In Canada, 20% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions result from burning fossil fuels to heat homes, buildings, and water. Solar thermal technologies convert the sun’s energy into emission-free heat. The Drake Landing Solar Community (DLSC) in Okotoks, Alberta uses a Central Solar Heating Plant (CSHP) with Seasonal Storage to achieve an astounding annual reduction of 89 % in fossil fuel consumption and more than 5 tonnes in GHG emissions per home. This thesis examines: (1) the role for solar thermal technologies in Canada; and (2) what social, economical, and environmental factors are critical to the implementation and ultimate success of the DLSC. The former was examined through a literature review and the latter through a qualitative case study. Data was collected from published articles, media reports, conference proceedings, and in-person interviews in Okotoks. International markets have shown strong solar thermal growth, yet Canada lags significantly despite its powerful solar resources and readily available technology. Europe has demonstrated that strong policies with ambitious targets have a critical role in the implementation of solar technologies. A review of recent public opinion polls demonstrates Canadians value the environment and would favour such policy developments. The case study sought to understand the roles and motivations of the municipality, home builder group, and homeowners. The municipality exhibited tremendous leadership when it embarked on a path towards sustainability that included controlled growth based on ecological limitations and investment in solar thermal technology for municipal buildings. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities was instrumental in exposing Okotoks and the home builder group to the CSHP successes in Europe. The flexibility and innovation of the home builder group provided conventionally-styled homes, which were able to seamlessly incorporate the technologies of the DLSC. For the homeowners, critical components of the success of the project included: a means to participate in environmental change, increased community cohesion due to aligned values; and price stability for their heating costs. Additionally, all of the homeowners interviewed stated that they would be willing to pay extra to support the technology, which indicates that future projects may require less subsidization. / Thesis (Master, Environmental Studies) -- Queen's University, 2009-02-03 14:08:18.825

In order to enhance the performance of a large horizontal thermal energy storage, a numerical model was generated and validated using measurements obtained from Drake Landing Solar Community (DLSC). A total of nine different baffle configurations were tested in order to enhance the thermal stratification. The designs were tested for a total of six different cases of charging, discharging and simultaneous charging and discharging in an attempt to better identify key features that mix the tank under realistic conditions. Characterization of the tank performance was done by monitoring the tank outlet temperature and computing Huhn's efficiency Second Law characterization index). Results show that the current tanks at DLSC experience excessive mixing due to plume entrainment that occurs during the spreading of the inlet jet. The introduction of a baffle into the middle of the tank was found to have no impact on the level of stratification. In addition, most designs tested have a relatively high level of stratification during charging, discharging and simultaneous charging and discharging, but fail to sustain the level of stratification when a positive buoyant jet is introduced. It was demonstrated that the inlets and outlets should be moved to the top and bottom of the tank to eliminate stagnant fluid that is not easily discharged. Horizontal baffles are effective in allowing the inlet jet to spread horizontally but not vertically, thus reducing the mixing. Alternatively, a simple solution would be to increase the size of the inlet, which has a comparable performance to the best baffle configurations. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)