In the photograph above you can see our organic garden is incredibly bountiful this year with wonderful sun flowers, cucumbers, tomatoes, mixed greens, onions, potatoes and much more. The new awning structure completes the look of the house as originally designed by Martin Liefhebber providing shading in the summer. The new solar PV array produces 1.2 kW of solar using ten Sharp 120 solar panels. This new array will be connected to the grid using the Ontario Standard Offer Program (SOP) which pays 42 cents/kW for every kW generated by the panels for the next 20 years. Solera Energies has done a wonderful job with the upgrade to their original work that has worked flawlessly for the past six years. This is a great investment for the long term and being your own power producer is a great feeling especially when you think about your childrens future.

In the photograph above you can see how the green roof has finally blossomed after a difficult first year trying to get things growing. Last summer was very dry. This year the daily rain has helped get the native grasses and wild flowers thriving. In the background you can see the 1 kWh Bergey wind turbine that has been faithfully generated renewable energy for us for the past six years (as of 2008). The green roof looks gorgeous and is a pleasure to walk around in and up to the top of the roof to get a great view.