E•BOOM CAPITAL: SunEdison Meets Ontario FIT Domestic Content Regs

SunEdison’s 9.1 MW First Light 1 was the first utility-scale photovoltaic facility in Canada when it began transmitting power to Ontario Hydro September 30, 2009. It is located in Stone Mills, Ontario, mid-way between Ottawa and Toronto.

MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. (NYSE: WFR) subsidiary SunEdison LLC said today the Ontario Power Authority has confirmed that the company has met the 60% domestic content requirements of the Ontario feed-in-tariff (FIT) program for solar projects. This means the company’s solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, to be manufactured at a new facility in Newmarket, Ontario beginning in Q2 2011, will be accepted in FIT projects in the province.

To stimulate job creation in the province's manufacturing sector, the Ontario FIT program rules require that companies wishing to participate in the program prove they are meeting the 60 percent domestic content requirements. The components included are solar PV modules, inverters, mounting systems, wiring and electrical hardware and construction and on-site labor.

SunEdison announced February 25 that it had been awarded projects totalling 31 megawatts (MW) of rated capacity by the OPA under the FIT program. The announcement added to the 28 MW of ground-mount and rooftop solar projects already deployed by SunEdison in Ontario.

Ontario’s FIT program provides contract prices over 20 years of CDN53.9 cents per kilowatt hour (KWh) for roofttop solar PV projects larger than 500 kilowatts (KW), CDN44.3 per KWh for ground-mounted projects between 10 KW and 10 MW, and higher prices for smaller projects. 

Image credit: SunEdison

DISCLOSURE: The writer has no positions in, or professional connections with, these companies.