The plant will boast an impressive 40 megawatt capacity and will be built in Sarnia, Ont., totalling over one million solar panels. The facility is part of Ontario's plan to build 14 renewable energy projects by 2010. The plant will be built by OptiSolar Farms.
This plant alone will meet the 2025 target set by the Ontario Power Authority. Mr Dwight Duncan, energy Minister said that this plant will represent only around 0.2% of Ontario's energy, but will still be able to power from 6,000 to 15,000 homes. So far, Canada's largest solar plant is a 100-kilowatt facility built on the roof of Horse Palace. This new project will be around 400 times greater.
"This is certainly the most exciting thing I've ever worked on," said Mr Peter Carrie of OptiSolar Farms Canada Inc. "We want to take solar mainstream", he added.
In fact, despite their cold winter temperatures, many parts of Canada are not as North as one would imagine, as these temperatures are mainly due to factors other than latitude. Indeed most Canadian populations live at latitudes similar to the ones in France, so achieving good radiation levels is easy in Southern Canada. With its huge size, the country could indeed be ready to take solar energy very seriously.
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