The City of Salmon Arm is moving ahead with installing solar panels on the roof of the Arts Centre.

CAO Carl Bannister says the building was chosen over City Hall and Fire Hall No. 3, noting the decision was made after a feasibility study found it could reduce the building’s energy consumption between 26 and 53 per cent.

“It’s a good location and good set up for a demonstration system and to get a good feel of whether or not it would work here in Salmon Arm,” he said. “The consultant had talked about the three buildings and the pros and cons of each and essentially recommended that we proceeded with the Art Gallery because it was good as a demonstration project.”

Bannister says the installation will cost about $25,000, but city council has set aside $30,000 in case of contingencies. Work is set to happen in the Spring of 2020.

“The limiting factor of course for us is budget,” added Bannister. “We decided to go with one building at this point, just to see how it’s going to work before embarking on anything else.”

A full solar build out at the Arts Centre would also result in a 100 per cent or net zero electricity consumption reduction, which Bannister says is also part of reason why council chose it over the other two locations.

Depending on the results, he notes there are other buildings that could see solar panels installed.

“For example, the Shaw Centre and our community centre,” Bannister said. “We’re also looking at building a parkade in downtown Salmon Arm in the next five years and one possibility is to have solar power on the roof of that building, which would then supply power to electric car charges essentially.”