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SkyPower Creates New Solar Park in Ontario

Friday, March 11th, 2011

One of Canada’s largest owners and developers of solar projects, SkyPower, has signed on with Fort Williams First Nation in Thunder Bay, Ontario to develop a solar park on the First Nation’s land.  The 10MW project will cover about 10,000 acres of Fort Williams’ property and house 45,000 solar panels.  “This successful partnership demonstrates our commitment to strategic partnerships in renewable energy and we continue to explore similar opportunities to ensure a brighter future for future generations,” said SkyPower President and CEO, Kerry Adler.

When the park is completed, it will generate enough clean energy to power the equivalent of 17,000 homes a year for the next twenty years, while ensuring a host of new alternative energy jobs.  “Our energy plan is creating jobs for Ontario families and is turning Ontario into a global clean energy powerhouse,” said Minister of Energy, the Hon. Brad Duguid.  “It is important partnerships like this one with First Nations communities that will help ensure a clean, strong and reliable energy system for the future of our children and grandchildren.”

Ontario Solar Park Creates Alternative Energy Jobs

According to SkyPower, this solar park will create at least 100 new alternative energy jobs in the local area.  Senior Director, James Pagonis, hopes the community will provide more educational opportunities such as solar panel classes and PV training courses.  “We are creating high quality, good paying jobs and providing local investment that will strengthen the local economy,” said Adler.  PV courses are recommended, as the project will be completed by the end of summer 2011.

SkyPower Boosts Need for PV Courses

In addition to its numerous solar panel projects across Ontario, SkyPower allows property owners to get involved with the feed-in-tariff (FIT) program – an ambitious government incentive that not only helps to boost the provincial economy, but it also helps boost overall demand for solar panel classes and related green training.  Consumers willing to use SkyPower’s rooftop solar PV applications can actively partake in Ontario’s emerging green energy economy and receive generous incentive payments for any clean energy produced and fed into the grid, thus, contributing to a healthier environment and creating more alternative energy jobs

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Ontario’s FIT, MicroFIT Projects Subject to New Fees

Wednesday, March 9th, 2011

As of March 15, Ontario’s green energy producers will be subject to a new set of fees for applications they make for feed-in tariff (FIT), microFIT, and other renewable power projects.  The province has a rapidly-expanding market for solar, wind, and other clean power sources that has created thousands of kilowatts (kW) of green energy and boosted the careers of workers in these industries.  In exchange for the new Renewable Energy Approval fees, the Ministry of the Environment will streamline the approvals process in order to make it easier for businesses, organizations, and individuals to participate in this emerging area in the future.

The FIT and microFIT are parts of a government initiative to diversify Ontario’s energy supply mix and to use cleaner forms of energy to replace the province’s coal-fired power plants by 2014.  The programs keep the initiative on course by paying high prices to producers of solar photovoltaic (PV), wind, and biomass energy.  In turn, they provide spin-off benefits like new career opportunities and training courses like Ontario Solar Academy’s PV design and installation training program.

Fees Help Simplify Process, Keep Solar Energy, Career Training on Course

The new Renewable Energy Approval fees, as drafted, range from $1,000 to $67,905, depending on the type and size of project.  However, the Ontario government’s recent decision to impose a moratorium on off-shore wind projects effectively cancels the highest fee, leaving the top payout at $56,458 for on-shore wind farms larger than 50 MW.  Owners of new PV projects will now pay $1,000 for government approval of installations of 500 kW and less and $12,844 for larger solar farms.

According to a government website, “The Renewable Energy Approval simplifies the number and types of approvals required for new renewable energy projects, integrating environmental, health, and safety matters previously dealt with by a number of provincial, municipal and proponent-driven processes into one process.”  While Ontario’s new fees may present an obstacle for newcomers to the province’s green energy industry, the recent decision reflects the government’s responsibility to ensure that this new market evolves into a long-term, stable sector of the economy that helps to create a healthy and prosperous future for Ontarians.

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Government Investment at Stratford Festival Supports Solar Energy Industry

Sunday, February 6th, 2011

Gary Schellenberger, MP for Perth–Wellington, recently announced that the world-renowned Stratford Shakespeare Festival will receive funding designed to help Ontario’s growing solar energy industry.  Specifically, the Government of Canada funded $246,750 to the Stratford Shakespeare Festival via the Canada Cultural Spaces Fund within the Department of Canadian Heritage.

This federal government funding will go towards paying for both the cost and labour involved with building an innovative solar energy wall at the famous Avon Theatre in Stratford –  another boon to Southern Ontario’s solar energy industry.  In addition, the funding will also pay for the festival theatre’s new heating purchase and installation.

“We know that the installation of energy-efficient equipment will help ensure the company’s continued success and further promote its environmental leadership,” stated James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages.

Funding Increases Alternative Energy Jobs and Demand for Solar Courses

Besides the obvious direct benefits to the festival, this funding will also increase the number of alternative energy jobs in Ontario.  Consequently, demand for green professionals who have successfully completed solar training courses in the province’s growing alternative energy job field will likely increase well.  However, schools like Ontario Solar Academy are able to train and certify solar PV installers in as little as five days.

About the Stratford Shakespeare Festival

The Stratford Shakespeare Festival offers superior live play performances to both a national and international audience.  Established in 1953, this world renowned festival has grown to become one of North America’s largest classical repertory theatre companies, prompting Moore to comment that his government was “proud to support a quality organization like the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.”

In response to this investment, Antoni Cimolino, General Director of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival stated:

“We appreciate that the Government of Canada has shown interest in these less glamorous aspects of arts support, recognizing that they will allow us to reduce our carbon footprint. We strive to be a leader in the cultural sector and hope that our efforts to green our facilities will inspire other cultural organizations to do the same.”

All in all, the future is looking great for alternative energy jobs and the solar energy industry in Ontario.

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Ontario’s Solar Energy Certification Programs Show the US the Way

Saturday, February 5th, 2011

For years, Canadians have complained about US-based air-borne particulate pollution.  The special object of ire was Detroit, Michigan’s smokestack car industry and the exhaust “exported” to Windsor.  Now Canada, with Ontario’s innovative feed-in tariff program, is not only combating that trend but also leading the way into a new energy era.  Good fences no longer make good neighbours – one needs to share leading-edge solar economy technology as well.  “The times,” as Bob Dylan sang, “they are a changing.”

In the new year, energy leaders in Ontario, Canada shared information with their counterparts in Colorado some aggressive public policy concerning some of their innovative solar economic programs that have raised the sustainability bar, including feed-in tariffs, building and promoting electric car-charging stations, and new construction projects.  The ultimate objective is to create seamless energy grid infrastructure able to meet daily consumer needs and help generate alternative energy careers.

One challenge that Colorado has that Ontario does not is meeting resistance from the private owners of coal stations; in Ontario, they are publically owned.  Another challenge is cost – to collect one kilowatt-hour (kWh) of energy from rooftop solar panels costs about $0.35 compared to approximately $0.10 for electricity generated from fossil fuel.  To reach the stage of wide-spread acceptance, supporters of the solar economy must eliminate that cost differential.  Solar energy certification programs will accomplish that objective by creating a more knowledgeable public.  Alternative energy careers will blossom as the future economy flowers.

North American Cooperation Leads to Global Solar Economic Unity

With more Canadian provinces and US states on line collaborating, the entire energy ecosystem of production, distribution, and consumption will change for the better.  Will the political and economic synergy of these new energies lead to closer political unity?  We may imagine an organization that does not presently exist called Energy United that will fuel alternative energy political careers.  The possibilities are as infinite as the rich bounty of solar power itself.

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New 36 MW Solar Project in East Hawkesbury Will Create Green Energy, Jobs

Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011

Enfinity Canada (Enfinity) has broken ground on its latest green energy project, a 36 MW solar farm in East Hawkesbury, Ontario.  The installation, called the Stardale project, will create jobs for graduates of the province’s photovoltaic training classes, like those offered at Ontario Solar Academy, the first institution of its kind to receive ISPQ certification.

Enfinity is the Ottawa-based subsidiary of Atlanta, Georgia’s Enfinity America Corporation (Enfinity America).  In addition to doing business in Canada and the US, Enfinity maintains offices in thirteen other countries across Europe and Asia.  The company finances and develops renewable energy projects across the globe and provides “turnkey solar solutions for commercial, municipal, and utility customers.”

According to Chris Young, Managing Director, “Enfinity’s international track record is proving to be very attractive to financing institutions in Ontario.  We believe our approach and experienced team can bring many projects to fruition in a very short period of time.”  Enfinity announced last fall that it expected to complete its East Hawkesbury project by spring of this year.

Ontario Rich with Photovoltaic Energy, Workers, Training Classes

When complete, the Stardale photovoltaic project will be a welcome addition to a thriving green economy that includes hundreds of renewable energy-generating facilities of all sizes, jobs, and solar installation classes.  Ontario’s industry is fuelled by a feed-in tariff (FIT) program that pays high prices, locked into twenty-year contracts, to producers of green energy who tie their systems into the electrical grid.  The FIT’s domestic content provisions keep investment money in the province by requiring owners of participating solar projects to certify that they used at least 60% Ontario-sourced labour and materials in their installations.

Enfinity expects to reveal more plans for solar projects within the next month.  “…we are looking throughout our province and North America to acquire commercial solar projects from 500 kW to 25 MW and above,” says Young.  The company’s ambitious plans follow a global trend toward using cleaner methods of generating power and will further increase demand for domestic content and certified solar workers.

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Minister Tours Plant on First Anniversary of Its Entry into the Solar Industry

Thursday, January 20th, 2011

Ontario’s Energy Minister, Brad Duguid, recently completed a tour of the SunRise Power Corporation (SunRise Power) facilities in Peterborough during the first anniversary of the company’s entry into the province’s solar industry.  The city’s MPP, Jeff Leal, accompanied the Minister on the tour of the plant, where they received first-hand looks at the solar panel-making process.

The Ontario solar industry has grown quickly since the provincial Liberal government created its feed-in tariff (FIT) program near the close of 2009.  The program creates clean air and renewable energy job opportunities by paying high rates to producers of solar, wind, and biomass electricity who feed their projects into the grid.  It also supports the creation of solar installation and other renewable energy classes and curricula that help train the next generation of energy workers.  Investment in clean power projects has so far created at least 13,000 jobs in the province and Minister Duguid expects that it will add as many as 50,000 by the end of 2012.  These jobs are welcome additions to an economy hit hard by the 2008/2009 recession that gutted the North American auto industry, on which the province relied heavily.

Company Creates Fifteen Renewable Energy Jobs, Parts for Solar Class Grads

SunRise Power is a retailer and manufacturer of solar products that include inverters and racking systems for photovoltaic installations.  The company currently provides jobs for fifteen people and specializes in FIT-compliant systems that meet the program’s requirements for made-in-Ontario components and local labour.  These requirements help to keep both money and jobs in the province.

In addition to the FIT incentives, Ontario offers a number of other benefits to solar power producers and the businesses they serve.  The province’s solar PV classes bring much needed expertise to the industry as the local economy transitions from traditional manufacturing to greener and cleaner ways of doing business.

“We have the ability to take on the world,” says the Energy Minister, who adds that Ontario plans to terminate operations at all of its coal-fired power plants by 2014.  With the help of companies like SunRise Power, the province can meet this goal while it creates jobs and inspires green education and innovation for years to come.

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Company Awarded for Project That Creates Green Jobs, Clean Energy

Friday, December 31st, 2010

The Canadian Solar Industries Association (CanSIA) has awarded its Solar PV Project of the Year Award to Arizona’s First Solar, Inc. (First Solar), for its successful completion of the Canadian industry’s biggest solar energy installation, located in Sarnia, Ontario.

First Solar built the Sarnia installation and owns and operates it on behalf of Canada’s Enbridge, Inc., one of North America’s largest energy providers.  Both companies accepted the award at this year’s CanSIA conference in Toronto early in December, and First Solar’s VP of Business Development, Peter Carrie, was awarded Solar Leader of the Year for his own contribution to the country’s solar energy industry.

First Solar completed a landmark expansion to the Sarnia facility in October that brought its capacity to generate solar power from 20 to 80 MW and officially made it the largest solar installation in the country, and by some estimates, in the world.  First Solar’s renovations directly created green jobs for 800 workers and indirectly created countless others in design, engineering, and supply.  The installation uses 1.3 million thin film solar panels that the companies expect to create about 120,000 MW of electricity and displace more than 39,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year, or enough power to meet the needs of about 12,800 households.

Project, Province Benefit from Ontario’s Solar Trained Workers

Ontario benefits from a booming solar energy industry that includes manufacturing plants and training programs for solar installers.  Programs like Ontario Solar Academy’s five-day PV design and installation course, for example, help to train both new and seasoned workers for green jobs in the province’s solar economy.  Ontario currently enjoys the most community-owned energy production in North America, thanks in large part to its feed-in tariff program, which pays lucrative rates to producers of renewable energy who tie their projects into the electrical grid.

Projects like the Sarnia facility show what is possible when governments, communities, and corporations work towards common goals.  “Together with Enbridge,” says First Solar’s Senior VP of Project Development for North America, Frank De Rosa, “we are leading the development of utility-scale solar energy in Canada.”

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Ontario to Add Two New Alternative Energy Projects to Green Economy

Thursday, December 16th, 2010

Canadian Solar Solutions, Inc. (Canadian Solar Solutions), has signed an agreement with Sky Power, Ltd. (Sky Power), to add 18.5 MW of solar capacity to Ontario’s green economy.  The partners will build two new solar farms in Napanee and Thunder Bay that will collectively produce enough electricity to power nearly 33,000 homes and create potential careers for graduates of the province’s photovoltaic (PV) training courses.

Kitchener-based Canadian Solar Solutions is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Canadian Solar, Inc. (Canadian Solar), headquartered in the same city.  The parent company operates globally, while Canadian Solar Solutions handles the domestic market.  The companies specialize in “turnkey solar solutions for residential, commercial, and solar farm markets in Canada.”  Toronto’s Sky Power owns alternative energy projects in Canada and across the globe.  The company develops, manages, and finances projects “from the initial discovery stages through to commercial operation.”  Sky Power has agreed to engineer and construct the two new projects and has arranged financing through Germany’s Deutsche Bank.

Canadian Solar Solutions and Sky Power expect to complete the two new installations by mid-2011.  When finished, the Napanee and Thunder Bay projects will produce 10 MW and 8.5 MW of solar energy, respectively, per hour.

Alternative Energy Creates Industry, Careers in Ontario

Ontario has a vibrant and growing green economy that is energized by a feed-in tariff (FIT) program that pays producers of alternative energy premium rates for electricity they generate from sources such as solar, wind, and biomass.  The program creates clean energy, careers, and inspires training opportunities such as Ontario Solar Academy’s ISPQ-accredited solar PV courses.  Participating projects must meet minimum targets for domestic content for both materials and labour.  This provision keeps FIT money in the province and helps to build a stable foundation for the industry so that it survives the eventual conclusion of the program.

Canadian Solar plans to open a solar module manufacturing facility in Guelph that will help the company and other solar PV businesses in Ontario stay on course and meet the FIT’s domestic content requirements.  The company expects to complete the plant, which it estimates will employ about 500 people, by the middle of next year.

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Recycling Company Goes Solar

Monday, December 13th, 2010

Waxman Industrial Services, Ltd. (Waxman), recently announced that it will host an 87,000 square foot photovoltaic (PV) installation on its Burlington, Ontario rooftop.  Installing solar panels on the building’s roof will create work for graduates of Ontario’s green energy training courses.  When complete, the installation will produce an estimated 500 kW of environmentally-friendly electricity per hour.

Waxman is Canada’s fastest-growing metals recycling company, with operations in Hamilton, Brantford, and Burlington.  Toronto’s Atlantic Wind and Solar, Inc. (Atlantic) will construct, own, and operate the new rooftop facility.  Atlantic is a commercial aggregator – a company that leases space for installations that generate energy to sell at a profit.  The agreement between Waxman and Atlantic was brokered by Cushman & Wakefield, Ltd., a global real estate firm with offices across Canada and on most continents.

Atlantic operates a number of projects that participate in Ontario’s lucrative feed-in tariff (FIT) program.  The FIT encourages investment into green energy by paying owners of solar, wind, and biomass power projects above-market rates for electricity they feed into the grid.  The microFIT offers even higher prices, depending on the type of installation, for projects of 10 kW and less.  Last summer, the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) barred commercial aggregators from participating in the microFIT.

FIT, MicroFIT Create Alternative Energy, Jobs

A number of businesses, including IKEA, have chosen to produce alternative energy on their Ontario properties and rooftops, largely motivated by the FIT’s high prices.  This increased interest in green energy has led to a dramatic increase in the number of solar, wind, and biomass projects that operate in the province and has helped to create thousands of jobs.  According to one estimate, Ontario will install about 2400 MW of clean electricity-generating capacity between 2010 and 2012, and a recent study conducted by ClearSky Advisors suggests that the region may add as many as 70,000 “person-years” of employment in the green energy sector by 2015.  The FIT, microFIT, and the popularity of solar panels  and other types of installations have also inspired industry players to offer courses for workers interested in making the switch to careers in renewable energy, such as Ontario Solar Academy’s five-day solar panel installation course.

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Ontario Solar Energy Company Receives CSA Certification

Sunday, November 28th, 2010

Solar energy company, Lumin Solar, Inc. (Lumin), has announced that it has received certification from CSA International (CSA) for its LS-240 PV panels, which also meet standards set out by Underwriters Laboratories.  The CSA certification assures regulators and customers that Lumin’s new state-of-the-art panels comply with national and international standards for safety and performance.

The Lumin team brings more than thirty years of manufacturing experience to its business.  According to a press release, the Thornhill, Ontario-based solar energy company’s goal is to be “the best in its class, emphasizing quality and customer service while helping to bring a greener vision to Ontario.”  Lumin’s 240W panels are designed for household use in both on- and off-grid applications.  The company’s modules use a layout of sixty high-efficiency monocrystalline cells and are made using premium components that ensure a high energy output.  Lumin guarantees that its modules are free from harmful materials such as cadmium telluride and gallium arsenide and that they are made in Ontario, which qualifies them as domestic content under the province’s feed-in tariff (FIT) program.

Green Energy and Green Economy Act Boosts Industry, Creates Careers

The FIT is a product of 2009’s Green Energy and Green Economy Act (Green Energy Act).  One of its stated purposes is to “help Ontario phase out coal-fired electricity generation by 2014.”  The FIT works to achieve this by providing financial incentives to energy producers who feed into the electrical grid from “green” sources, and the many spin-off benefits of the program include new green careers for an economy devastated by the decline in manufacturing.

Lumin is enthusiastic about the opportunity to become part of the toolkits that the next wave of solar designers and installers will use in their new green careers.  “We are very excited to have achieved this important milestone,” says Mr. Brian Read, the company’s CEO.  “I am very grateful and appreciative of our dedicated staff and their commitment to making Lumin Solar an Ontario success.  We are now poised to provide the residential and commercial industry with our Ontario-made solar panels that meet the FIT and microFIT requirements.”  To help boost awareness of its products, the company will participate in this year’s Solar Canada exhibition, which takes place in Toronto from December 6-7.

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