Posts Tagged ‘Ontario’
Thursday, February 10th, 2011
Solar company, Southern California Edison, announced the completion of seven solar power plants in Ontario, Canada and Redlands, California. The projects began construction last year, with the promise of improving both regions’ solar industries. All together, the installations can generate a total of 12.5 MW of solar power, adding to SCE’s initial three neighborhood solar stations. Ontario received four solar power plants, comprised of 32,950 solar photovoltaic panels built over 1.8 million square feet of warehouse rooftop leased by ProLogis. Redlands, California received the other three solar installations.
Initiative Provided Boost to Ontario’s Solar Industry
According to sources, construction of the solar power plants generated 250 temporary solar jobs, particularly benefitting those with solar installation training. The whole scope of SCE’s photovoltaic initiative is expected to create as many as 1,200 new solar jobs. “Ontario is proud to partner with Southern California Edison to provide renewable energy resources to our residents and businesses,” said Ontario Mayor, Paul S. Leon. “Through this exciting new solar program, we are not only creating jobs for our community, but we are [also] ensuring that sustainability is a key component of our long-term vision.” While not all of those new green positions are for Ontario, a considerable chunk of them are, providing much needed solar job help for the province.
Project Helped Generate Solar Jobs
A total of 130 workers with solar installation training from the 250 total were hired to work on the Ontario-based solar stations. As with other solar investors within the province, Ontario’s feed-in-tariff (FIT) program and other incentives are huge factors behind SCE’s entry into the province’s solar industry. This January alone, multinational corporations like GE and solar companies like P2Solar and SolarLogix moved into the region, providing additional solar job help and green career opportunities for residents. As Ontario’s energy economy shifts from traditional to alternative sources, opportunities in the solar industry will only continue to rise. Those who are new to alternative energy but are interested in solar installation training can start by reading accounts about what to expect as they transition into Ontario’s solar industry.
Tags: FIT, GE, Ontario, P2 Solar, ProLogis, solar installation training, solar power plants, SolarLogix, Southern California Edison
Posted in Solar Social, Solar Technology, Solar Training | No Comments »
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.
Tags: Calisolar, feed-in-tariff, Mercom, Morgan Solar Inc, Ontario, OPA, photovoltaic training course
Posted in Solar Business, Solar Social, Solar Training | No Comments »
Saturday, January 22nd, 2011
Ontario-based Canadian Solar, Inc. (Canadian Solar) has announced its participation in the European solar industry’s most powerful photovoltaic (PV) installation to date. The 70 MW solar array was constructed and recently connected by SunEdison, based out of Spain and Beltsville, Maryland, which also maintains an office in Toronto. SunEdison is an international developer, financer, operator, and monitor of solar plants across the globe. Canadian Solar was among the companies who contributed solar panels to SunEdison for the project.
Over the last decade, the Canadian Solar team has applied its solar industry training and experience in seven countries across the globe and operates as many manufacturing plants worldwide. Between 2002 and 2009, the company’s revenue increased by almost $600 million. According to its website, Canadian Solar’s products “adhere to the strictest international quality standards, backed by IEC, TUV, (and) UL, certifications.” Canadian Solar recently formed Canadian Solar Solutions to take part in the vibrant PV market that has sprung up in its home province.
Company, Province Create Clean Power, Alternative Energy Jobs
Ontario’s solar projects benefit from its feed-in tariff (FIT) and microFIT programs, the first of their kind in North America, which pay above-market rates, guaranteed over twenty years, to alternative energy producers who feed solar, wind, and biomass installations into the provincial power grid. The programs create renewable energy, jobs, and inspire new educational opportunities such as PV training certification courses.
Canadian Solar’s and its subsidiary’s most significant contribution to the Ontario industry to date is a solar panel manufacturing facility in Guelph, which the companies expect will begin operations by spring of 2011. They predict that the plant will produce 200 MW worth of panels each year and provide the province with up to 500 new alternative energy jobs. According to the company’s President, Shawn Qu, the facility will be one of the largest of its kind in North America.
With its international efforts, Canadian Solar makes Canada’s influence felt and its commitment to environmental sustainability known across the globe. And with its Guelph plant, it will also do its part to ensure the successes of Ontario’s FIT and microFIT programs.
Tags: Canadian Solar Solutions, clean energy, green jobs, Ontario, solar certification, solar training
Posted in Solar Social, Solar Technology, Solar Training | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 11th, 2011
Solar Logix, Inc. (Solar Logix) has begun construction on an innovative new residential microFIT solar installation in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The project is the thirty-sixth the company has installed in the city since July of last year, and in that time, Solar Logix has helped more than thirty workers find solar energy careers.
“We’ve grown a lot,” says Jason Richat, Solar Logix’s General Manager. Based in Thunder Bay, the company is a full-service provider of rooftop and ground-mounted solar energy systems. Solar Logix’s latest installation is a solar tracking unit shaped like a large sail, with fifty-two photovoltaic (PV) panels that move to follow the sun. Like all of the company’s installations, it will meet the requirements of the province’s microFIT program.
Ontario’s microFIT allows home-owners and businesses to earn up to 80.2 cents/kW-hour for energy they feed into the province’s power grid from renewable sources such as solar, wind, and biomass. The program, which covers projects up to 10 kW capacity, and its companion for larger projects, simply called the feed-in tariff (FIT), create job opportunities like solar energy careers and training programs like PV installation classes to help workers make the switch to the new green energy economy.
City Ideal for Solar Energy Installations, PV Class Grads Entering New Careers
Thunder Bay is home to a number of FIT and microFIT projects, including a rooftop system at the Northern Lights Credit Union building on Amber drive, a product of Solar Logix, and another at Dufresne Furniture, which sits across the street from the credit union. The city is prime real estate for solar installations, as its location in Ontario allows it to take part in the FIT and microFIT and gives it access to PV installation classes and other “green” educational opportunities. According to the city’s website, it is also “the sunniest city in eastern Canada, with an average of 2,167.7 hours of bright sunshine each year.”
With the help of the Ontario government, Mother Nature, and Solar Logix, Thunder Bay is well-positioned to help both its own and the province’s economies become richer while providing them with clean, renewable energy.
Tags: green jobs, microFIT, Ontario, ontario power authority, ontario solar academy, PV installation classes, rooftop, solar energy careers
Posted in Solar Business, Solar Social, Solar Training | No Comments »
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.
Tags: feed-in-tariff, green economy, green jobs, job development, Ontario, ontario solar academy, solar academy, solar certification, solar energy, solar installation, solar projects, solar training, sustainable energy
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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.”
Tags: CanSIA, FIT, green energy, green energy act, green jobs, job development, Ontario, ontario solar academy, solar training
Posted in Solar Business, Solar Legislation & Politics, Solar Social, Solar Training | No Comments »
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.
Tags: canada, feed-in-tariff, green jobs, job development, Ontario, ontario solar academy, solar training
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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.
Tags: canada, FIT, green economy, green jobs, Ontario, OPA, solar academy, solar certification, solar energy, solar training
Posted in Solar Business, Solar Legislation & Politics, Solar Training | No Comments »
Thursday, December 16th, 2010
Enfinity Canada has finally broken ground on a 30 MW solar project that will provide about 200 green jobs for workers in St. Eugene in the Ontario township of East Hawkesbury. The announcement follows a delay that project developers experienced as a result of local opposition to the project.
Enfinity Canada is a subsidiary of Belgium’s Enfinity. The companies specialize in photovoltaic (PV) development, and the parent company has done work for solar industries in twenty-one countries in North America, Europe, and Asia.
Enfinity originally scheduled construction of the site to begin in March, 2010, but opponents of the project attempted to shut it down through legal means. Now clear of that hurdle, the company is ready to begin work on the project. Enfinity is currently preparing the future site of the installation by fencing off the property, performing preliminary landscaping, and planning access roads. The company will begin erecting the solar panels in the spring of 2011 and expects to complete the project by September of the same year. Enfinity has hired twenty people for the initial stages of the project, and will provide many more green jobs once they are ready to erect the 140,000 panels in the spring.
Province Home to Solar Jobs, Training, Workshops
Ontario is home to North America’s first feed-in tariff (FIT) program for renewable energy, which pays high prices for electricity generated using solar, wind, and biomass power. The program creates an industry that includes green energy and jobs, as well as educational opportunities such as seminars, workshops, and solar panel design and installation courses, to help workers and property owners become proactive on environmental issues and take advantage of the benefits of the FIT.
Enfinity offers workshops where potential solar panel installation builders and owners can learn about the FIT, as well as important information on the specifications of the ideal rooftop, how to select a qualified developer, and what to expect from a solar installation. Together, Enfinity and the Township of East Hawkesbury will work towards cleaner air and a more sustainable future for Ontarians.
Tags: canada, FIT, green energy act, green jobs, Ontario, OPA, phtovoltaic, solar academy, solar energy, solar training
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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.
Tags: canada, FIT, job development, microFIT, Ontario, OPA, phtovoltaic, solar academy, solar energy
Posted in Solar Business, Solar Legislation & Politics, Solar Social, Solar Training | No Comments »
Solar company, Southern California Edison, announced the completion of seven solar power plants in Ontario, Canada and Redlands, California. The projects began construction last year, with the promise of improving both regions’ solar industries. All together, the installations can generate a total of 12.5 MW of solar power, adding to SCE’s initial three neighborhood solar stations. Ontario received four solar power plants, comprised of 32,950 solar photovoltaic panels built over 1.8 million square feet of warehouse rooftop leased by ProLogis. Redlands, California received the other three solar installations.
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