Posts Tagged ‘feed-in-tariff’

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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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Ontario’s Solar Economy Suffers Temporary Setback

Friday, February 4th, 2011

A renewable energy development deal between Samsung and Six Nations has been called off due to a disclosure related disconnect.  The deal was to involve a partnership between the two parties, geared towards the construction and operation of two renewable energy projects and the continued development of Ontario’s solar economy.  Last year, to outline the deal, Samsung and Six Nations signed a memorandum of understanding.  But according to Six Nations elected band council, Chief Bill Montour, Samsung was “Very closed about the information we needed,” ultimately leading to the deal’s disintegration.

The project was to be a part of Samsung’s $7 billion renewable energy deal with the Ontario government.  This primary deal between Ontario, Samsung, and the Korea Electric Power Corporation, was to be the foundation of the Liberal government’s plan to encourage private sector-backed clean energy projects in the province, while also creating renewable energy careers.  The net objective of this deal with the province was to involve the construction of four clean energy manufacturing plants in Ontario, and the creation of 16,000 new jobs with the assistance of independently available solar training classes regularly positioned throughout Ontario.  Notably, these limited capacity solar training classes are selling out, with Ontario Solar Academy’s recent sold out session in Northern Ontario serving as testament to the overall demand for trained professionals in the province. Currently the Academy is hosting solar training classes in Toronto.

Impact on Solar Economy, Six Nations, and Renewable Energy Careers

The cancelled partnership represents a temporary obstacle to both Samsung and Six Nations.  The renewable energy careers expected as a product of the deal would certainly bolster the aboriginal community’s economy and the province’s solar economy in general.  Comparatively, at the time the primary deal with the Ontario government was signed, it was revealed that Samsung was to receive $437 million in subsidies, beyond those already projected under the feed-in-tariff (FIT) rates received in connection with wind and solar projects.  It is not yet known what Samsung will do next in lieu of the arrangement breaking down.

Had it proceeded, the Six Nations deal was to involve a 260 megawatt joint wind and solar project in Port Maitland and a smaller 10 megawatt solar project at Fifth Line on Six Nations.  Montour lamented the failed deal, stating that “We spent a lot of time trying to understand each other,” and noted that Samsung was “Not comfortable dealing with the public sector’s needs.”  According to Montour, Samsung was basically saying, “Sign this deal and trust us,” which wasn’t an acceptable degree of disclosure.  Montour added, “There are plenty of other North American companies that are just as capable with this and we will be going forward with that.”

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New Data Show Global Solar Industry On Course, Venture Capital Up

Tuesday, February 1st, 2011

Texas-based Mercom Capital Group (Mercom) has released data that show that venture capital investment in the global solar and wind industries rose 18% between 2009 and 2010.  Mercom’s latest Solar Funding and M & A Report shows that despite a number of potential hurdles, the worldwide effort to increase renewable energy production is on course and continues to expand.

Global investors put more than US$1.66 billion into the solar market by the end of last year, with the US, France, Israel, and Canada representing the top four contributors.  While last year’s numbers improved over those of the previous year, they fell short of 2008 figures, which exceeded $3.87 billion.  In Ontario, a combination of venture capital investment and government incentives, in the form of a powerful feed-in tariff (FIT) program, have helped to create a progressive solar market that includes green energy, jobs, photovoltaic training courses, and new manufacturing facilities.

Sunnydale, California’s Calisolar drew the most investment to the Canadian solar market in 2010, totalling US$22.5 million, followed by Toronto-based Morgan Solar, Inc., who brought in US$3.5 million.  While solar venture capital grew over the last year, the overall number of deals has dropped steadily since 2008.  However, funding for large-scale photovoltaic projects rose over the last two quarters of 2010, which saw the industry add twenty-six new deals worth a combined US $4.1 billion.

More Solar Energy, Jobs for the Future, Despite Setbacks

While the trends for solar are mainly encouraging, they do not come without setbacks.  According to the Mercom report, 2010 figures peaked in the first half of the year and this, combined with the drastic fluctuations between the 2008 and 2009 numbers, reveal a level of instability.  “Analysts are predicting this to be a continuing trend,” the report explains, “as the capital-intensive nature of solar is not fitting well with traditional (venture capital) models and exits in the solar sector have been tough for (venture capitalists).”

With Ontario and a number of other regions and countries across the globe offering FIT programs and a worldwide push to reduce humanity’s carbon footprint, the photovoltaic industry will find ways to overcome its growing pains.  In Ontario, this will mean more new projects that will require photovoltaic training programs to turn out more trained solar energy workers to fill the jobs in the years to come.

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Toronto School Board to Power Classes with PV

Sunday, January 16th, 2011

The Toronto District School Board has announced that it plans to outfit nine local schools with photovoltaic (PV) installations by the time students return to their classes at the end of next summer.  Collectively, the installations will be capable of producing 223 kW of electricity and will allow the students to gain first-hand experience with green energy technology while they train for their future careers.

School board members have selected the two lowest bidders, whose names they have yet to release, to construct the solar projects.  Ontario’s Ministry of Education will provide the funding for the nine installations, which the board expects will cost $3.7 million.  The ministry operates a $50 million program designed to fund school renewable energy projects.  The solar systems will generate money for the school board by participating in the Ontario government’s feed-in tariff program, which pays high rates to producers of solar, wind, and biomass energy who feed their installations into the provincial power grid.  One of the feed-in tariff’s key goals is to help phase out coal-fired power production by 2014.  In addition to renewable energy, the program helps create green careers for graduates of the province’s PV classes and other educational streams that prepare workers for the future of energy generation.

School Projects Will Earn Revenue, Create Green Careers

The school board will put the money it generates from the solar installations and the feed-in tariff into its Go Green fund, which it will use to reduce the greenhouse gases its buildings emit by 20% over the next decade.  The Go Green initiative also includes plans for twenty more solar installations at Toronto-area schools by 2012, which the board will have to fund with its own resources.  It expects to pay back these costs within eleven years using feed-in tariff revenue.

Before it can commence building the projects, the board must wait for final approvals from the province, which staff hope to receive by this coming spring.  The installations’ construction will create green jobs for Ontario’s career solar workers since, in order to receive the province’s renewable energy incentives, participating projects must use up to 60% Ontario-sourced materials and labour.

With its numerous solar projects slated for the coming years, the Toronto District School Board joins schools, businesses, and individual residents across the province who are making the switch to renewable energy.

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Owen Sound to Consider Joining Green Economy

Friday, January 7th, 2011

City Council in Owen Sound, Ontario, will soon decide whether the municipality will join the province’s green economy with a pair of ground-mounted solar installations on city-owned property.

Within the next few months, Owen Sound’s Environmental Superintendent, Chris Hughes, will present a plan to Council for two 10 kW installations that the city’s Environmental and Waste Advisory Committee expects to cost $171,000 before taxes.  The projects will generate revenue by participating in the Ontario Power Authority’s (OPA’s) lucrative microFIT program.  The committee reviewed proposals from nine different companies and selected Toronto’s Essex Energy Corporation (Essex Energy) to build photovoltaic systems at the Kiwanis Soccer Complex and at a public works facility in the city.  Essex Energy is a division of Essex Power Corporation (Essex Power) that specializes in renewable energy systems and distributed generation.

Ontario’s microFIT pays above-market rates, locked into twenty-year contracts, to owners of small-scale alternative energy-generating installations who tie their projects into the province’s power grid.  The program and its companion feed-in tariff (FIT) for larger projects create clean power as well as jobs for graduates of photovoltaic training classes.

Projects Would Create Alternative Energy, Jobs for Photovoltaic Class Graduates

“It’s environmentally responsible.  It’s cost-neutral to begin with and, ultimately, it will be a source of revenue for the city in the future,” says Councillor Bill Twaddle, Chairman of the advisory committee.  The projects, if approved, will also create jobs in the region, as the FIT and microFIT require participating developers to acquire up to 60% of materials and labour from within the province.

If City Council agrees to take on the projects, the two photovoltaic installations will represent Owen Sound’s first foray into alternative energy since the province began to offer financial incentives for clean electricity.  “This is kind of a small introduction into the whole thing,” says Councillor Twaddle.  The committee expects the solar installations to pay for themselves within ten years and generate income for the city for the remainder of the microFIT contracts.  Owen Sound’s entry into the solar market brings the region into step with many other municipalities that, with the help of the OPA and graduates of the province’s photovoltaic classes, do their part to take Ontario into a greener future.

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London Church Set to Switch on Solar Cross, Participate in MicroFIT

Thursday, January 6th, 2011

On Wednesday, January 6, Richards Memorial United Church (Richards Memorial), in London, Ontario will begin operating its new microFIT rooftop solar installation.  The project is the city’s first photovoltaic (PV) system on a church building.

“We’ve seen cars stop in the street and (drivers) roll down their windows to look up,” says the church’s pastor, Rev. Janet Fradette.  Her congregation chose to focus on the environment in 2010, and she says the twenty-year contract is a reminder that a commitment to sustainability must be long-term.

“It’s one of those projects that has appeal from whatever viewpoint you look at it,” says the Reverend.  The installation will create renewable energy, draw revenue, and provide work for Ontarians who have chosen to pursue green careers.  Its fifty panels, installed in the shape of a cross, will produce 14 MW-hours of solar power and prevent the release of 11 tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere each year.

Programs Create Renewable Energy, Careers for Workers with Solar Training

The church secured an $87,000 loan from the Middlesex Presbytery of the United Church of Canada to finance its PV project.  It expects to pay off the loan within eight years and then generate income by participating in Ontario’s microFIT program.  The program creates renewable energy and careers for graduates of “green” educational streams, like solar training courses, by paying high prices for electricity produced by grid-tied solar or wind projects under 10 kW of capacity.  The microFIT and its companion program for larger projects, simply referred to as the feed-in tariff (FIT), both lock prices into twenty-year contracts.

Richards Memorial expects the solar project to generate up to $216,000 over the course of its participation in the microFIT program.  The church hired Direct Current Renewable Energy (Direct Current) to install the cross-shaped solar array.  Direct Current is a Brantford-based company whose management brings to the table more than a decade and a half worth of training and experience in commercial and residential electrical systems.  The company had already installed one system on a church in Hamilton prior to constructing the London project.

The church chose the last day of Epiphany to hold its dedication ceremony for the new solar system.  The date, fittingly, commemorates the time when the Wise Men of the Bible followed the light in the sky in their search for Jesus.

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Research Reveals Animal Kingdom’s Solar Economy

Tuesday, January 4th, 2011

According to a recent study, humans are not the only animals to take part in a solar economy of sorts.  While it may not attend solar training courses or pursue green careers, the Oriental hornet harvests the power of the sun for energy.

The recent findings were discovered by Israeli and UK researchers and published in the German journal, Naturwissenschaften.  According to the research, while hornets are usually more active in the cooler hours of the morning, Vespa orientalis, a species found across the Near East and India, performs its hardest work in the afternoon, when the day is hot.  The researchers have identified the reason for this: the insect harvests power from the sun using parts of its anatomy.

The research team, led by entomologist Dr. Marian Plotkin at Tel-Aviv University, tested the theory of the late Professor Jacob S. Ishay that the hornets have some anatomical method of harnessing solar energy.  They discovered structural elements of the insect’s exoskeleton that trap light, rather than reflect it, as well as a pigment in its head and body, called xanthopterin, that, according to Dr. Plotkin, transforms light into electrical energy.  “We assume,” she says, “that some of the energy is transformed in a photo-biochemical process, which aids the hornets with their energy demanding digging activity.”

Hornet Anatomy May One Day Boost Green Careers

The work of Dr. Plotkin and her team may one day lead to advancements in solar technology that could give the PV industry a leg up in the race to replace fossil fuels.  This could prove of particular use in regions like Ontario, which currently has a mandate to close all of its coal-fired power plants within the first half of the decade.  The provincial government’s plan has given birth to a rapidly emerging solar economy that creates, in addition to clean air and renewable power, green careers and support industries like solar training courses.  Thanks in large part to generous government incentives for renewable energy, Ontario’s PV training course graduates continue to help the province become a leader in solar power production.

Dr. Plotkin’s team’s research will help entomologists gain a better understanding of the ways that insects metabolize energy, but in the future, their findings may also give researchers in other disciplines, such as electrical engineering, insight into the ways that humans can more efficiently harness the power of the sun to meet their own considerable daily energy needs.

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New Utility Division to Encourage Renewable Energy and Create Jobs

Wednesday, December 22nd, 2010

Brant County Power, Inc. (Brant Power), has created a new division called Brant Renewable Energy (Brant Renewable) to help the communities it serves take advantage of the benefits of Ontario’s feed-in tariff (FIT) and microFIT programs.  The new division will create clean air and renewable energy jobs in the towns of Burford, Paris, and St. George, and the City of Brantford.

Brant Power’s new division will bring the utility and the municipalities into the fold of Ontario’s Green Energy Hub, a coalition of communities dedicated to creating strategies to increase their capacity for solar, wind, and other forms of green power generation.

According to the utility’s CEO, Bruce Noble, Brant Renewable will initially focus on photovoltaic (PV) power.  Ontario is well-equipped for solar, as it is home to a number of manufacturers that serve the industry, such as Heliene, Inc. in Sault Saint Marie and Toronto’s Ontario Solar Academy – Canada’s first ISPQ-certified PV training program.

Solar Focus Will Require Trained and Certified PV Workers

According to Ruth Cooper, who consults for the new division, “Brant Renewable Energy will educate, advocate, and facilitate power from renewable sources.”  One thing Brant Renewable will “facilitate” is county citizens’ participation in the FIT, which pays high prices to producers of renewable energy who tie into the power grid, and the microFIT, which offers the same for projects of 10 kW and less.  The programs contain domestic content requirements that stipulate what percentage of labour and materials a project owner must source from within the province in order to be eligible.  These requirements add to the power of the FIT and microFIT by creating jobs in manufacturing and new career opportunities for graduates of solar PV and other renewable energy training and certification programs.  Brant Renewable will require workers in both of these sectors in order to meet its green goals.

“Changing ourselves to a green culture should allow us to be more healthy,” says Noble, who adds, “By driving conservation, it allows people to reduce costs.”  Together, Brant Renewables, the Green Energy Hub, and the FIT and microFIT programs will move the province into the future of energy production by removing pollution from the air and putting money into Ontarians’ pockets.

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Greater Sudbury to Take Part in Feed-in Tariff Program

Saturday, December 18th, 2010

SkyPower, Ltd. (SkyPower), has announced plans for a new solar park in the Greater Sudbury area that will tie into the provincial power grid as part of Ontario’s feed-in tariff program.  The company will locate the $35-$45 million park, which it has named the HighLight Solar Project (Highlight Project), south of the town of Capreol in the Valley East region.

Toronto’s SkyPower is a solar energy company that develops, manages, finances, and owns renewable power projects across the globe.  Members of the company’s experienced team dedicate their careers to developing green projects “in a responsible and meaningful manner.”  SkyPower’s other Ontario projects include Canada’s first full-scale solar park, First Light I, in Stone Mills, and two recently announced installations in Napanee and Thunder Bay.

“The site… has a good amount of sunlight, according to our consultants,” says SkyPower’s spokesman, Brett James.  “A good site is not impeded by winter conditions.”  The new Valley East installation will utilize as many as 200,000 solar panels.  The project’s construction will create eighty jobs for trades workers and graduates of the province’s PV training courses, and it will generate enough solar energy to power approximately 1,000 homes.  SkyPower expects to begin constructing the solar power project in August, 2011, and complete it within six to eight months.

Project Will Create Green Jobs for Graduates of Solar Power Courses

Ontario has a robust green energy industry that includes solar module manufacturing plants and a number of related career opportunities.  The province also benefits from training courses, such as Ontario Solar Academy’s five-day PV design and installation program, that prepare Ontario workers for new careers in the solar energy industry.

The centrepiece of Ontario’s green economy is its feed-in tariff program, which pays high prices to power producers who tie solar, wind, and biomass projects into the province’s electrical grid.  SkyPower has applied to the provincial government to participate in the program.  From there, it must also receive approval from the Ministries of the Environment, Tourism and Culture, and Natural Resources before it can commence building the HighLight Project.

The energy the project creates will divert about 10,000 tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere by replacing an equivalent amount of fossil fuels.  Once the solar modules have reached the end of their lives – about twenty-five years – the company will remove the structures and leave the land to nature.

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Solar Partnership Will Create 100 New Alternative Energy Careers

Friday, December 10th, 2010

MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. (MEMC), has announced a new partnership with Flextronics International (Flextronics) to produce solar panels that comply with the standards and regulations of the province’s feed-in tariff (FIT) program.  The partnership will produce the panels at an existing facility in Newmarket, Ontario, and the companies expect to create 100 new alternative energy careers in the province while they provide made-in-Ontario materials for workers with PV installation training.  MEMC and Flextronics will initially produce 50 MW worth of solar panels per year, with the potential for as much as 200 MW in the future.  Production is scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2011.

Flextronics is a Singapore-based provider of electronics manufacturing services with facilities in thirty countries on four continents.  The company was recognized by Fortune Magazine on both its “World’s Most Admired Companies” and “Global 500” lists for 2010 and promises, on its website, to “optimize… customers’ operations, lower their costs and reduce time to market.”  Flextronics will manufacture panels at the Newmarket facility under the MEMC brand.

Missouri’s MEMC is a global provider of wafers and other products used by the semiconductor and solar industries.  The company has more than fifty years’ worth of training and experience in the field and will sell its solar panels for installations in Ontario through its Canadian subsidiary, SunEdison.  Through SunEdison, MEMC is the largest solar energy service provider on the continent.

Ontario FIT Creates Green Opportunities

Since 2009, Ontario’s FIT has helped to create a whole alternative energy industry by paying above-market rates for electricity producers feed into the grid from renewable sources such as solar, wind, and biomass.  The new economy includes careers in solar panel manufacturing and installation plus various programs to train workers and students for the new realities of green energy.  SunEdison’s role in the partnership will allow MEMC’s solar panels to qualify as domestic content under FIT provisions, which mandate that a certain portion of participating projects’ labour and materials comes from Ontario.

Partnerships such as MEMC’s with Flextronics help put Ontario on the map when it comes to green energy, and they bring the province one step closer to the FIT’s goal to phase out coal-fired power plants in the region by 2014.

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