Kajk Constructors, an Ontario company riding the lucrative wave of solar energy specialism, accepted the challenge of this difficult residential roof installation this year, and their inventive answer to what has become a nagging question during such installations earned them the 2021 APsystems residential award.

Kajk is a thoroughgoing solar firm, and the spirit of meaningful change and damn-the-torpedoes development in an emerging market is evident from a look at their portfolio and project approach. Green from stem to stern, they promote energy conservation throughout the build process, utilizing what might be termed holistic sustainability, a full-circle methodology that even incorporates a build envelope to lower a project’s carbon footprint.

For this project — called the Lakes Park Project — the Kajk team confronted that nagging question yet again: how does one reconcile optimal placement and the access forethought necessary for easy upkeep, updates and repair when dealing with a roof installation? They selected APsystems componentry to help them formulate an answer.

The team reported that the APsystems QS1 quad-unit microinverters were the hardware solution to that perennial installation question, allowing them to come up with a plan for an array that “maximizes energy production” while sandwiching the QS1 microinverters between the two layers of panels, “minimizing both the risk of damage to the panels, and the time spent on maintenance.”

We congratulate Kajk Constructors for their artful design, their abundant experience with solar array installations, their spirit of conservation and iconoclasm, and their ability to use the versatility designed into APsystems’ componentry to its full potential.

Learn more about other 2021 project winners here.

It doesn’t only have a marvelous name. Calgary’s SkyFire Energy is one of the most dynamic solar power outfits in Alberta. By linking solar systems and EV charging stations, designing solar/battery hybrid solutions, and positioning their brand via business, agriculture and First Nations project context specialties, SkyFire is one of the most innovative and community-oriented residential solar system providers in the Province. But it was their partnership with and system installations for Jayman Homes, also in Calgary, that made them the overall winners of APsystems residential Project Award for 2020.

SkyFire used APsystems components for their partnership with fellow progressive Calgary business Jayman Homes, a residential contractor who wanted to bring solar panels into the picture as a standard feature on all new builds. The two companies shook hands in 2018. As of their project competition entry date, the SkyFire systems provide more than 2.1 MW of solar power to Jayman houses, with over 6,800 modules across more than 1,100 systems.

Jayman homes are sold with a 6-panel system, and APsystems microinverters are used for every build. The cost/benefit of APsystems products in the context of contracting for developments allowed Jayman to keep the per-home cost down, an attractive feature for younger first-time buyers desiring to offset their new home’s energy footprint.

Learn more about other 2020 project winners here.

Headquartered in West Kelowna, British Columbia, Okanagan Solar has worked on residential and business projects across Western and Northwestern Canada, and in Nicaragua, where they’ve been active in volunteer work that promotes solar power as a potent economic and cultural solution.

One of Okanagan’s larger home town projects involved a multiple buildings at apartment community Carrington View. Okanagan was contracted for the last three buildings in the residential building project. The three buildings had to provide 277 kW. The Okanagan team elected to use APsystems 3-Phase YC1000 microinverters for additional efficiency and simplicity of installation. The YC1000 units helped the company bring the project in on time and on budget.

After Okanagan completed the work in mid-2020, Carrington View was graced with the distinction of having the biggest collection of residential solar installations in the Province. The aggregate services all 474 apartments and condominiums, and stands as proof positive that solar is both economically and ecologically advantageous.

Learn more about other 2020 project winners here.

One of the most galvanizing 2020 APsystems project entries arrived courtesy of The Next Solar Energy Technology, and it took the APsystems honors for commercial winner in 2020. With an astonishingly prescient sense of timing, the Kenner, Louisiana-based solar power company transformed a solar array into a symbol of restored freedom in the Deep South.

Next Solar Energy was contacted by Liberty Self Storage, a multi-site business in Louisiana, about taking on the conversion project for one of their locations. Liberty Self Storage had dedicated itself to green energy in 2016, commissioning solar conversion for the first 9 of their 12 stores in St. Tammany Parish, but wanted to do something different for this location.

Next Solar Energy’s design arranged the solar panel array into an American flag. In trading string inverters for 64 APsystems microinverters in the project design, they created one of the most energy-efficient locations in the Liberty chain, and helped Liberty take the prize as one of the most progressive mid-sized companies in the South.

Learn more about other 2020 project winners here.

Each year, APsystems selects one residential and one business winner for our Project Awards. The fact that solar power is rapidly gaining traction as a bona-fide alternative to traditional energy delivery made the selection process for the 2019 especially difficult! We had more entries than ever to consider.

This year, the APsystems Project of the Year Awards honor Washington’s Cascadia Solar, and Pennsylvania’s SolareAmerica. Both of these companies deserve recognition for their forward thinking, their inventiveness, and for helping so many people and businesses alike go solar at the dawn of this new decade.

Learn more about this project here.

Cascadia Solar took home our Residential Award. This growing firm is based in the northernmost corner of coastal Washington, and services the greater Olympic Peninsula region. APsystems chose to honor their contribution to The Walk, a progressive residential community on scenic Bainbridge Island. To help power The Walk, Cascadia used our QS1 and YC600 micro-inverters, and chose to install them discreetly on roofs, awnings and vertical end-walls.

Our Commercial Award went to SolareAmerica for their Wawa installation. Last fall, Wawa, a Pennsylvania-based company that owns over 400 gas stations in the Northeast, announced that 93 of their stations would be going solar. This store in Toms River is a representative of that new direction. The store uses 90 APsystems QS1 micro-inverters, installed by SolareAmerica, to handle its 360 modules, and deliver its 108 kilowatts.

Learn more about this project here.

APsystems congratulates both winners of our 2019 Project of the Year Awards. And we especially look forward to seeing your entry in 2020, so be on the lookout for more information about the upcoming year’s competition!