Co-op to sell, install solar PV systems for Ontario farmers, greenhouses
Guelph, Ont.-based Ag Energy Co-operative announced yesterday that it is launching a solar PV installation program for its member farmers and greenhouse operators throughout the province. The idea is that Ag Energy can act as a central point of contact, allowing the co-op to make bulk purchases of PV systems and get the best value for members. It has partnered with a company called Essex Energy Corp., which will design, acquire and install the system on behalf of the co-op.
Ag Energy was founded in 1988 as an organization that could make bulk purchases of electricity and natural gas and sell it back to members at a fixed priced. The goal is to reduce price volatility that might expose agricultural operations to spikes in energy prices. The co-op hopes to take the same approach with solar PV by aggregating demand and getting lowest cost PV systems that are designed to the meet the needs of greenhouses and other agricultural operations. Ag Energy also says it is prepared to lease land from farmers so it can own and install its own systems.
Of course, the interest is directly related to the new feed-in-tariff program being introduced, likely this fall, to the Ontario market. Under the program, the Ontario Power Authority has agreed to purchase electricity from small solar installations for between 44.3 to 80.2 cents per kilowatt-hour, depending on the size of the system. The smallest rooftop systems get the highest price; the largest ground-mount system (no larger than 10 megawatts) get the lowest.
Unfortunately, the province appears determine to ban the construction of larger multi-megawatt solar farms on prime agricultural land, arguing that the land is needed for food production. This, of course, is a highly hypocritical position given that the province is encouraging farmers to grow corn for ethanol production. Also, similar bans don’t exist for selling land to residential developers or golf-course builders.
Tags: Ag Energy Co-operative
Tyler Hamilton is editor-in-chief of Corporate Knights magazine and a business columnist for the Toronto Star, Canada's largest daily newspaper. In addition to this Clean Break blog, Tyler writes a weekly column of the same name that discusses trends, happenings and innovators in the clean technology and green energy market. This blog is a personal project started in April 2005. It is not an official blog of the newspaper.
August 28th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
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August 28th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
Tyler, I think that the ban on solar farms on prime Ag land is something that the Ontario Federation of Agriculture wants, and it’s not the province (i.e. the government) leading the push for that. The OFA was one of the founding members of the Green Energy Act Alliance. What I don’t understand is why they are so concerned because the land under the solar panels is not really lost to agriculture as it is when it goes to developers. It’s just lying fallow under the solar panels and is still performing ecological services, whereas a farm could impose a net cost on the natural environment.
August 28th, 2009 at 11:50 pm
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August 29th, 2009 at 7:59 am
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August 30th, 2009 at 7:39 am
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August 31st, 2009 at 6:03 pm
I’d rather see them promoting solar thermal – especially for livestock farms. The return on investment is much higher.
September 23rd, 2009 at 12:27 pm
microFit is just around the corner. Its a very exciting time for solar in Ontario. Sentinel Power Systems would like to invite you to our two day intensive solar PV and microFIT training course at the Kortright Centre in Woodbridge, in October. We have Enphase Energy representatives leading the first day of training with a focus on their revolutionary Micro Inverters technology.
The objective is to provide technical and economic information to participants to help them better evaluate, implement, maintain, and monitor cost effective solar projects in Ontario under the new microFIT program.
The course is intended for those interested in getting started in the industry, and for existing residential and commercial solar installers looking to expand thier businesses. Participants should have a basic understanding of residential and/or small commercial power systems and associated energy costs in order to get the maximum benefits from the course.
http://www.sentinelpowersystems.com/training/index.html
February 19th, 2010 at 4:49 pm
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