Everything we do here at IISD Experimental Lakes Area aims to protect the environment. That’s our raison d’être.
And while our research focuses on keeping freshwater supplies clean and healthy for generations to come, we also want to make sure that the operations required to keep the hundreds of our annual visitors clean, well fed, and well rested are having a minimal impact on the beautiful remote corner of northwestern Ontario in which we are located.
Admittedly, over the years, we have relied on burning diesel fuel to run the world’s freshwater laboratory. However, a plan to convert our power usage to a renewable resource—kicked off in 2017—has now been launched and will transform how we work.
While summer is, of course, our busy season, the site is functioning throughout all four seasons.
And there are lots of fluctuations in needs. In winter, power use drops low, sometimes as low as 30 kilowatts (kW). In the summer, however, power use is higher, typically around 50 kW, but can spike to 100 kW for short times when extra equipment is turned on.
For years, we have run diesel generators 24/7, all year long. This uses a massive amount of fuel—about 100,000 litres of diesel every year. This fuel use is costly and creates a lot of carbon emissions, which can contribute to the impact of climate change.
This is where our brand-new array of shiny solar panels come into play.
540 large solar photovoltaic panels now greet anyone who drives down the Pine Road that leads visitors to the IISD-ELA site. They’re bifacial, meaning they capture the sun’s energy on both sides, and can handle up to 297 kW—more than enough to handle the energy that we need at peak hours.
The excess power then goes into a huge battery—a battery energy storage system—for use at night or during cloudy days.
The goal of this upgrade is to replace an estimated 80% of the power currently made by diesel with clean, renewable energy. That’s a massive reduction in our dependence on fossil fuels.
This major change will
Many thanks to Environment and Climate Change Canada, without whose support our transition to clean, renewable energy would not be possible.