The solar cooling project is proposed by a consortium of German and Canadian companies NARVA, s-power and Proterra Solar.

Günter Schaffron, CEO of s-power, says: “The Canadian-German Oxford Gardens project in Woodstock, Canada, is one of the biggest of its kind to be realised in North America.”

The solar cooling project is currently being constructed at Oxford Gardens, a retirement village in Woodstock, Ontario, and includes the installation of 162 solar collectors.

“Approximately 40% of the building’s air conditioning load, during the summer months in addition to an important contribution to the domestic hot water heating, pool heating and space heating will be covered by the solar cooling system. This represents a significant portion of the energy consumption for the retirement home”, adds Bill VanHaeren, co-owner of the Oxford Gardens retirement home.

The pilot project was initiated by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) and the Deutsche Energie-Agentur GmbH (dena) - the German Energy Agency - under the dena Solar Roofs Program.