Ottawa residents who want to heat water using the sun's energy can finally apply for permits from the city, ending a four-year ban.

"We developed a guideline that now stipulates very clearly to the industry what requirements are for permits of solar domestic hot water systems," said Richard Ashe, program manager of permit approvals in Ottawa's building services branch.

The solar water heating system on Robin Hutcheson's roof has reduced by 50 per cent the amount of natural gas burned to heat water for his home.
(Robin Hutcheson/Arborus Consulting)

"We're open for business and I assume we'll see some permits coming in very shortly."

Proponents such as Robin Hutcheson say the heaters save both money and energy.

Hutcheson runs an engineering company that specializes in renewable energy and is the president of the National Capital Green Building Association.

He has installed solar panels on the roof of his Glebe house and has cut his natural gas bill for water heating in half.

"In a course of a sunny day … my tank will be at 120 F [49 C] in a matter of about four hours," he said, adding that interest in the technology is growing. "People are understanding that [for] domestic hot water, the least cost option anywhere is from the sun."

New national standards in place

For the past four years, the city has refused to issue solar water heater permits, arguing that there were no up-to-date national industry standards.

That drew fire from critics, who said Ottawa was the only municipality in Ontario that didn't allow the systems.

Two years ago, the Canadian Standards Association put out a technical paper on its solar water heater standards, which was used to change Ontario's building code to make it easier to install alternative energy systems.

The CSA is a non-profit, membership-based organization that develops national safety standards and its solar water heater standards date from the late 1980s.

Ashe said the updated building code allowed the City of Ottawa to develop its new solar water heater policy, which was ratified with the endorsement of members of the solar industry a couple of weeks ago.

The city has since begun accepting permit applications.

If the city becomes aware of solar water heaters that were installed during the past four years, it will ask the owners to apply for a permit, Ashe said.