A new Quebec company has created what it claims is the first factory-built, solar-powered house.
Solar panels on the outside capture light and sun energy to power everything from the hot water inside the bathroom to the refrigerator and kitchen appliances.
It has the look and feel of a modern living space, except for the fact that it’s powered entirely by renewable energy.
“The users won’t see a difference between a standard home and this home,” said Dan Oppizzi, a Swiss environmental engineer who owns iLand Solaire, the company that built the house.
The house is highly insulated, and its design features are environmentally friendly.
iLand Solaire builds the houses for $147 per square foot.
They come prefabricated and take five days to build.
Oppizzi said that the amount of energy the houses use is a fraction of what a traditional house uses.
“We have a consumption of energy of 15 kilowatts per square metre per year,” he said. “A standard home in Quebec is 250 kilowatts per square metre per year.”
After buying the home, energy costs are minimal to the new owner.
“We feed the grid with power that we collect by the solar panel, and Hydro Quebec gives us a credit that we use to pay the energy,” Oppizzi said.
