Solar & Alternative Technology (S.A.T.) Corp. of Mississauga, Ontario has entered into a lease agreement with whiskey manufacturer Hiram Walker & Sons Ltd. to install solar photovoltaic panels on the roof of the Pike Creek warehouse in Windsor and provide electricity under the Ontario Power Authority Feed-in-Tariff (FIT) program.
Solar & Alternative Technology (S.A.T.) Corp. of Mississauga, Ontario announced this week it has entered into a lease agreement with whiskey manufacturer Hiram Walker & Sons Ltd. to install solar photovoltaic panels on the roof of a warehouse in Windsor.
S.A.T. says when completed, the solar installation on the Hiram Walker Pike Creek warehouse will have a capacity of 7.9 Megawatts and will be the size of 24 football fields.
The solar modules will be supplied by Soventix Canada Inc., a subsidiary of German firm Sovello AG.
S.A.T. plans to use the installation to provide electricity through the Ontario Power Authority Feed-in-Tariff (FIT) program , which was created by the Liberal provincial government under the Green Energy and Green Economy Act. The FIT program provides for 20-year contracts at guaranteed rates per kilowatt hour for companies generating electrical power using solar photovoltaic, wind, biomass, biogas, landfill gas or water power.
Hiram Walker plans to use the money made by its lease (which was not disclosed) to purchase high-efficiency boilers. The firm said its decision to build the rooftop solar project lasted about a year and addressed numerous concerns including structural load capacities, installation timeline and health and safety risks. Hiram Walker is a subsidiary of Paris-based Pinot Ricard SA.
Conservative leader Tim Hudak promises to end the FIT program , (meaning existing contracts will be honoured but no new contracts will be awarded) if his party wins a majority in the October 6 election due to concerns over an increases in electricity rates. According to the June 3 FIT price schedule, rooftop solar generating stations producing more than 500 KW will get 53.9 cents per kilowatt hour. Hydro One's prices for its customers, under the time-of-use plan, range from 5.9 cents per kWh for off-peak and 10.7 cents for on-peak. S.A.T. is in the business of installing solar panels for FIT projects and has made an agreement to buy 41.5 MW worth of panels from Soventrix over the next three years.
The FIT program has domestic content requirements. For example, it requires that 60 per cent of goods and services produced for solar projects producing more than 10 kW and starting commercial operation this year or later come from Ontario.
DCN DIGITAL MEDIA
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