Loblaw states its $10-million, 7.5-megawatt roof solar project - expected to be completed in 2026 - at its in East Gwillimbury, Ont., will be the nation's largest.Supplied/ Loblaw Cos.
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Ltd. Large-scale rooftop solar projects have yet to get widespread traction with Canadian developers.
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Financing can be complex and it can take time for designers to gain returns on their financial investments, however new solar jobs are still being announced, states Victoria Papp, senior director of method and innovation at BOMA Canada, a group representing Canadian structure owners and supervisors.

" Solar uptake in industrial real estate is still far from being a widespread practice across the market, but it's definitely increasing," Ms. Papp says. "It can be challenging to retrofit structures that were never developed with solar panels in mind."

This month, the Canadian Renewable resource Association said it's tracked more than $31-billion in financial investment in sustainable energy - such as solar and wind power sources - across the country. A just recently launched report also found Canada's solar, wind and energy storage sectors have actually grown by 46 per cent over the previous five years, with 10,000 megawatts of brand-new capability expected to be connected by 2030.

As a contrast, almost 6,500 megawatts of solar energy - enough to power as lots of as two-million homes - was produced in Canada in 2022, according to the federal government.

Scaling solar throughout Canada

While national investment figures highlight solar's growing role in Canada's energy mix, some companies are taking the lead in scaling up jobs of their own.

In late July, Loblaw Cos. Ltd. revealed it's building what it states will be Canada's largest roof planetary system setup at its new distribution centre in East Gwillimbury, Ont., north of Toronto.

The $10-million, 7.5-megawatt task, anticipated to be completed in 2026, will cover the building's roofing system with nearly 435,000 square feet of solar panels - about the size of 7 football fields. It's anticipated to produce 8.5-million kilowatt-hours a year, about a quarter of the needs of Loblaw's automatic circulation centre.

" The building itself is extremely energy-intensive due to the automation and refrigeration systems within," states Tom Marson, Loblaw's vice-president of building technology and energy. "The solar panel system will help us balance out energy use in the structure."

Great Circle Solar Management Corp. will be the builder, owner and operator of the job and sell the power to Loblaw under a long-term arrangement. The job is the biggest of nearly 60 rooftop solar efforts in which the 2 business have partnered in the past ten years.

" Power from the photovoltaic panel system on the roofing is fed directly into the electrical rooms of the center and used to straight power the site's operations in East Gwillimbury," states Clarke Herring, Great Circle Solar's CEO.

Meeting corporate climate targets

Commercial circulation centres are not the only types of residential or commercial properties installing massive solar jobs. In Waterloo, Ont., Conestoga College established a 1.3-megawatt solar photovoltaic system at its Kitchener-Doon school. The system, which went reside in 2023, produces about 1.6-million kwh of eco-friendly, clean energy a year, enough to power at least 40,000 homes.

The system, which spreads out more than 3,000 photovoltaic panels over the roofs of numerous buildings, assists Conestoga fulfill 15 per cent of its yearly electrical energy requirements and offset peak need from the conventional grid by 57 percent.

" We're committed at Conestoga to supporting Canada's tidy growth and climate-change goals for a more sustainable future," says Tim Schill, the college's vice-president of centers and capital advancement. "This task is a considerable advance in assisting lower [greenhouse gas] emissions and promoting sustainable stewardship of our environment and resources."

Ontario's Conestoga College has established a 1.3-megawatt solar photovoltaic system at its Kitchener-Doon campus that generates about 1.6-million kilowatt hours of renewable, tidy energy a year.Supplied/ Conestoga College

Loblaw says one of the reasons for installing photovoltaic panels at its distribution centre is to help fulfill the business's net-zero emissions reduction targets.

" We're aiming to attain net absolutely no for our Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 2040," Mr. Marson says. Scope 1 emissions are produced directly from sources owned or controlled by a business, while Scope 2 emissions represent those produced from the generation of bought electricity that's consumed by the company or organization.

" Procuring and consuming eco-friendly energy on residential or commercial properties where high quantities of energy is consumed is a crucial action for us," Mr. Marson states, including it's especially crucial for Loblaw, since the business engages with customers daily.

" We operate thousands of shops all across the nation, which suggests we are deeply woven into the material of the communities we serve," he states. "Countless day-to-day customers and our 220,000 colleagues and staff members anticipate us to lead."

According to Mr. Marson, Loblaw initially set carbon reduction targets for its business shops in 2016, and it met those years ahead of schedule. "We reset our baseline in 2020, and added franchise shops and Shoppers Drug Mart places. Since then, we've lowered our carbon footprint 16 percent and continue to make substantial development."

Finding the ideal funding

Mr. Schill says developing small and medium-sized solar jobs, such as Conestoga's, can be challenging due to the fact that of difficulties protecting funding, as well as shifting policies and incentive programs.

" Until recently, it was simpler to get beneficial government-backed financing if you had a $100-million project," he says. The relocation by Prime Minister Mark Carney to ditch the unpopular federal carbon tax was an obstacle because the tax had actually made using natural gas more expensive and solar power more attractive, he adds.

Mr. Schill is encouraged by current relocations such as the brand-new $100-million collaboration between the Canada Infrastructure Bank and Scotiabank, which intends to help owners retrofit little and mid-sized commercial buildings.

Ali Hoss, head of sustainability and ESG at Colliers Canada, states the nation can benefit from relocations in the United States to terminate solar-power rewards.

" Investors in the U.S. need to now price-in high political risk," he says. "Canada, by contrast, has broad, multi-party assistance for sustainability. This predictability is an important benefit for attracting the long-lasting, patient capital required for genuine estate and infrastructure projects like solar."

Great Circle Solar's Mr. Herring concurs. "Going solar offers an essential long-lasting fiscal hedge versus uncertain future electrical power costs."

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