Sunvault Energy Inc. and Aboriginal Power Corp. (an affiliate of Sunvault) are buying a 25% stake in Firefly Development Corp. so that it an build an energy self sufficient community of up to 500 homes in British Columbia. The community, near Vernon, will feature about 3 MW of rooftop solar energy and energy storage.
The partnership will also construct an anaerobic digester facility which will take all organic waste from the homes in the community and turn that waste into energy to power the homes. This technology combined with 3 MW of solar PV installed on the homes' roofs, will make this community a self sustainable community as far as power is concerned. The energy storage system will be provided by Edison, another affiliate of Sunvault. All homes will also have solar water heat options and a grey water system.
"This will be our second self sustainable community located in the Okanagan, new homes average in the Okanagan Valley at approximately $550,000, our homes will be in the $180,000 to $300,000 range for 1200 - 1600 square feet of single family high quality living space," said Gary Monaghan, CEO of Sunvault Energy.
Custom Built Homes in the community are to be sold to the owners and the land will be leased for 49-years with an option for a second 49 years. This 49 year lease structure has been done on other First Nation properties and is quite common for financing. One of the big benefits to home owners is it allows for a much lower cost of entry point for home owners because there are no large up front land costs.
The company has identified two local prefab home builders that can build these highly efficient custom homes at a rate of approximately four homes per day. The homes will be built to the highest environmental standard for efficiency so that they can receive LEED certification.
From a revenue standpoint, Firefly will earn approximately $350,000 per year from the water system. Sunvault will earn its share from this site of approximately $875,000 to $1 million per year revenue on power usage as a green renewable energy utility provider.
Sunvault's gross revenues from the solar and the Edison Systems installation will be approximately another $9.2 million dollars.
In the last year there has been a considerable amount of discussion made popular by the Tesla Company regarding their Powerwall product. In recent weeks they released press that the 10kWh battery will not be going ahead for home storage. The release stated that Tesla has pulled its 10 kilowatt Powerwall device, leaving only its 6.4 kWh battery listed for sale.
The Edison Power Company plans to initiate as part of this self sustaining green renewable project their Edison Always On Energy Bank Storage System. The energy storage unit chosen will be the Edison 12kWh model using their Graphene Electrical Energy Storage Device (EESD) technology. This energy storage technology will provide homeowners with reliable energy storage from the renewable energy generation in the property development, making each home capable of being truly self-reliant and sustaining.
"The Edison Always On Energy Bank Storage System allows the green energy that is produced to be stored and the consumer usage to be maximized is one of the world's very first large steps into real practical renewable energy. This project development will be a true showcase of the brilliant energy storage technology brought to us through the efforts of Dr. Robert Murray-Smith and the team at Edison Power," added Monaghan.