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IKAAHUK/SACHS HARBOUR - The Ikahuk Co-op grocery store in Sachs Harbour could be going solar.

Doug Dickie, manager of the Co-op, said the store is looking to cut back its energy bills and cut costs for goods to the community. After a meeting with the territory's alternative energy specialist, they decided solar power could be a solution.

"We were talking about ways of saving power because it's phenomenally expensive here, Dickie said. "Wind generation and solar power are in vogue right now and everyone is looking to be a little bit greener.

Dickie spoke with Wade Carpenter, the alternative energy specialist for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. He said Carpenter told him about the Alternative Energy Technologies Program, which offers funding for alternative energy development in the North.

The program is broken down into three groups of funding - residential, business and community, the latter the source of funding for the Co-op. Dickie said the store is renovating this summer he hopes to put in a five kilowatt solar panel system on the south side of the building.

"It's like someone designed the building with solar panels in mind, he said. "If we put them on the vertical we wouldn't have to worry about snow, it would just slide right off."

Sachs Harbour has its last sunset on May 6, with 24-hour sunlight right on through to October, supplying plenty of power.

Carpenter said the project would be extremely beneficial to the store, as most of its energy consumption comes in the summertime when they have to run their freezer system.

" They get the barge in with the food for the entire year, they need to have the electrical system running to keep the freezers running, Carpenter said." With the sun up so much in the summer, it makes a lot of sense to do this.

To determine the feasibility of putting in a system like this, Carpenter evaluates the project through RETScreen testing, a Canadian-developed computer program that determines the cost-effectiveness of a renewable energy project.

"It allows people to punch in their data sets: cost of electricity, cost of solar panels and ... it'll show you how much you'll save per year and how long it will take to pay off the system."

Carpenter said the RETScreen analysis shows that a five-kilowatt solar panel system in Sachs Harbour would save approximately $6,300 per year in electricity costs, based on 2009 energy rates. With funding from the GNWT, the Co-op would pay for its system in less than five years.

"The community is really keen, Dickie said. "They look at it, and say what saves the Co-op money is going to reflect on the cost of goods in the town. We're owned by the people, so any way we can save money it reduces their costs as well.

Dickie said they are also looking at wind generation for the winter months, but he has yet to sell Co-op's head office on the idea. "The wind sure howls during the winter months here in Sachs."