Alberta farmers will have access to $500,000 for on-farm solar panels, the provincial government has announced.
“Agricultural producers embrace innovation and are good stewards of the land. The solar installation program will help increase farming efficiencies, reduce power bills and greenhouse gas emissions and add to Alberta’s power grid,” said agriculture minister Oneil Carlier.
The funding was part of the government’s $5 million Climate Leadership Plan. The money will go through the Alberta Municipal Solar Program, which offers rebates of up to 75 cents per watt, to a maximum of $300,000 per project, to municipalities for installing solar on municipal buildings, offices, fire halls, community centres and more.
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In a news release, John Bocock, a Sturgeon County dairy farmer said: “Since 2010, our farm has been producing electricity as well as food. We installed 24 solar panels on our barn room. Both we and our installer were pleasantly surprised at how hassle-free it was to get our regular meter replaced with a two-way meter so that we get credit when we produce more power than we are using. Solar energy mitigates climate change and diversifies Alberta’s economy.”
The on-farm program is a Growing Forward 2 cost shared program.
Farmers can access funding for construction projects that install high-efficiency equipment, retrofit projects that improve the operation’s energy use and installation of submeters to monitor on-farm electricity and gas use.
For most of the items, the program covers 35 percent of the eligible costs to a maximum $50,00. The program covers 100 percent of the cost of the applicant’s first three submeters.
mary.macarthur@producer.com
