Future of Solar in Ontario

A lot has been said about Premier Doug Ford’s announcements about the cancellation of various renewable energy programs and contracts. General consensus is that this will hurt solar and other renewable energy industry in the province. Many professionals in solar and other renewable energy industry feel that government’s decision will decimate the industry in Ontario. And that this will kill jobs and deter new investments. Some media outlets and industry leaders have also written and talked about the same.

There is some truth in the immediate adverse impact of these government decisions on the renewable industry in Ontario. This will cause some short term slow down or temporarily bring the industry to a complete halt. There are many long term benefits of these events that are important to be noted.

First and foremost, one of the biggest benefits of renewable energy especially solar is energy independence. Solar generation can be implemented at a micro scale and that micro scale can be expanded to a large scale eg. hundreds of  thousands of home and small commercial solar systems. Which means homeowners and businesses can eventually be energy independent with the help of energy storage systems and other alternative energy sources to cover the gaps. If the end goal is independence from government where everyone is responsible for their own energy needs, then lets thank Doug Ford for cutting off all funding. Sooner or later this was going to be the case and this is the eventual goal.

The Sun will still shine and we have all the tools to build the systems that will generate energy for decades to come. Whether the decision to cut off funding came too early or not no longer matters, it is here and the questions is how can the industry deal with it and grow from here. We must find efficiencies within our business models to compensate for the loss in support by the government. Tough task but it can be done.

Secondly, now that public funding is out of the picture we can be sure that solar and renewable energy can stop suffering from the negative PR and accusations of wasteful spending by the government. Prices of solar systems have dropped to a fraction of what they use to be and it is only a matter of time it will make sense for every homeowner and business to invest in their own systems for their energy needs without any government support. For many homeowners that time has already arrived. It is only matter of determining how much electricity a homeowner or a business uses and whether installing a system makes financial sense. Net metering programs are still around and make good business sense to install.

Moving forward, Solar industry will have to survive and thrive on its own merits. This doesn’t mean the new Ontario government should completely stop supporting the industry. People of Ontario have invested billions of their hard earned income in this industry and those investments must be protected. We have invested in talent, innovation and manufacturing among others and the government must make every effort to ensure those investments are protected and the province gets a good return on those investments. Province should help Ontario companies to export their products and services to other provinces and countries and help safeguard intellectual property. We have gained a lot of experience and know how in this industry and non-financial assistance by the government would go a long way in making sure that the investment by the people does not go to waste.

By Onkar Gill (Hon. B.Sc., J.D.)

President – Deeva Solar