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Ontarians invest in solar bonds
October 3, 2012
EDMONTON, AB, Oct 3, 2012/ Troy Media/ – It might actually be easier to fit a camel through the eye of a needle than to find investments that not only produce a healthy return, but also contribute to a better society.
Enter Solar Bonds from SolarShare in Ontario. A $1,000 bond pays a return of five per cent for five years. The kicker? That money is invested in getting solar energy projects up and running in Ontario.
SolarShare is headed up by Mike Brigham, a long-time supporter and advocate of green energy in Ontario.
Very early one morning this summer I joined Brigham in his Chevy Volt to head to Mississauga to see SolarShare’s biggest project: The WaterView Solar Project almost completely covers one hectare of the Daimler North American Bus Manufacturing plant’s roof in Mississauga.
Standing there on the roof in a sea of thin-film solar modules, Mike Brigham explained that the WaterView project cost $2.1 million dollars, has 3,040 16-foot solar modules and occupies 10,000 square metres of roof space.
Checking a solar app on his smart phone Brigham said ‘Right now we’re putting out about 75,000 watts,’ he says with a grin.
The idea behind SolarShare is to build commercial grade solar projects around Ontario and to get 30 per cent of the capital required by issuing solar bonds that Brigham hopes will soon qualify as RRSP eligible investments. Brigham says part of SolarShare’s reason d’etre is to involve people and educate them about renewable energy projects.
SolarShare has come into contact with 10,000 people already and they have secured 290 investors who are each in for a minimum of $1,000, says Brigham. A quick note for anyone interested in plunking down some hard earned cash – only Ontario residents can invest.
Melissa Barbosa says she carefully researched the idea before investing in Solar Bonds with SolarShare. Photo David Dodge, Troy Media
Melissa Barbosa is a young staff member at the TREC Renewable Energy Cooperative and an investor with SolarShare. She says she did quite a bit of research before putting her money down and investing it in solar bonds. ‘There’s not a lot of projects out there that can offer me triple bottom line returns,’ said Barbosa.
Getting involved is simple. Purchase your $40 membership and invest a minimum of $1,000. SolarShare has 18 projects valued at $5 million in the works already and Brigham says their goal for 2012 is to have $10 million in projects going before the end of the year.
Brigham says there are some significant advantages to solar projects: ‘We can take a commercial roof that was previously wasted space and turn it into a generation asset which is producing clean, safe, renewable energy.’.
And Brigham adds there is no toxic legacy or pollution from solar projects once they are installed. And ‘Solar by nature generates power when the grid needs it,’ right in the heat of the day when the air conditioners are running full speed.
Shortly after SolarShare installed its 3,040 solar modules on the bus plant Brigham said the bus plant owners noticed an ‘astounding decrease in the electric bill because their air conditioning costs has dropped quite a bit.’ The solar panels shade most of the plant’s roof from the hot rays of the sun thereby cooling the building for free.
Of course this program would not be possible without the Green Energy Act in Ontario that provides a set price for solar electricity in a long-term contract. This certainty on the price allows SolarShare to sell the bonds in the first place.
In the first round of the feed-in-tariff program rooftop micro-solar projects under 10 kilowatts were paid $0.80 per kilowatt hour for electricity. New projects get $0.54 per kilowatt hour.
Mike Brigham may be the president of SolarShare by day, but he also has installed a solar PV system on his own home in Toronto. Photo David Dodge, Troy Media
This price allows the solar industry to get a foothold and is helping it get started in Ontario. In spite of economic issues in Europe and elsewhere, solar is one of the fastest growing sources of renewable energy in the world.
As of August 2012, Ontario had installed 500 megawatts of solar PV and had 1,600 megawatts of additional solar PV contracted. That’s the equivalent of enough energy to power 250,000 homes and is by far the most aggressive solar program in Canada.
As for SolarShare, its projects are measured in kilowatts such as their 438 kilowatt WaterView project, but Brigham says plans are underway to add three more roof-top projects and their ambition is to add six to eight megawatts worth of solar projects.
As a result of the Green Energy Act solar manufacturing plants have opened up in Ontario, bringing jobs and diversification to the energy business. In the future we’ll visit one such plant.
Troy Media columnist David Dodge is the host and producer of Green Energy Futures, a multi-media series presented at www.greenenergyfutures.ca. The series is supported by TD, Suncor Energy and the Pembina Institute.
This column is FREE to use on your websites or in your publications. However, Troy Media, with a link to its web site, MUST be credited.
© Troy Media
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