Guelph gets new solar panel plant

Canadian Solar Inc. announced the location for the new plant.

At full production, the $30 million plant will employ up to 500 workers, and be able each year to turn out panels capable of turning sunlight into 200 megawatts of power.

The new facility was prompted by the Ontario government’s push for more green energy from its “feed-in tariff” program, or FIT.

Generating facilities that qualify for the program are paid fixed, generally higher-than-market rates for their output, but must contain specified levels of Canadian content. Panels from Canadian SolarÂ’s new plant will qualify as Canadian content.

Although the company is headquartered in Kitchener, the Guelph plant will be its first manufacturing facility in Canada.

Canadian SolarÂ’s announcement follows one from Siemens Canada, which says it will establish a plant in southern Ontario to make blades for wind turbines, creating 200 jobs at full production. Siemens hasnÂ’t yet picked a location.