Nova Scotia has to wake up to the potential of solar energy, says a Halifax architect.
"There has to be some very forward-thinking policy decisions to lay the groundwork and to let this stuff happen, and to encourage it to happen," John Crace said in an interview Wednesday.
Mr. Crace made the comments after giving a presentation on solar energy at the third annual Renewable Energy Conference in Halifax.
Mr. Crace, a vice-president with WHW Architects, said Nova Scotia has better solar resources than places like Japan and Germany, where photovoltaic cells, which convert solar energy into electricity, are used to help power automobile plants.
He said Nova Scotia should give solar energy the same attention it is giving to wind and tidal energy as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
"If governments don't set policy and bring about broad systemic change, it doesn't matter if you or I put a solar panel on our roof. That's not going to do it."
Mr. Crace said Germany and Japan have both implemented policies that have encouraged the development of solar energy as part of their overall energy mix.
"In the case of Germany, they decided 15 years ago that they were going to make a move away from fossil fuels, so they decided to provide incentives to move to renewable energy sources.
"Through that incentive, they pay, if you are generating renewable energy from the sun or the wind, roughly 50 cents a kilowatt hour. If you're buying energy in Germany, you're paying maybe 10 cents a kilowatt hour, and that's roughly what we're paying here."
Mr. Crace said Ontario offers similar incentives, paying about 42 cents per kilowatt hour for renewable energy. He said Nova Scotia, which offers a 15 per cent rebate on the price of solar heating equipment, eventually will have to do the same.
"We need a big basket of options."
Mr. Crace said there were few, if any, wind turbines in the province five years ago. He said some observers suggest that solar power will be a feasible, productive alternative energy source within the next five years.
Ralph Tedesco, the president and CEO of Nova Scotia Power Inc., said recently that he doesn't believe the province's latitude will allow for the use of photovoltaic cells to generate electricity for the utility any time soon.
Mr. Tedesco said photovoltaic cells could be used to heat water and for other residential purposes. But he said the technology to use the solar cells on a wider scale is still 10 or 15 years away.
Mr. Crace said the utility, which burns coal to generate most of its electricity, needs to be more proactive about the potential of solar energy.
"People don't think about Nova Scotia, intuitively, as a solar kind of place. That's a misconception."
Aaron Peters of Toronto's SkyPower Corp. said solar may be a small part of the overall energy picture, but it is still significant.
SkyPower Corp. is partnering with Scotian WindFields Inc. to develop a 30-megawatt wind park in Digby that will sell power to NSP under a 20-year contract.
"Even if it only contributes three per cent of the energy mix, there's very little risk to the ratepayer," Mr. Peters said. "As a result, the actual increases in fees for electricity will be negligible. Every little bit helps."
SkyPower and SunEdison are building North America's largest solar photovoltaic park in Ontario. The 19-megawatt park, scheduled to be completed by the end of 2009, will produce enough energy to power more than 2,000 homes annually.