A contract to supply 9.3 MW has been signed between Agris Solar Co- operative Inc. and Silfab Ontario Inc., a Canadian company which has just opened its new photovoltaics module manufacturing facility in Mississauga, Ontario this past Monday. The production line has started and will reach 90 MW annual capacity by the middle of the year and 180 MW by 2012.
Agris Solar will receive the first tranche of the Silfabs new line, and will continue to receive supply until April next year, allowing Agris Solar to complete its extensive portfolio of microFIT photovoltaic installations with a maximum of 10 kW each.
Agris Solar began construction of the first 10 kW microFIT systems in early February and will continue to build throughout the coming year with the goal to have over 1,000 microFIT installations completed throughout rural Ontario.
The total 9.3 MW corresponds to approximately 30,000 photovoltaic modules made from 60 or 72 mono-crystalline silicon cells, and will provide an estimated clean energy production of 10.6 million kW/h a year and 150 million tonnes of avoided CO2 emissions over the lifetime of the plants.
In accordance with the local incentive program requirements, the modules chosen by Agris Solar and produced by Silfab are the SLA 235-250 and SLA 285-300, respectively composed of 60 and 72 mono-crystalline high efficiency silicon cells and with power up to 300Wp.
These maximum performance modules, which are extremely reliable and durable, are guaranteed to have a prolonged life at the highest levels of energy efficiency.
"With Agris Solar," says President and CEO of Silfab Ontario Inc, Franco Traverso, "we have found a partner of great quality, that considers photovoltaics from not only an economic perspective, but also from an environmental and social viewpoint. We are therefore particularly proud to be contributing actively with Agris Solar to the implementation of many projects throughout Ontario that will spread the value of solar energy, letting the reliability and validity of the photovoltaic solution be made known not only in MW solar farms but also in small plants."
Early in our process we identified the need to work with a quality manufacturer and a top management team, commented Andrew Clark General Manager of AGRIS Solar and CEO of Spark Solar. Our members and lender required a manufacturer with the track record, experience and quality of product that would provide performance for the twenty years of our contracts with the OPA and beyond, we believe, we have found that with Silfab.
The microFIT Program is a stream of the Ontario Power Authoritys (OPA) Feed-in Tariff (FIT) Program for renewable energy in Ontario. It is intended to encourage the development of micro-scale renewable energy projects across the province.
Owners of these projects will be paid a fixed price for the electricity they produce. Prices are set at a level intended to enable project owners to recover the costs of the projects, as well as to earn a reasonable return on their investment over the term of the contract.
This applys to homeowners, farmers or small businesses to develop micro renewable electricity generation project of 10 kilowatts (kW) or less in size on your property. Youll be paid for all the electricity you produce through the microFIT Program. For more info: http://microfit.powerauthority.on.ca/
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