Edmonton Taking the Lead as a Solar Power Producer

Science shows that our climate is changing quickly. It is expected to change even more significantly into the future, and buildings in general are big contributors to the problem.

City buildings are responsible for nearly 50% of the corporation's greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). Recently, the City approved a new Climate Resilience Policy and Procedures (C627) that includes building emission neutral buildings going forward.

The City has set an aggressive target to be carbon neutral in its corporate operations by 2040 and for the entire community to produce net zero GHG emissions by 2050. One of the ways we are working toward this target is by installing solar panels on City facilities. These panels generate power, which reduces the amount of CO2 emissions we contribute to the environment.

Equipping buildings with the ability to produce power from sunlight requires considerably more than simply providing conduits and wiring that run from the roof to the mechanical room. Shade from items such as vegetation, adjacent buildings and rooftop equipment must be taken into consideration. Any of these items can reduce the performance of the solar system. Additionally, National Building Code changes that deal with additional snow and wind load (linked to climate change) must be taken into account along with the weight of the solar panels to determine if the building can accommodate them or if it needs to be retrofitted to carry the added weight.

In Edmonton, four facilities have been equipped with solar panels since 2015 with a capacity of 320kW. These buildings are capable of generating an estimated 330 MWh of power each year and preventing approximately 189 tonnes of CO2 from entering the environment annually.

There are currently 10 additional projects underway with detailed design plans being done and construction activities being planned. These include the Clareview Community Recreation Centre and Library, four fire stations, and five other City buildings.

The photovoltaic (PV) solar panel arrays on these installations range in size from 26 kW DC to more than 830 kW DC - with a total of more than 2 MW of generation capacity. Once complete, these buildings will combine to generate an estimated 2,172 MWh of electricity in their first year; the equivalent to offsetting 300 homes total electricity usage. Additionally, these projects will save approximately 1,238 tonnes in CO2 emissions in their first year.

In addition to the projects already completed or underway, several other installations are currently in the proposed, validation and concept design stage, including the Edmonton Expo Centre, the Meadows, Terwillegar and Commonwealth recreation centres and the Kathleen Andrews Transit Garage. These projects will add to Edmonton’s growing solar power production in the near future, taking the City of Edmonton at large one step closer to its goal of Net Zero GHG emissions by 2050.

The City of Edmonton is working to lead by example by installing solar on our buildings. If this has inspired you we recommend you take a look at the City’s existing community incentive programs. The City supports this by offering homeowners $0.40/watt towards the cost of the system through the Change Homes for Climate Solar Program. This covers approximately 15% of the costs of going solar. Newly constructed homes and residential buildings are also eligible for a rebate of $0.30/watt. This rebate is stackable with Canada’s Greener Homes Grant program making it more affordable than ever to install residential solar PV systems in Edmonton.