Empowered, literally, by the success of the heat pump project, the community looked at other clean energy initiatives. Skidegate rests on the southeastern side of the island and receives more sun that most other areas. Solar seemed like the natural next step.

"Solar energy is just starting to gain speed. People were afraid of it, because most things were high risk, high cost," Moraes said. "But solar prices have dropped significantly in the last ten years. More people want to work with solar, since panels are cheaper and batteries more efficient."

All of the Chief Administrative Officers on Haida Gwaii meet every one to two months. In a meeting, led by Kim Mushynsky, they collectively decided to "solar-up" one building in every community. Skidegate councilors chose to solarize the George Brown rec centre, a 50Kw project.

Moraes said solar offsets the demand of electricity from diesel generation. On October 13, 2016, more than 23,000 litres of diesel from a sunken barge devastated more than 60 per cent of the Heiltsuk Nation's clam beds. The catastrophic spill, and other spills and scares like it, emphasize the risk that oil tankers pose to the coast and the need for more appropriate marine response. Yovanovich said they don't want to see a similar disaster to the Nathan E. Stewart on their coast. As ambassadors of the land, moving away from diesel is a top priority, Moraes added.

After the rec building, the band council was inspired to solarize more buildings. Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada had a big funding blitz, Stevens said, for “Canada150,” so the council took advantage of the moment and applied for funding to do the roofs on the Haida Heritage Centre. They also secured funding from Gwaii Trust, a locally-controlled perpetual trust fund, and smaller solar companies.

For the project, they contacted David Isaac, President of W Dusk Energy Group. With the support of Bullfrog Power, W Dusk sent a crew to Haida Gwaii, to install a uniquely designed solar project- the biggest of its kind in the province.

Isaac is Mi'kmaq, originally from Listuguj, Quebec, but raised in Vancouver. In a café downtown Vancouver, he said he started out working in healthcare, had studied to become a doctor, but always had an on and off relationship with energy. He decided to commit to clean energy, when he saw how Indigenous communities were leading the way for a more renewable future in Canada. After the Heritage Centre solar project, Isaac started saying, "If you can do solar in Haida Gwaii, you can do it anywhere."

"Initially we looked at wind, ocean and thermal heat pumps, a whole host of technologies, but we ended up coming full circle to solar," he explained. "When you add it all up, solar was the best option on a price per watt basis, and considering operation and maitenance."

With solar, Isaac explained, there aren't so many moving parts- other than electrons and photons. There is marginal, if not zero cost for maitenance and in a diesel jurisidction like Haida Gwaii, it was the best choice of renewable technology. Isaac said the installation is expected to produce 90mW/hour. It all adds up over time, he said, but it wasn't just about the money saved from diesel or the power generated, for him, the positive ripple affect the project had on the community was a success in itself.

"The heritage centre is such an iconic building, so we wanted something to honour the architecture and design," he explained. "We also built the 3-4kW installation so people could interact with it and have a sense of what size of installation could be installed on their own properties."

Isaac said, symbolically, the project was a way to tell the world that the Haida are on the way to 0% diesel. But what about the rest of the country?

"I've seen a massive shift in perspective when it comes to renewable energy in Canada," Isaac said. On a larger scale, the world seems to be undergoing an energy revolution, he said, as more groups move away from mega projects and towards a digitial economy and decentralized energy sources.

"It's amazing to see it happening first in our communities," he said. "But we need huge policy shifts. We're not there yet, but we're heading in the right direction. In the meantime, First Nations communities won't wait, but will act. The Haida are a perfect example of that."

Isaac (second from left) and team working on one set of panels in front of the Heritage Centre. Photo by VoVo Productions, provided by Farhan Umedaly.

Drone shot of the solar panels on the Haida Heritage Centre. Photo by VoVo Productions, provided by Farhan Umedaly.

Swiilawiid Sustainability Society is another key player in the shift to clean energy on Haida Gwaii. They're a group of Islanders who came together in 2016 and created a not-for-profit group committed to energy sovereignty on Haida Gwaii. The group, comprised of a volunteer board, staff, and contractors, connect Island residents and local leaders, to promote clean energy in an effort to "ditch diesel" altogether.

Last summer, Swiilawiid collaborated with the Skidegate and Old Massett youth centres to install 5.3kW solar installations on both buildings. Seeing the enormous success of the solar installations, Swiilawiid partnered with three more local organizations to solarize youth camps that connect youth to the land and culture (see the short announcement here: Rediscovery Camps Program). They also created a Clean Energy Stories map that tracks and showcases local renewable energy projects and they have just completed an island-wide initiative to encourage household energy savings.

Swiilawiid is currently promoting the push for 0% diesel and working to facilitate a citizen-led vision for energy independence.

The recreation centre, heritage centre and youth centre were the first three solar projects for Skidegate, but Yovanovich said they are just getting started with solar.

"We want to solarize all the homes in Skidegate," he said. "We're in the feasibility stage right now. Some homes aren't ideally situated for solar panels, but you can build a shed and put the panels on the shed. We're looking at all options. We want solar, even if it's just to light our homes."

The SBC also works to equip all members with energy saving tool-kits, build capacity by training their own people and borrow and customize successful housing codes from other Nations.