Carmanah installs $1.4 million solar rooftop PV system for Ontario refrigeration facility

VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA: Carmanah Technologies Corp. received a $1.4 million CAD contract from a commercial refrigeration service provider in Southern Ontario and at present has designed, supplied and installed a nominal 250 kW solar rooftop photovoltaic (PV) system.

The solar array occupies roughly 30,000 square feet of the facility’s rooftop, and generates approximately 300,000 kWh of clean, carbon-free electricity annually—an amount equivalent to that consumed by 25 average Canadian households. The rooftop-mounted solar system generates revenue under the refrigeration service provider’s contract with the Ontario Power Authority’s Feed-In-Tariff (FIT) program.

The Ontario FIT program allows owners of an electrical service connection to sell energy from renewable resources, including solar, back into the electrical distribution grid. The Ontario Power Authority’s FIT program offers Ontario residents, businesses and government bodies or institutions a wide range of benefits, including job creation through provincial content requirements and distributed power generation. Distributed power generation helps to increase stability of the electrical infrastructure by decreasing the burden on large centralized generating facilities and reduces both long term environmental and health costs associated with non-renewable energy sources.

“Now that the FIT program is in place, it makes financial sense for Ontario corporations to explore renewable energy production as a way to reduce operating expenses, while also delivering on their own sustainability mandates. For a high energy user, with plenty of roof space such as a cold storage facility, a rooftop PV system is a smart long term investment.” said Carmanah CEO, Bruce Cousins.