Preamble: Vancouver’s Greenest City policies are still in place, and in January 2019, City Council unanimously adopted the Climate Emergency Declaration, the first Canadian city to do so, based on a motion by then-councillor Christine Boyle of OneCity Vancouver (now BC’s Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs, replaced by Lucy Maloney), supported by the Vancouver Greens and several councillors currently on Council. It was followed by the Climate Emergency Action Plan, which includes an important role for renewable energy. Thanks to recent unprecedented breakthroughs in technologies and efficiency, solar photovoltaic power generation is increasingly a game-changer around the world. And despite our northern latitudes, the potential for solar PV is huge in Canada, including Vancouver. Yet, as described here by Mr MacIsaac, there is no evidence that city staff have given the slightest consideration to the negative impacts or implications for solar PV as a result of the so-called “Social Housing Initiative,” scheduled for final questions, debate and vote as the first item of business at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, December 9 (see also”Up to 6 and 20 storeys in ‘Social Housing Initiative’ on nearly half of Vancouver’s land area”). If approved, the SHI policy will throw a dark cloud over solar PV potential with blanket rezoning for up to 6 storeys or 20 storeys (with no public hearing) on nearly 53,000 residential lots, representing nearly 50% of all residential land area in Vancouver. This is an aspect completely omitted by planning staff in policy development. The opportunity for public speakers and comments ended on November 27, so all eyes are now on what unfolds at the December 9 meeting. There are implications for decades ahead.

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Blanket tower re-zoning reveals a significant omission in sustainable energy planning for Vancouver

One might excuse the omission of solar energy planning in the early days of developing the Vancouver and Broadway Plans due to the recent rapid adoption globally of solar PV energy systems.

In the 168 page Vancouver Plan the word “solar” is mentioned four times—none of those references relate to solar PV energy generation and shadow impacts.

In the 537 page Broadway Plan solar PV energy generation and shadow impacts are never discussed. It appears the City planning process has not considered the future growth in solar PV as a renewable energy source and the impact of building shadowing on solar PV generation capacity and electricity cost.

The same omission regarding solar PV energy generation occurs in the currently proposed Vancouver Social Housing Initiative which recommends a blanket re-zoning of a large area of Vancouver to permit 20 storey building towers.

Solar Access vs Solar Easement

The root of the problem appears to be with the definition of solar access used by the CoV. A Wikipedia lookup of “solar access” shows the deficiency of this definition in the local planning process:

• Solar access is the ability of one property to continue to receive sunlight across property lines without obstruction from another’s property (buildings, foliage or other impediment). Solar access is calculated using a sun path diagram.
  Solar access is differentiated from solar rights or solar easement, which is specifically meant for direct sunlight for solar energy systems, whereas solar access is a right to sunlight upon certain building façades regardless of the presence of active or passive solar energy systems.[1]
  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_access)

The concept and definition that is missing from all of the CoV planning documents referenced is solar easement, and this is critical to the future of solar PV generation in Vancouver, and British Columbia in general.

The CoV planning documents have focused on concerns with solar access to parks and certain commercial streets during limited periods and for a purpose which excludes any reference to solar PV energy generation.

If solar PV analysis was done by CoV in the planning process one would expect to see data from a process such as one explained in “Solar Panel Shading Analysis: A Detailed Guide” (https://solarestique.com/solar-panel-shading-analysis-a-detailed-guide/) documented in all of the major planning reports. None of this data or analysis has been presented to Council or the public in the reports.

Solar PV is a key part of Vancouver’s future

Solar PV as a clean, inexpensive electricity generation option is growing rapidly. The cost of solar panels has fallen 90% over the last 15 years with new technologies that increase performance, provide broader customer access, and lower electricity costs significantly. See for example:

Locally, BC Hydro is encouraging the expansion of residential solar PV sites through its self-generation program and rebates for solar PV installations. (https://app.bchydro.com/accounts-billing/electrical-connections/self-generation.html)

This is part of BC Hydro’s 2025 Integrated Resource Plan which places customer solar at the top of its list of future generation priorities. (https://www.bchydro.com/toolbar/about/strategies-plans-regulatory/supply-operations/long-term-electricity-planning/integrated-resource-plan.html)

From above:

• We’re also advancing our multi-year solar and battery storage rebate  program, which is expected to provide 800 gigawatt-hours per year (GWh/year) of energy by 2034 – enough to power 80,000 households each year.

These priorities are driven by the public’s desire to see more solar and renewable energy generation from BC Hydro. This is not a minor aspect of BC Hydro load planning as the City has argued.

See page 7 of this report where 83% of public respondents and 88% of local governments support the customer solar program. (https://www.bchydro.com/content/dam/BCHydro/customer-portal/documents/ corporate/regulatory-planning-documents/integrated-resource-plans/current-plan/IRP2025-Phase2-Customer-Public-Report.pdf)

As well, there has been major participation in the recent BC Utilities Commission hearings on the BC Hydro Net Metering Rate proposal. (https://www.bcuc.com/OurWork/ViewProceeding?applicationid=1323)

Which reflects the interest in solar PV across the province. This is not just a clean energy issue. BC Hydro views expanding solar PV as a critical component of its generating capacity for the future.

Within Vancouver there are many existing solar PV self-generation systems and the potential for many future solar PV generation sites. The ability of these sites to produce electricity depends upon access to the sun’s photons throughout the year.

However, construction of buildings surrounding a given site has a measurable negative impact on solar PV when building height blocks a solar easement.

Why is this important to zoning and re-zoning for multi-storey towers?

The City of Vancouver promotes the adoption of renewable energy systems in its Renewable City Action Plan: https://vancouver.ca/files/cov/renewable-city-action-plan-summary.pdf

And, promotes climate action through land-use planning which includes zoning, at least according to their online documents: https://vancouver.ca/green-vancouver/land-use-planning.aspx

However, as stated earlier, the CoV has not carried out the appropriate analysis for solar PV (solar easement) shadowing in the Plans presented. Or, if they have, are not providing this data to the public in their reports for evaluation.

The recommended re-zoning of vast areas of the City to permit 20 storey towers, with no data on the solar easement impacts, is inconsistent with climate land-use planning promoted by the City.

This re-zoning would also be harmful to existing residential solar PV generation, conflict with the BC Hydro 2025 Integrated Resource Plan, and discourage self-generation expansion across the City with the uncertainty created.

Vancouver City Council are voting on a re-zoning proposal that will have a significant impact on the clean energy and solar PV generation capacity of Vancouver over the next 30 years and likely beyond. This proposal should not be approved based on incomplete and missing information.

Gary MacIsaac
Vancouver, BC

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Also by Gary MacIsaac

Vancouver’s solar PV potential & sustainability/climate goals threatened by 20-storey towers in ‘Social Housing Initiative.’ It also contradicts many gov’t policies/programs – https://cityhallwatch.wordpress.com/2025/11/23/social-housing-initiative-bad-for-solar-pv-climate-policy/