“It is in Canada’s national interest to
encourage the use of solar energy. It is
in Canada’s national interest to have a
Canadian solar industry”

Senator Royce Frith, speaking on behalf of the Canadian
Government – November, 1981

   Photovoltaic energy is the most promising and popular form of solar energy. In solar photovoltaic, sunlight is actually converted into electricity. This is very different from a conventional understanding of solar power as only a way of heating water. Photovoltaic, now the biggest usage of solar energy around the world, is used as a part of the grid generation system to power a solar house, especially where there is abundance of sunlight.

   Solar photovoltaic systems use solar panels made of silicon to convert sunlight into electricity. Bulk electrical power generation using the available solar energy of a kilowatt per square meter will occur when photovoltaic cells decline in price below 10 cents per kilowatt-hour.

   The first practical solar cell was developed at Bell Laboratories in 1954. The system was very reliable, but cost was of little concern. In the early 1970s, the disruption of oil supplies to the industrialized world led to serious consideration of photovoltaics as a terrestrial power source.

   This application focused research attention on improving performance, lowering costs and increasing reliability. These three issues remain important today even though researchers have made extraordinary progress over the years.

   Shortly: photovoltaics is a high-technology approach to converting sunlight directly into electrical energy. Semiconductor materials used to fabricate solar cells are sensitive to the the sunlight. The electricity is direct current and can be used that way, converted to alternating current or stored for later use.
   The most common photovoltaic systems employ flat-plate modules, which are either mounted so that they are fixed with respect to the Sun or tracked on one or two axes to follow the Sun during the day or during seasonal variations. In either case, flat-plate systems use both the normal and diffuse components of sunlight.
   The demonstration of higher performance, lower cost and better reliability in today's photovoltaic systems is leading many different end users to assess the value of these systems for their particular applications.

Solar power benefit

 Solar is a long term, low risk investment. The Ontario government's 2009 Green Energy Act contains a significant monetary incentive for solar PV electricity generation, offering 80.2 cents per kilowatt hour of electricity generated from systems with a rated capacity of 10 kW AC or less. The incentive is delivered through the Ontario Power Authority's (OPA) Feed-In Tariff (FIT) program. The financial backbone of the FIT program is a 20 year power purchase contract with the OPA, backed by rate payers AND the provincial government. This kind of creditor rating can only be matched by government bonds and has proven to be successful for raising capital in other jurisdictions.

   Having a profitable solar system in Ontario is directly tied to system performance. Our profitability assumptions are based on data gathered from various GTA PV installations and represent the most comprehensive collection of hard data on solar system performance available on the market.

   MicroFIT Program. If you are a homeowner, farmer or small business owner, you have the opportunity to develop and install a very small or “micro” solar electricity generation project (10 kilowatts or less in size) on your property. Under the microFIT Program, you will be paid a guaranteed price 80.2 cents/kWh for all the electricity your project produces for at least 20 years for Rooftop, Ground Mounted or BIPV Solar System. 

    A residential solar PV system delivers significantly more annual revenue than an average GIC and until the system is paid off, usually 12 years, this revenue is tax free (see Tax Implications below):

Assumptions:
System Size - 2 kilowatts AC
Average installed price in Southern Ontario - $19,271
Average system production in Southern Ontario - 1,111 kWh/year
Annual revenue with FIT contract - $1,572
Years to payback – 12

   While some of Ontario's first distributed electricity generators were hit with property tax re-assessments, systems installed under the FIT program will be exempt from this. As such, the increase in home value will not be accompanied by an increase in property value or property tax rates.

   Unlike a normal home and building improvement project that increases your property value and municipal tax payments, a solar PV system operating under a FIT contract, is an asset on your home that generates a revenue stream. The resale value that this asset adds to your home is a function of the revenue that the system will continue to generate after the sale.

   Feed-In Tariff Program.  Ontario’s feed-in tariff (FIT) program is North America’s first guaranteed pricing structure for various forms of renewable electricity production such as small (MicroFit) and larger (FIT) utility-connected solar energy solutions. It offers a very attractive and stable price in conjunction with a long-term contract with the Ontario Power Authority – OPA to boost investment and confidence.

   A 1kW utility-connected rooftop solar energy system will take up approximately 8 square meters (86 square feet). Pricing Schedule for the FIT Program - Solar Photovoltaics-PV Rooftop system:

Systems 10kW-250kW:  71.3 cents/kWh,

Systems 250kW-500kW: 63.5 cents/kWh,

Systems 500kW-10MW: 53.9 cents/kWh.

   The tables below show a typical estimate of a basic financial analysis for a 246 kW (kilowatt) AC solar power system (PV system) on a building rooftop:

  Based on average data and certain assumptions; results will vary according to particular conditions, including geographic location, rooftop orientation, mounting system and solar panels selected. Project costs will vary depending on cost of materials, financing terms and interest rate variances, and other variables. This analysis assumes an uninterrupted 20 year energy production based on current Ontario government laws and programs relating to solar power projects. Every project must be reviewed independently to determine the rate of return for that particular project.

   Either with 100 percent equity investment or a mix of equity plus debt financing, owning a solar power system under a 20-year contract with the OPA's FIT program represents a profitable investment. In addition, Canadian Solar Solutions meets the domestic content requirements outlined by the Ontario government in its feed-in-tariff program.

 Our Main Office is located in Toronto, Ontario.