Search
Better Farming OntarioBetter PorkBetter Farming Prairies

Better Farming Ontario Featured Articles

Better Farming Ontario magazine is published 11 times per year. After each edition is published, we share featured articles online.


OPA delays review results; rural solar installer suffers

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

by DAVE PINK

Frustration is growing in rural Ontario over the continuing delay by Ontario Power Authority in announcing the new rates that will be paid under the province’s Feed-In Tariff (FIT) and microFIT programs, says a Guelph-based installer of solar generators.

The expansion of the program that has seen solar panels installed on farms throughout Ontario was brought to a halt on Nov. 1, 2011, when the authority announced its rate review. All applications  –retroactive to Sept. 1– were immediately put on hold. And those applicants are still waiting.

Doug Prest, the owner of Solar G Climate Change Solutions, says  the authority’s delay has had a chilling effect on Ontario’s fledgling solar industry.  Up until the freeze, 60 per cent of his business was with farmers, he says.  Now, the company has almost finished work on the contracts approved before Aug. 31 and has become increasingly dependent on smaller scale installations in urban areas.

“A lot of farmers were interested in solar installations. Farmers are interested in anything that will allow their land to generate revenue, and we were focusing on them,” says Prest.

Now, until the new rates are revealed, there’s no point in even talking about solar installations.  “Because these people don’t know what the rates are going to be, they can’t go ahead. They can’t do any return on investment calculations, so we are unable to do business,” he says.

The FIT program was introduced in 2009 and the authority now pays 64.2 cents per kilowatt-hour to the owners of ground-mounted solar collectors, after a downward revision in 2010, and 80.2 cents per kw/h to those with rooftop collectors. Those rates will almost certainly be cut drastically – but that’s OK, says Prest. Higher rates were needed at the inception of the program to entice property owners into the heavy investment then needed to generate solar power. But things have changed, and the technology has become much more affordable.

“We can install systems now probably at about one-third of what they cost three years ago,” he says. A rooftop system that will generate 10 kilowatts – the maximum allowed under the province’s microFIT program – will probably cost between $50,000 and $55,000. “But you can make $10,000 a year, and that’s a very good rate of return,” says Prest.

The province, he says, will be encouraging more rooftop installations atop barns and other buildings so that the solar collectors won’t use up too much productive land.

Tim Butters, a spokesperson for the OPA, says that the rate review was concluded on Dec. 14, and that the new rates would be made public very soon on the OPA’s website. In all, he says, about 11,000 solar installations have been completed in Ontario under the microFIT program.

“The solar industry took a one-two-three punch last year,” says Prest. First came a decision from Hydro One, which operates the province’s power transmission system, to limit input from private generation systems to seven per cent of the peak electrical load – a decision Prest says is hard to understand.

Hydro One technicians now determine who can and cannot feed power into the system based on where in the province the solar generator is located, confirmed Tizziana Baccega, spokesperson for Hydro One.  

“I should think the goal would be to have 100 per cent generated by renewable sources,” says Prest.

The Hydro One policy also scuttled Prest’s plans to install a solar panel on his own Fergus-area farm, where he raises chickens and turkeys.

Prest adds that last October’s Ontario election, and in particular a plan by Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak to scrap some aspects of the renewable energy generation program, made the industry hold its breath.

And then came the OPA review.

“The supply chain is starting to break down,” says Prest, adding that it’s become increasingly difficult to find suppliers.

“It’s been tough, but that’s life on the leading edge,” he says. “It’s a new industry and we’re in a transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, and when you’re going through a transition it’s always tough.”

The Ontario government has been more progressive than any other in North America, “but they haven’t got it right yet.” BF

Current Issue

June/July 2025

Better Farming Magazine

Farms.com Breaking News

Ontario crops respond to summer heat

Wednesday, July 2, 2025

According to the OMAFA Field Crop News team, Ontario field crops are showing rapid development as summer-like temperatures have dominated late June early July. The warm spell has accelerated growth and helped reduce the heat unit deficit from a cool spring. Corn fields have seen a burst... Read this article online

Canada’s Place in Global Food System Resilience

Wednesday, July 2, 2025

Canada’s food system is facing serious pressure due to global supply chain issues, climate change, and rising food prices. According to a KPMG report, bold and united action is needed now to make Canada’s agriculture sector more resilient and self-reliant. With the global population... Read this article online

Calf Auction Raises Funds for Youth

Monday, June 30, 2025

Wyatt Westman-Frijters from Milverton won a heifer calf named Ingrid through a World Milk Day promotion by Maplevue Farms and a local Perth, Ontario radio station. Instead of keeping the calf, 22-year-old Westman-Frijters chose to give back to the community. The calf was sent to the... Read this article online

Cattle Stress Tool May Boost Fertility

Friday, June 27, 2025

Kansas State University researchers have developed a cool tool that may help reduce cattle stress and improve artificial insemination (AI) results. The idea came from animal science experts Nicholas Wege Dias and Sandy Johnson, who observed that cattle accustomed to their environment... Read this article online

Ontario pasture lands get $5M boost

Friday, June 27, 2025

The governments of Canada and Ontario are investing up to $5 million to strengthen shared community grazing pastures. This funding supports the province’s plan to protect Ontario’s agriculture sector and help cattle farmers improve pasture quality, ensuring long-term sustainability and... Read this article online

BF logo

It's farming. And it's better.

 

a Farms.com Company

Subscriptions

Subscriber inquiries, change of address, or USA and international orders, please email: subscriptions@betterfarming.com or call 888-248-4893 x 281.


Article Ideas & Media Releases

Have a story idea or media release? If you want coverage of an ag issue, trend, or company news, please email us.

Follow us on Social Media

 

Sign up to a Farms.com Newsletter

 

DisclaimerPrivacy Policy2025 ©AgMedia Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Back To Top