Luc St-Pierre, Durham Sud, QC (2001)
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Luc St-Pierre runs a ________ farm in Durham Sud, Quebec. In 2001, he built an additional building with a solar panel. He had heard about solar panels for farm buildings from his neighbours, Jocelyne Morin and Daniel Messier, who had held an open house when construction of their new farm was completed.
Mr. St-Pierre's system uses the entire roof space so that air preheated by the solar panel can be vented into different rooms of his nursery. The roof space is sealed; there is no ventilator under the gable to evacuate excess heat. In winter, the heat provided by the solar panel passes through the roof space into modular air intakes in each room. In summer, vents along the eaves are opened to allow cool air to enter the roof space without being preheated by the solar panel. A thin layer of insulation under the sheet metal keeps the temperature in the roof space lower in summer.
Mr. St-Pierre said that it is the easiest of his buildings to heat, and that ventilation is very easy to control. He also said that, given the advantages of a solar panel, it would be ridiculous not to install one. He said his future constructions or renovations will definitely include solar panels. Mr. St-Pierre purchased the farm from his father in 2004.
Modified: 04-10-2008
