Posts Tagged ‘solar training’

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Renewable Energy Careers in the Niagara Region

Saturday, February 12th, 2011

In southern Ontario, the Niagara Region has joined the Ontario Clean Technology Alliance (OCTA), an organization with representation in Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, Waterloo Region, Windsor-Essex, London, Sarnia-Lambton, Chatham-Kent, and Guelph.  In a continuing cross-border exchange of technology learned in solar panel workshops and photovoltaic (PV) certification courses, alliance members were promoting Southern Ontario in Phoenix, Ariz. as a green-energy hub at the Energy, Utility, and Environment Conference EUEC 2011.  “We’re looking at it as a very cost-effective way of getting Niagara’s name out there,” said Alan Teichroeb, VP of Business Planning for the Niagara Economic Development Corp (NEDC).  ”When you’re marketing beyond the borders of your country, it’s particularly important to create alliances and partnerships.”

Municipal economic renewal efforts are part of many initiatives taken by the private sector in the region to encourage clean energy and green economics.  The rooftop at the 20 Bees Winery on Niagara Stone Road will have a different look come this spring when it becomes the new home for a 109-kilowatt solar energy system.  Enfinity, a global renewable energy company, will lease the rooftop space.  “Enfinity approached us about doing it and we’re very excited about it,” said Matt Dixon, Brand Manager for Diamond Estates, owner of the winery.  ”We think this is a great way to get alternative energy,” he said.  ”It benefits us; it benefits the community because everything goes back into the grid.”

PV Certification Course: Road to Entrepreneurship

Many Niagara residents have started attending solar panel workshops and PV certification classes to prepare themselves for renewable energy careers in the province.  After taking PV design and installation training at Ontario Solar Academy, Niagara construction consultant and electrical contractor, Luciano Di Leonardo, started two new companies: SolarHarvest Power Corporation Ltd. and SunHarvest Solar.  Similar examples of solar-powered entrepreneurship exist throughout the province as residents and business owners alike embrace the economic potential of photovoltaic technology.

Niagara’s political and business gurus recently erected signs along the QEW calling Niagara the “Green Energy Capital of Ontario.”  Renewable energy careers will grow alongside grapes in the vineyards of solar panel workshops.  They will be the new wine served at the clean energy table.  It is a sweet and intoxicating prospect.

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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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Thunder Bay School Goes Green, Begins Photovoltaic Training Early

Saturday, January 29th, 2011

Students in Thunder Bay, Ontario, will start training for the realities of the new solar economy at young ages, thanks to a new 50 kW solar photovoltaic installation that the city’s Catholic District School Board plans to build on the roof of Pope John Paul II Senior Elementary School (John Paul Elementary).

With the new solar project, John Paul Elementary will join a number of schools across the province that help to make the region and its economy greener by supplying renewable sources of energy to replace less environmentally-friendly methods of power generation such as gas and coal.  The installations also offer students first-hand looks at green technology as they prepare for their future careers.

Ontario has a blossoming solar industry that is powered by a feed-in tariff (FIT) program that pays producers of photovoltaic, wind, and biomass energy high prices to feed their projects into the province’s electrical grid.  The FIT has led to the creation of renewable energy, green careers, and new training opportunities in the province, which in turn help the region’s economy recover from the recent global recession.

Province Invests Heavily in Green Economy, Schools

Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board expects to save up to $70,000 each year on its utility bills by offsetting its hydro consumption with green energy it produces using the rooftop solar array at John Paul Elementary.  It also stands to reduce its carbon footprint by as much as sixty-four tonnes annually.  The Ontario government funded the $800,000 solar project as part of a plan to build more than 120 renewable energy installations at schools across the province.  The $50 million plan helps the province to reduce its environmental impact while it prepares teachers, students, and the communities they serve for a future that depends less on fossil fuels and more on green alternatives.

A number of other schools in the province have solar systems installed or in the works at their facilities, including Bear Creek Secondary in Barrie and Fort Frances High School in the northern Ontario town of Fort Francis.  These projects demonstrate that at Ontario’s learning institutions, today’s students train not only for their own careers, but also for the future of the province and of the planet.

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Ontario PV Company Brings Training, Certified Product to EU’s Largest Array

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.

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Solar Training Ontario – One Engineer’s Story of Classroom Success

Friday, January 14th, 2011

Back in October of 2010, C-T Wire Prep Inc. (C-T) was right in the middle of three separate 10 megawatt solar projects to provide all the DC wiring connections from the solar panels to the combiner boxes.  These 3 projects were equal in value to the entire yearly business that C-T had invoiced up to that point and involved processing 4 million feet of wire.  With that successful year coming to a close, C-T management decided to have a deeper look into the solar window, so to speak.

Thomas Collins, C-T Wire Prep Engineer, was assigned the task of finding out what was going on in the solar industry because of his previous interest in and implementation of two solar systems in Tanzania and Kenya.  His main goal was to see if there were other solar opportunities available to C-T.  This is his story on how he approached the task and the impact it had on where he works.

Thomas Collins Solar Energy Analysis

I was given the assignment in October of 2010 to find out more about the solar industry and if there might be more opportunities for C-T to become more involved.  I started querying our 3 customers we had found by pure accident through our wire harness manufacturing facility.  I received some basic information from my customers, but a lot of the terminology and my general lack of inside knowledge about why solar had become so popular all of the sudden in Ontario were still mysteries.  So like anyone who has an Internet connection, I started to do some online searching on solar information.

One of my searches “ solar training Ontario” yielded exactly what I needed as I drilled down into the websites and came up with the Ontario Solar Academy.  This was a perfect fit for me as it was located only an hour away.  It offered a 5-day solar training course that seemed to be just what I needed.  I checked out a few other offerings and eventually decided on the Academy.  They were big on NABCEP, which I had learned from my 3 customers was a well-recognized designation that solar professionals such as designers, installers, or integrators covet as a benchmark to achieve.

I submitted my request to management asking to take the course and received approval to start the next schedule solar class in late October.  The course was indeed exactly what I needed to put C-T in the solar arena.  It was well taught by a qualified, NABCEP-certified instructor over the week, and employed great hands-on solar training as well.  I was so impressed I also signed up for the advanced 2-day solar course on Electrical Code.  Again that course was well taught and provided a great foundation for where C-T is proceeding in the solar business.  The course offered anyone to sit for the NABCEP entry level exam as well, so I proceeded to do that and should be NABCEP certified in the near future.

After I finished the two courses, C-T management requested a report on solar opportunities outlining where it might enter into the business further.  I submitted a business plan to form a solar installation division that would seek out microFIT and FIT solar installation opportunities.  The plan was approved, and we then sent another employee to the 5-day course so we would have two employees head up the supervision and implementation of the new division.  With equipment for solar site analysis purchased, as well as fall and arrest training in place, we are now doing solar site analysis for 25 microFIT and FIT opportunities coming in the spring, with more opportunities arising daily.

The other side benefit we discovered is our 3 solar farm customers are now seeking us out for site design and wiring.  It is so much better when we can enter their premises and talk intelligently about their needs.  So far, we have lined up 120 megawatts of wiring needs for a total of 32 million feet of wiring to be processed.

As we are now just past the new year, C-T Wire Prep and its Solar Power Installation division are gearing up for a record-breaking year thanks to that search I did for solar training Ontario and my stumbling upon Ontario Solar Academy.  Thank you Jacob for putting together such a robust solar program, and I wholeheartedly recommend your courses to anyone who has an interest in solar or wants to start a solar business.

Thomas Collins
Engineering Dept.
C-T Wire Prep Inc.

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Dealers to Receive Training on Cutting-edge Photovoltaic Inverter Technology

Friday, January 14th, 2011

Calgary’s Sustainable Energy Technologies, Ltd. (Sustainable) and Listowal, Ontario’s Ideal Supply Company, Ltd. (Ideal) have jointly announced that Ideal has selected Sustainable’s SUNERGY(TM) photovoltaic inverter for its work in the Ontario solar energy industry.  Sustainable will begin to train Ideal dealers on the technical and sales aspects of its inverters in January.

Sustainable labels itself “Canada’s solar inverter company.”  Its SUNERGY (TM) inverters achieve high electrical conversion efficiency while they reduce operating voltages to levels that increase safety for homeowners and solar installers.  “Ideal selected the SUNERGY(TM) inverter for multiple factors,” says Tim Veal, Ideal’s Green Energy Specialist, “including its unique outdoor rating, low voltage safety factors, and its ability to deliver higher yields at a lower cost per watt than micro inverters.”

Ideal has operated in Ontario for more than eighty years as a distributor of electrical supplies and auto parts and has recently extended its reach into the realm of renewable energy.  The company, known as one of Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies, serves more than 1,000 contractors from twenty-six locations across Southwestern Ontario.  “Sustainable could not ask for a better partner to… roll out of the SUNERGY(TM) inverter in Ontario,” said Michael Carten, Sustainable’s CEO.  “Ideal Supply brings a deep understanding of the Ontario electrical products market along with a strong Ontario brand and experienced sales force.”

Ontario Solar Energy Industry Blossoms Thanks to FIT Programs

Ideal currently awaits its initial order of 125 kW worth of inverters from Sustainable, which it will market to Ontario’s rapidly-expanding solar energy industry.  The industry received a big boost at the end of 2009 when the provincial government began to offer its feed-in tariff (FIT) and microFIT programs.  The programs provide twenty-year contracts that guarantee lucrative rates to producers of solar, wind, and biomass energy who feed their projects into the power grid.  As of early last December, the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) had executed 1,300 FIT and microFIT contracts.  The programs create green energy and jobs for graduates of photovoltaic training programs, and in a variety of support industries such as transportation and manufacturing.

The FIT and microFIT make Ontario an ideal place for solar companies to build and manufacture materials for green energy installations.  With Ideal’s help, Sustainable will take advantage of this booming market while it provides cutting-edge technology to solar installers across the province.

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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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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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