Solar research park created in Canada

The University of Toronto (U of T), ARISE Technologies and a natural gas powerplant being built near downtown Toronto have joined forces to create Canada's largest solar research facility.

"This project will establish Toronto and Ontario as world leaders in solar energy research and development and education," said Energy Minister Dwight Duncan.

When completed, the facility will harvest enough solar energy to power up to 1,000 homes.

Under the agreement announced today, the powerplant (the Portlands Energy Centre, or PEC), will provide land worth about $2.4 million. ARISE will design and install a photo power system utilizing photovoltaic (PV) cell technology developed by ARISE and U of T. The solar park will create between 500 kilowatts and 1 megawatt, representing an investment between $5 to $8 million.

U of T students and ARISE staff will use the facility to conduct research on renewable energy systems and technologies. This will help develop the utilization of PV systems for commercial and utility scale systems.

The groups said the PEC site is an ideal location for this project as it's an urban setting close to the university, has access to transmission lines and offers a large tract of land with an unobstructed southern exposure.

Later this year, ARISE will issue a community based share offering that will allow residents to participate in the project. Details aren't yet available.

The project is expected to be completed in late 2008 or early 2009.

"This is an excellent opportunity for our students to get first hand exposure to commercial scale solar electric systems," said Nazir Kherani, a Photovoltaics Professor at U of T. "In addition, the facility will provide a research venue for large scale, grid connected photovoltaic systems," said Reza Iravani, an Energy Systems Professor at the University.

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