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The system will be installed on the Town’s newly re-located Emergency Operation Centre.

The project is being funded by a combination of Markham’s own capital budget money and infrastructure stimulus funds provided through a funding partnership with the governments of Canada and Ontario. Once operational, the new solar photovoltaic grid-tie system will generate revenue through the contracted sale of energy from the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) under the Feed-In-Tariff (FIT) program at a rate of $0.713/kWh.

From the annual revenue received by the system under the OPA FIT contract, Markham will pay down its capital budget investment portion within the first five years of operation, the remaining 15 years of the contract revenues are proposed to be reinvested in future Markham energy projects. In concert with the revenue generation, the new system will also support Markham’s long-standing commitment to renewable energies and sustainable technology.

In selecting a solar grid-tie provider for the project, Carmanah Technologies was chosen over four competing candidates. Markham’s Manager of Climate Change and Energy and bid evaluation team member, Graham Seaman, comments that the decision to choose Carmanah Technologies was based on the company’s experience and success in similar commercial rooftop solar grid-tie system installations.

“Carmanah earned their selection by scoring more points than its competitors making it the highest ranked proponent. Based on their past experience in similar projects and by having a more qualified design and project management team than the other bidders, the choice was clear,” said Seaman.

Markham believes that implementing a large-scale solar project such as this will help to demonstrate its leadership in renewable energy generation and serve to increase its profile in the renewable energies field. Markham is already home to the head offices for high-tech giants Avaya, IBM, Motorola, Toshiba, Lucent, Sun Microsystems, Apple and AMEX.

Carmanah CEO Ted Lattimore says that the Company’s established credibility in the Canadian solar grid-tie market has marked Carmanah as a prime contender for Ontario FIT project inclusion. “The new OPA FIT program presents a great opportunity for renewable energy companies. Carmanah’s long-standing history of successful solar installations across Canada and full-service design-build capabilities position us well to support FIT projects of any scale. With more than 50 completed grid-tied solar projects across Canada, Carmanah has been at the forefront of the domestic industry for nearly 10 years.”
 

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