Atlantic Wind and Solar Adds Solar Capacity North of Border

Travel north of the U.S. border to the Canadian province of Ontario and you’ll run into a thriving solar energy industry. You’ll also find the work of Atlantic Wind and Solar (AWSL), a renewable energy company that has made considerable headway with solar installations and technology development across the province. Through the Ontario government’s Feed-In Tariff Program (FIT) and a relationship with the Ontario Power Authority, AWSL has become a leading solar installer in the Canadian province.

AWSL has been particularly busy over the last month. On June 2, the company announced a deal with an Ontario realty company in which AWSL will install a 250-kilowatt (kW) rooftop photovoltaic (PV) system atop a 45,000-square-foot commercial building in Brampton, Ontario, just west of Toronto. Six days later, AWSL announced a second deal to install another 250-kW rooftop solar energy system for a Toronto-area manufacturing company.

And just two days ago AWSL was at it again. The company announced its third deal of the month on Tuesday: an agreement with an Ontario real estate developer to design and install four more rooftop PV projects with a combined capacity of roughly 492 kilowatts. According to Marketwire, the electricity generated by these latest installations will be sold into the Ontario Power Authority’s grid for the next 20 years at a rate of 71.3 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh).

The Ontario Feed-In Tariff Program was put into law as part of the Green Energy and Green Economy Act of 2009 and is being implemented by the OPA. The goal of the program is to help Ontario completely eliminate the use of coal-powered electricity by 2014. To that end, the FIT Program offers stable prices and long-term contracts for energy generated from biomass, biogas, landfill gas, on-shore and off-shore wind, solar photovoltaics and waterpower.

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8 Comments Already

Chris Said,

July 5th, 2010 @9:17 am

It’s good news to see that Ontario’s solar energy industry is thriving. Hopefully we have another success story shaping up here that will help demonstrate the potential for FIT programs in the US.
home solar power systems

implode Said,

July 16th, 2010 @8:13 pm

Recently the OPA announced a proposed rate change for ground-mounted solar systems that will affect nearly 70% of all microFIT applicants. As if a rate change was not bad enough, the applicants who in good faith applied for contracts as far back as January are going to be retroactively affected by the change should it be adopted. The OPA’s proposed rate change has already sent ripples of uncertainty and disappointment through the industry, with the real damage yet to be done. This rate change has the potential to cripple the industry before it has even gotten off the ground. The OPA has described this up and down rollercoaster as “the growing pains of a new industry”. For those who have invested their life savings in projects or built businesses based on the program this is much more than “growing pains”, these are crippling and quite possibly bankrupting blows.

We are now in the midst of a ‘30-day comment period’ before this change is considered final. Together we must act quickly and decisively with a unified effort to contact everyone who may be affected by this change. We also encourage everyone to contact your local MPP’s and inform them of the serious damage this proposed rate change will have, and how it will impact the economic growth and stability in their riding. (http://www.ontariotenants.ca/government/mpp.phtml). We encourage you to make your voice heard by joining the call to action and filling out the petition located through the following link http://www.microfitaction.com.