Solar panels light up Davis
The sixteen solar panels above C-Wing at Davis Campus. (Photo by Amanda Spilker/ The Sheridan Sun)
STORY BY AMANDA SPILKER
Sheridan is shining some light on renewable energy.
On Oct. 4, the Davis campus Integrated Energy Systems Laboratory (IESL) invited the public inside as part of an annual province-wide initiative called Green Energy Doors Open.
The single-day showcase allowed the Sheridan community to witness all types of green energy initiatives.
The project, which was created by the Ontario Sustainable Energy Association (OSEA), began in 2011.
OSEA focuses on transitioning the province to a more sustainable economy.
Sheridan’s Energy System laboratory, which was designed by Renteknik Group, is one of the most technologically advanced of its kind in Canada.
“It’s been going on for a couple years now,” said Yang Jiao, a representative from the Burlington-based green design and engineering company. “But eventually we are hoping to expand the lab.”
Yang Jiao explains the process of the water boiler being powered through solar energy. (Photo by Filip Dos Santos/ The Sheridan Sun)
IESL provides an area where engineering students can study the integration of four types of renewable energy: solar and thermal, fuel cell, wind turbine and micro hydro and also allows them learn how to operate, monitor and maintain these types of commercial equipment.
The facility includes 16 panels installed last spring over the C-wing that gather solar energy that is used in thermal heating and electricity within the lab.
“You need a lot more to power the whole school,” said Jiao.
The energy generated is connected to the buildings power grid but only counts for a small part of the school’s needs.
According to Laras-Eric Sjoberg, COO of Renteknik, part of the $30 million the school plans to spend over the next five years is going towards building a wing to house a larger lab.
Sjorberg explained that it is one of the many parts linked with Sheridan becoming a university.
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