Net-zero solar design

Net-zero solar designs start from energy feasibility studies where Dandelion Renewables identifies the most cost effective design ideas in energy conservation and energy generation for new or existing operations. We have studied more than 100 facilities including pork farms, greenhouses, dairy farms and hotels. The net-zero solar design process starts with learning the key aspects of the business such as resources, revenue sources, and growth expectations. The energy consumption history is studied and future expectations are projected and simulated on an hourly basis. Energy bills are broken down to identify how to best reduce energy costs, using risk analysis of different changes an owner or business could make. We learn and integrate into facility designs the best operational and technological practices proven in the industry. We research additional ideas based on technological developments to improve business profits while reducing the impact that the business has on the environment. As an example, Dandelion Renewables prepared a net-zero solar pork barn design for new barns in Alberta that expects to provide better return on investment for a new barn than a conventional pork barn design. The primary technologies that make the net-zero solar pork barn economical are heat recovery ventilation, ground-source geo-exchange heating, thermal mass heat storage, and solar photovoltaic power generation. See figure #1 below for an example of an hourly pork barn heating profile for a net-zero pork barn design.