First large-scale solar project under FIT program gets underway in Ontario

Solar park at Ingleside, Ontario will generate 300 million kilwatt hours of electricity in first twenty years of operation, according to SunEdison. 

SunEdison, the solar energy subsidiary of MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. has broken ground for SunE Rutley, a 10 megawatt (MW) solar project located in Ingleside, Ontario. It is the first utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) project to begin construction as part of Ontario's Feed-in Tariff (FIT) program.

SunE Rutley will be the first large-scale solar project in Ontario to meet the FIT program's 60 percent domestic content requirement by using solar PV panels, inverters and racking structures manufactured in Ontario.

The 42,000 solar PV panels used for the project will be supplied by SunEdison's parent company MEMC, and manufactured in Newmarket, Ontario. The company began producing solar panels in July 2011 and recently celebrated the creation of 400 new manufacturing jobs with partner Flextronics.

The project is the fifth large-scale solar project undertaken by SunEdison in Ontario in the past two years. The company is committed to building a sustainable and long-term solar industry in this province, said Jason Gray, Vice President and Country Manager for SunEdison.

The system, covering 90 acres of land, is expected to begin transmitting energy by December 2011 to Hydro One. SunEdison expects the solar park to generate more than 300 million kilowatt hours (kWh) in the first 20 years of production, enough electricity to power approximately 28,000 homes annually. Additionally, it will offset more than 61.6 million kilograms of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which is equivalent to removing more than 13,000 cars from the road for one year.