Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Solar Farm - Canada's largest Solar-Energy Plant

Solar farm near Ottawa gets residents' thumbs-up

As controversies over green-power projects erupt across Ontario, Ottawa is quietly leading a revolution in solar farming that will soon make the nation's capital home to one of the largest solar-energy plants of its kind in North America.

An 80-hectare farm in West Carleton, just west of Ottawa, is about to undergo a $100-million investment that will see 300,000 silvery solar panels installed there.

Once this solar farm becomes operational at the end of the year, it's expected to generate about 20 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 7,000 homes during peak hours.

It will be Canada's largest photovoltaic plant, one that converts sunlight directly into electricity.

The project, which is being undertaken by EDF EN Canada, the Canadian arm of the French renewable-energy firm, EDFEnergies Nouvelles, is made up of two parallel installations feeding into the provincial grid. The land has been leased for 20 years from a local farmer.

"We're trying to make a revolution happen in solar energy," said a company spokesman.

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