Here comes the sun

Cool Tips for a Hot Planet

It brightens our days, lifts us out of gloom and gives us a hit of vitamin D. What’s not to like about sunshine?

Increasingly, it’s also providing the world with clean, low-cost power. Renewable energy now produces over 30 per cent of the world’s electricity, according to Global Energy Review 2024. And solar was the fastest growing source of new electricity generation. In fact, the world is adding the solar equivalent of a nuclear reactor every day, at a fraction of the cost, figures from Bloomberg show.

Why? Because solar costs have plummeted 90 per cent in the last decade. Virtually everywhere, it’s the cheapest form of new electricity production. Cheaper than coal, and equivalent to or cheaper than natural gas.

More solar means lower electricity bills, less pollution, better air quality and improved health. And it helps tackle climate change. What’s not to like about solar?

Some take issue with large commercial operations. And the province prohibits solar on prime farmland. But there could be a role for agrivoltaics (for example, combining solar with shade-loving crops, sheep grazing or bee farming), and for solar on non-productive land, says Jack Gibbons, chair of the Ontario Clean Air Alliance (OCAA).

A new study for the OCAA found Toronto could meet more than half its electricity needs with rooftop and large parking lot solar. That would relieve strain on the grid as more homes install heat pumps and chargers for electric cars. And it would vapourize the need for Toronto’s gas power plant.

Solar also reduces energy bills, as Lindsay residents Jamie and Glenda Morris are finding. They took advantage of the Canada Greener Homes grant and loan programs to install enough rooftop solar to cover their annual electricity bills. They replaced their gas furnace and water heater with heat pumps in the process. Their house now produces more electricity than needed when it’s sunnier, and the credit they receive pays for their reduced power production in winter. By the end of November, they had a credit of $531. “So far, the app shows we’ve saved 4,684 kg of CO2 emissions. That’s like planting 138 trees,” Jamie said.

They are among a growing number of Canadians powering with sunshine. In 2022, one in 200 homes had solar, but a study by Dunsky Energy shows we’re on track to increase that number to one in 12 by 2050.

It’s not just those with solar panels who save. If Ontario went all-in on wind and solar, we could phase out gas plants, avoid the need to expand expensive nuclear power, and lower rates for everyone, Gibbons said.

To encourage more Ontarians to follow the sun, home owners and businesses need to be compensated for all the power they produce. “Right now, they don’t get paid if their solar panels produce more electricity than they consume. This isn’t fair.  We pay Ontario Power Generation for 100 per cent of the nuclear and gas power it supplies to the grid. Similarly, we should pay homeowners and small businesses for all the solar power they provide,” he said.

“The Doug Ford government is planning to build more dirty gas plants and high-cost nuclear reactors. By paying people to put solar on their roofs we can clean the air and reduce everyone’s electricity bills. Solar is a win-win.”