatory inspection