Solar power making gains
Albertans have been eager to embrace solar energy. About 300 new solar panel systems were installed over this year’s first nine months, officials say. And there’s nearly four times as much electrical energy being created that way in Alberta today, than there was just two years ago.
Cities and towns have been making the move as well, including Lethbridge. Mayor Chris Spearman joined Environment Minister Shannon Phillips on Thursday to introduce the city’s first project, a 2.1-KiloWatt panel installation providing some of the power used at the northside Lethbridge Sports Park.
“It’s a sign of things to come,” Phillips said, with many homeowners, farm operations and community groups already using the sun’s energy to reduce their electrical bills.
Each one, she added, also reduces the amount of coal used to generate electricity — while contributing to global warming. The Lethbridge project, like others across the province, earned a grant from the government’s Alberta Municipal Solar Program.
Southern Alberta’s most ambitious project, Phillips noted, is in Cardston where a nearly 200-KW panel installation on the town’s ice centre and Civic Centre netted more than $100,000 in provincial grants.
Officials report 32 municipal projects have been approved in 20 cities and towns, representing estimated savings of $415,000 per year.
The projects have also created 71 jobs, and reduced the province’s emissions by 55,600 tonnes.
On a smaller scale, Energy Efficiency Alberta’s residential and commercial solar program has seen 17 approvals since its announcement this summer, including four businesses. One of those, completed recently, is at Flexahopper Plastics Ltd. in the city’s industrial park.