18.5MW of solar projects announced for Ontario

KITCHENER and TORONTO — Canadian Solar Solutions Inc., a subsidiary of Canadian Solar Inc. and SkyPower Limited announced an engineering, procurement and construction agreement for two solar parks with a capacity of 18.5 megawatts (MW) in Ontario.

The first project is a 10.5 MW solar park in Napanee, home to SkyPower’s first solar project and Canada’s first fully operational solar park, First Light I. The second project is an 8.5 MW solar park located in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The projects will be composed of 47,710 CS6P high efficiency polycrystalline modules and 36, 972 CS6P high efficiency monocrystalline respectively.

The construction of both projects is expected to reach completion by mid-2011. Together, they are expected to generate approximately 19 million KWh in their first full year of operation and almost 400 million kWh total over the next 20 years. This is equivalent to producing enough electricity to power almost 33,000 homes.

“A new study called Solar Vision 2025, issued by the Canadian Solar Industry Association and prepared by consultants Ernst & Young, reports the cost of solar power projects will be cut by more than 50% before 2025, making the solar electricity competitive with electricity generated by oil, gas, hydro or nuclear plants,” said Dr. Shawn Qu, CEO and president of Canadian Solar.
www.skypower.com
www.canadian-solar.ca