General Framework

The Government of Canada is supporting several new initiatives within the CCPC. One of these initiatives, the Technology and Innovation component, aims at reducing Canada’s GHG emissions over the long term and positioning Canadian industry to maximize economic opportunities in new technology development in five key areas. PV and related activities have been incorporated into the implementation plans in two of these areas: decentralised energy production and advanced end-use efficiency technologies.

Technology Early Action Measures (TEAM) Programme is another initiative that has been renewed under the CCPC with injection of new funding. TEAM is funding several partnerships between federal partners, the PV industry and regional stakeholders to demonstrate projects to raise the awareness of this emerging technology, as well as contributing to their improvement and cost reduction targets.

In recognizing the significant market growth opportunity that PV represents to the Canadian PV Industry, the Government of Canada in 2003 commissioned a study that looked into elucidating the barriers facing the large-scale deployment of grid-connected photovoltaic electricity generation in Canada, and to propose an action plan to make PV an integral component of Canada’s energy future ². The findings of this study are being addressed by energy policy makers in the Government in consultation with the PV industry in Canada and industry associations.

Highlights of Canadian PV Industry support of Canada’s climate change objectives, include:

• Xantrex Technology Inc. in advancing the development and demonstration of a multi-energy source power control system, for distributed generation;
• ATS, Spheral Solar Power Inc.’s major investment in a novel technology that will significantly contribute to the cost reduction of solar power and establish in Canada a PV manufacturing capability;
• ARISE Technology and Cook Homes partnering in a pilot programme to market PV solar homes to residential customers;
• ICP Solar Technologies Inc. is developing state-of-the-art innovative solar power technology products (ICP is recipient of two 2004 Consumer Electronics Show Innovation Awards);
• Canadian Solar Inc. in developing and marketing PV products in developing country markets;
• Carmanah Technologies Inc. is developing solar-powered LEDs (light emitting diodes) that are extremely rugged and designed to withstand extreme environmental conditions with zero maintenance.

The Government of Canada continued its efforts to work with academic institutions to raise awareness of BIPV with the next generation of architects and building engineers. It partnered with the University of British Columbia and the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) to deliver a one-day Workshop on building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV). The workshop aimed at heightening the architectural community’s understanding of solar photovoltaics as an emerging exciting renewable energy technology for integration into buildings, to demonstrate its successful application throughout Europe, Japan and the United States and to give visibility to the architectural and environmental opportunities of BIPV within a Canadian context.

A report entitled “Mainstreaming Building-Integrated Photovoltaics in Canada” identifies the numerous benefits of BIPV and dispels the myths that surround its use, as well as presents a process by which BIPV can be incorporated in a variety of building types in Canada. This material will form the basis of a training course to be given by RAIC to Canadian architects.

Despite the relatively low price of conventional energy, many Canadians are contributing to the growth of the PV market and industry. A sustainable market for remote and off-grid applications has developed over the last 10 years in Canada. The installed power capacity is expected to reach 11,50 MW in 2003, compared to 10 MW in 2001 (see Table 1). This is an unsubsidized market that is growing because PV technology is meeting the remote power needs of Canadian customers particularly for transport route signaling, navigational aids, remote homes, telecommunication, and remote sensing and monitoring.
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National Programme

This photovoltaic R&D programme is financed by the federal fund allocation by the Programme on Energy Research and Development (PERD). In addition, the Renewable and Electrical Energy Division (REED) is responsible for policy support and is actively supporting PV training and marketing activities to promote the use of photovoltaic and other renewable energy technologies in Canada.

The strategies of the Canadian R&D photovoltaic programme are:

• To conduct R&D that will contribute to the improved performance of PV system components and applications in cold climates;
• Provide leadership and technical support that will foster the market deployment of PV technology by removing technical and non technical barriers;
• Collaborate with key partners and stakeholders to increase the awareness of the potential and value of PV;
• Provide support to globally competitive PV manufacturers that can significantly contribute to Canada’s Climate Change objectives.

Research and Development Programme

On-going projects include:

• a comprehensive research programme to evaluate the use of small PV-hybrid systems in order to optimize their performance and reduce their life-cycle cost ⁴;
• a research project to increase the integration of renewable energy technologies in off-grid residences in Canadian climatic condition, in partnership with the Yukon Energy Solution Centre, the Arctic Energy Alliance and the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation;
• evaluating the energy performance of commercial PV modules operating in Canadian climatic conditions and contributing to the development of international PV module standards;
• assessing the performance of PV products designed for building integration, in collaborations with Canadian manufacturers and system’s integrators;
• conducting research to improve the efficiency and performance of inverters and balance of systems components used for utility interconnected PV systems;
• championing the development of a national guideline for the interconnection of small distributed generation systems, including PV, wind, micro turbines, and fuel cells, in collaboration with the Electro-Federation of Canada;
• supporting the development and adoption of performance and safety standards for use in Canada, including participation in the International Electrotechnical Commission working groups that aim to develop international standards.

Demonstration projects

• Canadian Centre for Housing Technology
  The Canadian Centre for Housing Technology (CCHT) is Canada’s new advanced housing research and demonstration facility. The Centre has been created to accelerate the development and application of improved technologies for the Canadian housing industry and to facilitate world-market access to Canada’s leading edge housing solutions. Built on a fully serviced six-acre site at the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), the Centre is a working partnership between NRC, NRCan and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The Centre currently features two fully monitored test homes and a unique demonstration and showcase facility. These buildings are highly instrumented and are used by industry to test innovative building products and heating systems.
  The Centre works with industrial partners to develop new research houses and explore specific test and research challenges. Recently 2,65-kilowatt grid-tied PV systems (1,32 kW each) were installed on the roof and as a canopy to the CCHT information centre (Figure 1).
  An additional 1,6-kilowatt using the next generation Spheral Solar TM product is planned in 2004.

• Building Integrated Photovoltaics at the Red River College Princess Street Campus Red River College (RRC) is the largest and most comprehensive institute of applied learning in the Province of Manitoba. It provides the highest quality education and training for 32,000 full and part-time enrollments each year. The Princess Street Campus is one of eight satellite campuses of the RRC. When completed it will be home to approximately 2000 students and staff involved in media and information technology programmes. It is located in the down-town core of the City of Winnipeg. The Princess Street Campus has incorporated energy efficiency and sustainable building processes in its design features that enabled it to place 5th in the world in the 2002 Green Building Challenge in Oslo. It includes three phases linked by a central atrium. Phase 2 of the project incorporates a row of historic facades of some of the oldest buildings in Winnipeg as well as a 12,4 kilowatt BIPV system integrated into building’s the south facing façade (Figure 2). The project is the focal point or the revitalization of Winnipeg’s historic exchange district.

• Montréal Universities Participating in the Solar Decathlon Home Competition In 2003, a team of engineering students from Concordia University in Montreal and design students from the Université de Montreal have teamed up with Alouettes Homes and ICP Solar technologies Inc. and entered the 2005 Solar Decathlon Competition. This competition, which is sponsored by the US Department of Energy, will feature 20 teams from the USA, Canada and Spain converging on the National Mall in Washington D.C. during the Fall of 2005 ⁵. Decathlon teams will compete to design and build a solar-powered house.
  The teams will assemble their modular homes on the Mall. Contest rules require that each house generate enough energy to operate a household, a home-based business and related transportation needs.
  The teams demonstrating the most energy efficient and innovatively designed house wins. The Government of Canada is supporting the Canadian bid since it is an excellent opportunity to give architecture, engineering and other students hands-on experience in energy-efficient design and solar power technologies.

• Canada’s First Residential Solar Community Pilot Project
  In September 2003, the Kitchener Conestoga Rotary Dream Home Lottery, Kitchener, Ontario officially opened the 2003 Solar Powered Rotary Dream Home to the public (Figure 3). The lottery was to raise funds for a local hospital. Four homes have been sold in the same neighborhood since the model home was displayed. The overall goal of this NRCan/TEAM funded project is to develop BIPV rooftop technologies and to demonstrate that PV solar homes can be designed built and marketed to the Canadian public. The emphasis is to demonstrate various PV technologies integrated to energy efficient homes, in order to gain a better understanding of the technical requirements, such as installation, performance, inspection, as well as non-technical barriers (educational, market information, financing etc.) in the design and construction of PV solar homes.
  The objective is to develop innovative novel components and integrated solutions that can build the Canadian capacity to package these solar home systems and sell them through normal residential housing sales channels. This is an ongoing project of ARISE Technologies Corporation, Cook Homes Limited, The City of Waterloo, Waterloo North Hydro, The University of Waterloo and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in partnership with CETC-Varennes aimed at advancing the development and demonstration of photovoltaic (PV) solar homes in Canada.

• Demonstrating Renewable Energy Integration in Cold-climate Off-grid Residential Applications in the Yukon
  As part of NRCan’s coordinated research programme to foster the advancement of renewable energy technologies so that they become the preferred energy option in off-grid energy markets in the north, an integrated design charrette was held in Whitehorse, the Yukon territory in December 2003, to address potential opportunities and technical challenges involved with living off-grid using renewable energy. The Canadian PV Programme organized the three-day long design charrette in collaboration with the Yukon Energy Solution Centre. Thirty experts from the private and public sectors with experience in renewable energy and buildings energy technologies participated in this event. The participants were divided into three working groups, with expertise in computer simulations renewable energy technologies, architectural, building, construction as well as manufacturing and systems installations evenly spread out between the groups. The teams adopted an integrated approach to optimize the use of renewable energy, and provide an analysis of total energy use (incl. space and hot water heating) and electrical energy use in off-grid houses North of the 60th parallel (Figure. 4).

• BIPV Atrium at the Waterloo City Hall
  In November 2003, the City of Waterloo, Ontario, inaugurated 1,1-kilowatt grid-tied BIPV installation in the City Hall building atrium (Figure 5). This project was partially funded through the Green Municipal Enabling Fund established by the Federal Government and Federation of Canadian Municipalities with contributions from Arise Technologies Inc. This is a pilot scale project, which involves monitoring of the installation.

Implementation

• Technology Early Action Measure Programme - This is a cost-shared programme between the federal government and industry for the development of innovative technologies and their demonstration in the market place. Several PV technology proposals were approved under this programme;

• Sustainable Development Technology Canada - This is a not-for profit funding organization developed through a national government initiative and set-up with an investment of 350 million CAD to foster the rapid development, demonstration and pre-commercialization of technological solutions, that deliver positive environmental and economic impacts to Canadians;

• MicroPower-Connect Initiative - This is an initiative that aims to develop and harmonize the requirements for the interconnection of emerging technologies, such as PV, wind, fuel cells, and micro turbines ⁶;

• On-site Generation at Government Facilities - As part of its climate change action plan, the government of Canada will support the installation of approximately 15 PV systems over the next three years. Projects include high visibility sites that demonstrate the application of building-integrated PV products;

• Climate Change Technology and Innovation Programme - As part of this measure, the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council will manage a research fund for novel next-generation energy technologies related to greenhouse gas mitigation. This programme targets early-stage and exploratory research in Canadian Universities and will enhance the knowledge base for longer-term solutions to climate change;

• Federation of Canadian Municipality (FCM) Green Fund - The federal government provides funding to the FCM to initiate green energy projects. By partnering with a local community champion, PV companies have an opportunity to propose PV deployment projects.

Deregulation of the Canadian electric utility industry is creating opportunities for distributed power generation to occupy a significant share of the electricity markets of the future. PV has an important role to play in this market, and appropriate policies to promote investments in PV are being pursued. One such area is to compensate system owners feeding power to the grid through net metering and net billing practices. This is relatively a new policy area for Canadian power utilities to consider and nascent activities are happening across Canada. To date, approximately eight Canadian utilities have policies in place that allow small renewable energy generators to be compensated at the retail rate and another seven utilities provide below retail compensation. None of the Provinces in Canada are mandating net metering policies, although some have examined the issue ⁷.
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Industry status

ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc., its subsidiary Spheral Solar TM Power and Elk Premium Building Products Inc.(Elk), a subsidiary of ElkCorp. based in Dallas, Texas, have entered into a memorandum of understanding under which they intend to work together to design, manufacture, test and commercialize a new generation of fully integrated photovoltaic roofing products, primarily for use in residential buildings. The new products will take advantage of Elk's extensive knowledge and expertise in the residential roofing materials market and the unique qualities of Spheral Solar TM Technology. The companies will bring considerable expertise to developing BIPV. Elk is a leader in building product technology and has developed numerous integrated solutions for the roofing industry as well as consumer goods. These products have served to reduce costs, increase safety and productivity. ATS and SSP are currently commercializing their proprietary Spheral Solar TM Technology and building their first 20-megawatt production facility in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. This revolutionary new photovoltaic technology allows for solar cells to be manufactured using thousands of tiny silicon beads bonded in an aluminum foil. The resulting flexible solar cell is expected to dramatically reduce the cost of solar energy and open a broad range of new uses of solar power by industrial, commercial and residential users worldwide. The cells are lightweight, pliable and break resistant and can be formed into a variety of shapes and sizes.

Canadian-based Xantrex Technology Inc. and American-based Atlantis Energy Systems (AES) are offering a new inverter and solar panel combination designed to make it easier for homebuilders to install renewable energy systems. By combining a Xantrex SunTie XR Grid-tie Inverter with Atlantis Energy System's Sunslates® roofing product, the roof of a house can act as both a roof and a power plant simultaneously. The combined system is designed to make the installation of solar power systems easier and more affordable than ever before and enable homeowners to participate in the emerging small-scale green power market.

A network of systems integration companies has established distribution and dealer networks that effectively serve a growing Canadian PV market. These include distributors for BP Solar (acquired Solarex), Shell Solar (acquired Siemens), Kyocera, Photowatt, Sharp and UniSolar. These modules are sold with PV module product warranties ranging from 10 to 25 years and have certified their products to international standards.
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Market

There are still many barriers to the development of the grid-connected market sector in Canada. In particular, residential customers find the installation and approval process costly and lengthy. Commercial and industrial customers generally have dedicated staff and expertise to deal with the various steps and are more likely to pursue projects.
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Future outlook

PV power systems have demonstrated that they are a reliable source of electricity and the public perception of this technology is favourable. Nevertheless, increased knowledge of this energy choice is required to maintain the growth of its domestic market. Both the Canadian Solar Industries Association and Énergie Solaire Québec have continued their promotional and marketing activities in Canada.

More significant effort will be required to encourage the development of the grid-connected market sector in Canada. Since CETC-V ⁴ released the study examining the benefits of on-site generation using photovoltaic technologies on buildings in Canada, several new activities have been initiated as part of an action plan that aims to build on Canadian Industry experience base and address some of the market place barriers that currently exist.

New government investments in R&D for Building-Integrated PV technology, support for the development of a technical guideline for the interconnection of small power supplies, and support for demonstrations of PV on building in high-visibility sites throughout Canada will contribute to facilitating the market introduction of PV technology for grid-tied applications in the medium to long term.
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Footnotes with relevant web sites

1. Climate change web site: http://www.climatechange.gc.ca/english/ publications/announcement/climatechange_investment.html
2. Industry Canada website: http://www.ic.gc.ca/
3. CETC-Varennes was formerly known as the CANMET-Energy Diversification Research Laboratory (CEDRL); web site: http://cetcvarennes.nrcan.gc.ca/eng/accueil.html
4. PV-Hybrid Programme newsletter, HYBRID-INFO: http://cetc-varennes.nrcan.gc.ca/eng/publication/2003-145e.pdf
5. Solar Decathlon web site: http://www.eere.energy.gov/solar_decathlon/
6. MicroPower-Connect Initiative: http://www.micropower.org
7. John J. Bell, A Survey of Canadian Policies to Compensate Small Power Producers for Electricity Fed to the Grid: Net Metering and Net Billing, Masters of Environmental Studies Thesis, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, December 2003.
8. Directory of members and companies available from: the Canadian Solar Industry Association (www.cansia.ca) and Énergie Solaire Québec (http://www.esq.qc.ca).

Further reading about Canada

• Canada - Country information