Capstone and SunPower hold dedication ceremony for Amherstburg solar park

TORONTO, CANADA: Capstone Infrastructure Corp. and SunPower Corp. will celebrate the completion of the 20-megawatt Amherstburg Solar Park at a dedication ceremony in Amherstburg, Ontario.

“The completion of the Amherstburg Solar Park marks an important milestone for Capstone Infrastructure as our first development project and our first solar power facility,” said Michael Bernstein, president and CEO, Capstone Infrastructure. “We are proud of the quality of the Amherstburg Solar Park and the contribution it will make to renewable energy in the Province of Ontario. We are also delighted to be part of the local community.”

The facility, which commenced commercial operations on June 30, 2011, is one of the largest solar power installations in Canada and is expected to produce enough green electricity annually to power approximately 4,000 homes. It was designed and built by SunPower, a world leader in solar power systems.

“We are delighted to partner with Capstone Infrastructure to help Ontario meet its growing electricity demand with clean, locally produced power,” said Howard Wenger, president of SunPower’s utility and power plants group. “SunPower’s high efficiency photovoltaic technology is competitively priced for electric utility power plant applications, fast to install and reliably delivers clean power during peak demand periods.”

The Amherstburg Solar Park features SunPower’s high-efficiency solar photovoltaic panels, which generate up to 50 percent more electricity than conventional solar panels and up to four times as much power as thin-film solar technology. The solar panels are installed on SunPower’s proprietary single-axis T20 Tracker system, which positions the panels to follow the sun during the day, increasing daily energy production by up to 30 percent over conventional fixed-tilt installations. Electricity generated by the facility will be sold to the Ontario Power Authority under the Province of Ontario’s Renewable Energy Standard Offer Program at a guaranteed price for the next 20 years.

Amherstburg Solar Park facts
* Number of solar panels: 57,906.
* Number of trackers: 6,434.
* Geographic footprint of facility: approximately 1 square kilometre.
* Number of jobs created during construction: approximately 100.
* Estimated contribution to carbon dioxide (“CO2”) emissions reduction: electricity generated by the project each year will reduce CO2 emissions by approximately 27,0031 tonnes or the equivalent of the greenhouse gas emissions from more than 5,000 passenger vehicles each year.