Loblaw states its $10-million, 7.5-megawatt roof solar job - anticipated to be finished in 2026 - at its circulation centre in East Gwillimbury, Ont., will be the country's largest.Supplied/ Loblaw Cos.

Ltd. Large-scale roof solar tasks have yet to acquire prevalent traction with Canadian developers.

Financing can be intricate and it can take time for designers to acquire returns on their investments, but brand-new solar tasks are still being revealed, states Victoria Papp, senior director of method and development at BOMA Canada, a group representing Canadian structure owners and managers.

" Solar uptake in commercial property is still far from being an extensive practice throughout the industry, but it's certainly increasing," Ms. Papp says. "It can be challenging to retrofit buildings that were never designed with solar panels in mind."

This month, the Canadian Renewable Energy Association stated it's tracked more than $31-billion in investment in renewable resource - such as solar and wind power sources - across the country. A recently launched report likewise discovered Canada's solar, wind and energy storage sectors have grown by 46 percent over the past five years, with 10,000 megawatts of brand-new capacity anticipated to be connected by 2030.

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

Scaling solar across Canada

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

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

The $10-million, 7.5-megawatt project, expected to be finished in 2026, will cover the building's roof with almost 435,000 square feet of solar panels - about the size of 7 football fields. It's expected to produce 8.5-million kilowatt-hours a year, about a quarter of the requirements of Loblaw's automated distribution centre.

" The building itself is really energy-intensive due to the automation and refrigeration systems inside," says Tom Marson, Loblaw's vice-president of constructing innovation and energy. "The photovoltaic panel system will help us balance out energy usage in the structure."

Great Circle Solar Management Corp. will be the contractor, owner and operator of the job and sell the power to Loblaw under a long-term agreement. The project is the largest of almost 60 rooftop solar initiatives in which the 2 business have partnered in the past 10 years.

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

Meeting corporate environment targets

Commercial distribution centres are not the only kinds of residential or commercial properties setting up massive solar projects. In Waterloo, Ont., Conestoga College set up a 1.3-megawatt solar photovoltaic system at its Kitchener-Doon school. The system, which went live in 2023, generates about 1.6-million kwh of sustainable, 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 roofings of numerous buildings, assists Conestoga fulfill 15 per cent of its yearly electricity needs and offset peak demand from the conventional grid by 57 percent.

" We're dedicated at Conestoga to supporting Canada's tidy development and climate-change goals for a more sustainable future," states Tim Schill, the college's vice-president of centers and capital development. "This task is a substantial action forward in helping in reducing [greenhouse gas] emissions and promoting sustainable stewardship of our environment and resources."

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

Loblaw states one of the factors for setting up solar panels at its distribution centre is to assist meet the business's net-zero emissions reduction targets.

" We're aiming to attain net zero for our Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 2040," Mr. Marson states. Scope 1 emissions are produced straight from sources owned or controlled by a company, while Scope 2 emissions account for those produced from the generation of acquired electrical energy that's consumed by the business or company.

" Procuring and consuming eco-friendly energy on residential or commercial properties where high amounts of energy is consumed is an important step for us," Mr. Marson says, including it's particularly crucial for Loblaw, given that the company interacts with consumers daily.

" We operate thousands of stores all across the nation, which indicates we are deeply woven into the material of the communities we serve," he says. "Countless everyday customers and our 220,000 colleagues and employees anticipate us to lead."

According to Mr. Marson, Loblaw initially set carbon decrease targets for its corporate stores in 2016, and it fulfilled those years ahead of schedule. "We reset our standard in 2020, and added franchise stores and Shoppers Drug Mart locations. Since then, we have actually reduced our carbon footprint 16 percent and continue to make considerable development."

Finding the best funding

Mr. Schill states developing small and medium-sized solar projects, such as Conestoga's, can be challenging because of problems securing financing, as well as moving guidelines and incentive programs.

" Until recently, it was simpler to get favourable government-backed funding if you had a $100-million task," he says. The relocation by Prime Minister Mark Carney to ditch the unpopular federal carbon tax was a problem because the tax had made utilizing gas more pricey and solar energy more attractive, he adds.

Mr. Schill is motivated by recent relocations such as the new $100-million partnership between the Canada Infrastructure Bank and Scotiabank, which aims to help owners retrofit little and mid-sized industrial structures.

Ali Hoss, head of sustainability and ESG at Colliers Canada, says the country can benefit from moves in the United States to stop solar-power incentives.

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

Great Circle Solar's Mr. Herring concurs. "Going solar offers an essential long-term fiscal hedge versus unpredictable future electrical energy costs."

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