Ontario is on its way to becoming a major centre for solar power, and will soon see thousands of solar panels spread out over acres of land, feeding clean power into the power grid.
Year-end numbers show an explosion of interest in building solar generating systems, from individuals who want to put a few panels on their roof, to businesses investing in huge solar farms.
In 2007 the Ontario Power Authority signed 145 contracts for the future construction of more than 250 megawatts (MW) of solar power systems, far more than the agency initially projected. Each megawatt can power about 350 homes.
If all those who have promised to install panels follow through with their plans, Ontario will have some of the biggest solar farms on the planet, and an important "green" industry will be kick-started in the province.
Still, the solar-power generation business is essentially starting from scratch. At year-end only an infinitesimal 0.3 MW of sun-generated energy was being sold to Ontario's power grid. The biggest completed project so far is a series of panels on the roof of the horse barn at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto.
Even if all the current projects come to completion there will be far less solar power generated in the province than wind power. And Ontario won't even come close to the world's biggest solar player - Germany - which has more than 3,000 MW of solar power projects already in place.
The spate of solar contracts in Ontario is a result of efforts to boost the industry by paying a steep premium for power generated by the sun...read more
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
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