Queen’s Solar Team Partners with Bullfrog Power on Autonomous House

Published on: 2016/11/16 - in Featured Science & Tech

The Queen’s Solar Design Team announced a new partnership with Bullfrog Power on Tuesday, with the green energy company being named a Green Energy Title Sponsor.

Bullfrog Power is contributing funding to the Queen’s Solar Education Centre (QSEC), an autonomous house project designed as a testing ground for new sustainable technologies and to educate Canadians about greener living.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with Bullfrog Power,” said Katie Yang, Business Manager for the Queen’s Solar Design Team. “There is a strong alignment between our organizations, in that we are both dedicated to increasing the awareness and use of renewable technologies.”

The QSEC is being constructed by a multidisciplinary team of Queen’s University students on the Queen’s Solar Design Team with assistance from the university’s Solar Calorimetry Lab.

The 75-square metre house is built to provide heating, water, and shelter for its occupants without being connected to municipal electricity or water supplies.

Some of the methods leading to its autonomy include a 1.9 kW solar array, rain water catchment and filtration system, as well as other technologies that will include a high-efficiency heating system to significantly lessen power requirements for heating the house.

This innovative heating system will be especially important in making the home self sufficient, as home heating typically makes up 63% of residential power usage in the country, according to Natural Resources Canada.

Although development of the QSEC house – which began in 2013 for a U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon – is ongoing, it continues to host tours and workshops for hundreds of Kingstonians, including children from local schools and summer camps.

“Bullfrog Power and QSEC are helping to educate Canadians through examples of the tools we need to live a greener life and by finding ways to reduce the environmental impact of our homes,” said Bullfrog Power CEO, Ron Seftel. “Thanks to bullfrog powered individuals and organizations across Canada, Bullfrog Power is able to support progressive, education-focused projects like the QSEC autonomous house.”

The Queen’s Solar Design Team was founded in 1988 and formerly known as the Queen’s Solar Vehicle Team. The team’s achievements include placing first in numerous solar vehicle competitions, as well in the Engineering category of the 2013 U.S. D.O.E. Solar Decathlon.

The Queen’s Solar Education Centre project is designed to educate and empower current and future homeowners to make their homes more sustainable.

Public tours will be open for the house on September 11, 2016. More information and details about future events can be found on the Queen’s Solar Design Team website.

Bullfrog Power, Canada’s leading green energy provider, offers renewable energy solutions that “enable individuals and businesses to reduce their environmental impact, support the development of green energy projects in Canada and help create a cleaner, healthier world”.

You can learn more or sign up with Bullfrog Power at bullfrogpower.com.


Photo source: Bullfrog Power on Instagram