In a move hailed as the biggest rooftop solar energy project in Canada, the Toronto District School Board has approved a $445 million deal to add solar panels to almost every school roof over the next 20 years at no cost to taxpayers. Moreover, the company that will install the suncatchers will spend up to $121 million to repair millions of square feet of rooftop and give the board a share of the profits expected from selling the solar energy.
“This is groundbreaking; this reduces greenhouse gases and provides a learning opportunity for our students and leaves a legacy for more than 20 years — this is extraordinary,” said Trustee Howard Goodman. AMP Solar Ltd. Partnerships has offered to install panels on up to 450 of the board’s 524 roofs, replacing the worst roofs in the first three years. While Trustee Stephnie Payne warned the deal seemed too good to be true, Board Chair Chris Bolton called it “amazing” and said educators from around the world are calling for details. The solar panels are expected to generate 66 megawatts of green energy a year when all are installed, enough to meet the needs of some 6,000 average Toronto homes. Under the terms of the deal, AMP Solar Ltd. will be responsible for construction, technology, power generation, financing, roofing, operations and maintenance. It will pay the board rent for the rooftop space it uses for the panels.
Moreover, students will be able to learn about energy conservation by tracking the energy generated on the roof, noted Goodman. “Our students will not only be able to track the relationship between sunlight and electricity production, they will be going to school every day in a working power plant,” he said. “This will make abstract concepts tangible and inspire many of them to build their own small-scale model power plants, look into the work of Einstein, ponder the mysteries of quantum physics, investigate the economics of power production and consider the relative environmental and health impacts of different energy sources.” The board will unveil further details of the plan Thursday morning at Hillcrest Junior Public School near St. Clair Ave. W. and Bathurst St. Hillcrest already has solar panels on its roof that have inspired an after-school club called the Solar Inventors, which meets once a week to discuss solar energy and find ways to harness its power. The amount of power generated by the new project will vary from school to school, depending on the amount of sunlight each gets on its roof, said staff. AMP will invest a total of $450 million in the project, for which it hopes to raise about $106 million from the private sector and borrow the rest.
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