The Magna Centre in Newmarket ON now has a major rooftop solar array operating and feeding the Ontario electricity grid. The deployment was done by Strathcona Solar Initiatives using panels from affiliate company Strathcona Energy International.
The fast growing town north of Toronto has been rated one of the Best Places to Live in Canada by MoneySense Magazine, based, among other factors, on its progressive approach to municipal sustainability. Besides a widely recognized recycling and composting program, the city has been pesticide-free since 2008, participates in an ambitious clean air program, and is home to Canada’s first environmentally friendly subdivision with 34 LEED-Platinum homes.
As a natural next step, the leadership team of Newmarket wanted to explore renewable energy options that would also be financially sustainable to the city’s coffers. After being awarded a Feed-in-Tariff contract from the Ontario Power Authority (now the Independent Electricity System Operator or IESO), the town was ready to utilize its state-of-the-art facility for more than recreational sports. At the end of December last year, the switch was flipped on the 500 Kilowatt rooftop system that will feed renewable solar energy into the grid and contribute to a cleaner, healthy air and climate for all Ontarians.
The Canadian-manufactured polycrystalline panels are quality-tested to withstand heavy snow loads and wind gusts up to 2400 Pascal, and are certified to operate in temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius, which is an absolute must in the Ontario climate. To assure maximum energy harvest and optimal revenue, the photovoltaic panels feature a 25-year power guarantee and are engineered to generate only positive Watt tolerances without power loss.
“We congratulate the innovative leadership of the Town of Newmarket for their dedication on utilizing the sun as part of their sustainable investment strategy,” says Karl Hollett, the CEO of Strathcona Energy Group. “Solar energy has a tremendous potential to transform communities in the way they consume and produce energy, and we would like to thank Newmarket for letting Strathcona Energy be part of this exciting new venture for the town.”