The Ravina Project
General information
LocationToronto, Ontario, Canada
Website
http://www.theravinaproject.org/

The Ravina Project is a privately run research project, dedicated to educating people about the impacts of home ownership on climate change.

Overview

Susan and Gordon Fraser, a retired couple who converted their 1920s-era Toronto home into an engineering science experiment starting on November 1, 2006.[1][2][3] The home features solar panels which in turn charge batteries to supply energy to the house when grid connectivity is disrupted, as well as a bi-directional interface to the power grid, permitting the home to both draw from and supply to the grid. The home also features a variety of applications for insulating walls, windows, and doors.

In 2008 the solar array was modified using an extendable arm made for satellite TVs in order to tilt the solar panels to maximize energy generation.[4] The array can be viewed at any time, via a camera mounted on a neighbour's roof, and the array can be re-positioned via a computer in the home.[5] The Ravina Project publishes data frequently to indicate how well a particular improvement contributes to heating efficiency or power generation, and regularly produces research papers to explain the impact of particular endeavours.[6] For example, one recent paper reveals the Ravina Project achieved a 31.9% cost savings on heating bills over the baseline, measured in 2005.[7] In addition to cost-savings, the Ravina Project is able to supply electricity to neighbouring homes, as 60% of the energy collected from the home's solar panels gets fed back to the grid.[8] Susan and Gordon Fraser present on their research often. At the Ontario Good Road Association conference in February 2017, Gordon Fraser reported that laying panels flat during the winter was the orientation that produced most effective electricity generation.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "Home". www.theravinaproject.org. Retrieved 2021-10-27.
  2. ↑ Dana, Flavelle (27 November 2017). "Cities take lead in climate change battle". Toronto Star.
  3. ↑ Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams, "Macrowikinomics: Rebooting Business and the World, The Penguin Group, 2010 ISBN 9781591843566, at pp. 110-12.
  4. ↑ Stokell, Samantha, Ravina Project shines a light on solar potential, Toronto Observer, November 12, 2008, available at: https://torontoobserver.ca/2008/11/12/ravina-project-shines-a-light-on-solar-potential/
  5. ↑ LeBlanc, Dave, Shining the light on energy efficiency, The Globe and Mail, October 2, 2007 (updated April 26, 2018), available at: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/real-estate/shining-the-light-on-energy-efficiency/article695193/
  6. ↑ The Ravina Project, available at http://theravinaproject.org/
  7. ↑ Household Heating Efficiency, March 21, 2018. http://theravinaproject.org/The%20Ravina%20Project%20-%20Household%20Heating%20Efficiency.pdf
  8. ↑ Flavelle, Dana, Riverdale couple's ‘grid-resilient’ house takes on climate change, The Toronto Star, May 10, 2016, available at: https://www.thestar.com/business/2016/05/10/riverdale-couples-grid-resilient-house-takes-on-climate-change.html
  9. ↑ OGRA Conference, Day 2, AM (visited May 21, 2019), available at 1h:29m: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSKc-PUgSTs
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