IKAAHUK/SACHS HARBOUR
Energy bills could be lower by the end of the month in Sachs Harbour as a new solar panel project is being installed outside the hamlet office.

Sachs Harbour hamlet staff worked with Green Sun Rising on installing the new solar panel system in the hamlet. - photo courtesy of Sheena Adams

"It was presented to council to see what we think as a council to lower the cost of our municipal power," said Mayor Lloyd Acheson.

"Arctic Energy Alliance did the study and as a community board, we voted to do it."

The hamlet, with the help of the alliance, contracted Green Sun Rising out of Ontario to bring in and install 60 260-watt solar panels outside the office.

The panels arrived in Sachs Harbour over the Oct. 10 weekend, and Green Sun Rising founder Klaus Dohring was in town last week working on the installation. With the current government electricity rate in the hamlet of about $1.83 per kilowatt hour, Dohring wrote in an e-mail to News/North the hamlet could save $10,000 annually.

"However, the power corp. will save even more because the true cost of diesel generation in Sachs is much higher," Dohring said of the heavily subsidized fuel.

In the hamlet, Acheson said Kuptana's Guest House already has a solar system that, when 24-hours of sunlight hits, brings money in because the system is producing more power than the establishment is using.

At first, the system will only be powering the hamlet office but other buildings, such as the arena and garage are close by and could also harness solar energy if the system is expanded, said Yichao Chen, energy management specialist with the alliance.

"The energy cost is quite high for the arena and office," Acheson said.

"So this is where, when we get 24 hours of sunshine in April to August, it will make a big difference."

The idea of a solar system in the hamlet first came up during the alliance's community visits a few years back, Chen said, but the project awaited funding under the federal ecoENERGY funding program.

With approval coming for this year, Chen said there was a push to have the project in place before the end of the fiscal year.

The alliance's Sheena Adams, Inuvik Regional Energy Project Coordinator, was in Sachs for the system installation, speaking about the project in the school and community.

"We talked about all the ways to save energy and why the solar system is important to the environment and for energy security," said Adams.

"The net power goes back into the grid and offsets the energy usage of the community."

There has been great interest in the community, with people stopping by throughout the installation and ask questions, Sheena said.

"This is the largest most Northern solar project in Canada," she said.

"For a small hamlet to commit to that and make it happen is amazing."

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