It is a little known fact that Ontario boasts some of the largest solar fields in the world. All across the province solar panels dot the rural landscape and urban rooftops.
It is all in an effort to create more green energy in Ontario. The current goal in Ontario is for solar power to provide up to two per cent of the province's energy supply by 2018, said John Wilkinson, Perth-Wellington MPP and Minister of the Environment at an informal CanSia Community Solar Day hosted by Gaffney Electrical in Mitchell on June 25."As a province we are buying into solar energy and production, now we want to get the manufacturing here," he said, adding, "The problem we have right now is that solar – the components of it – is expensive because it is built overseas.
"We need to bring the manufacturing here and in Ontario, that is what we're good at," he said.
Wilkinson added, "We currently have 16,000 people working in renewable energy in Ontario and our goal is to get to 50,000 by then end of 2012."
"Standing up for solar will create jobs in Ontario but we need to get the public perception on side," said Brian Mills, electrician/integrator with Gaffney Electrical.
Mills has a micro fit solar panel on his property outside Mitchell.
"I chose to do it because I believe in it. It's something we have to do," he said.
"Right now there is the misconception that we are going to be paying $0.80 per kilowatt hour for solar energy. Renewable solar will only be two per cent by 2018 of the total. We have to be willing to pay a little bit more initially to get the whole industry up and going here in Ontario," said Wilkinson. "It's not like we're replacing the whole system with solar."
He said what impacting hydro rates right now is the rebuilding of infrastructure.
"We are rebuilding 5,000 kilometres of transmission and rebuilding things like Bruce Nuclear Plant," said Wilkinson, adding the perception that solar and renewables are driving up the costs is inaccurate.
Wilkinson said most of Ontario's power (up to 30 per cent) used to come from coal. "Today we get most of our power from nuclear and wind contributes almost as much as coal," he said.
"Solar represents a smaller portion of our usage, but that will change by 2018," said Wilkinson.
