Solar Source Corp. is scheduled to begin manufacturing solar panels in Ontario within the next seven months, having recently invested over $40 million in its plan to construct a 45,000-square-foot plant on airport lands just outside the City of Windsor. The social and economic repercussions of the project could be as colossal as its cost - with about 200 new solar jobs slated for the next twelve months, and up to 300 additional employees to be hired by 2013. For the Windsor operation, Solar Source Corp. will partner with Hind High Vacuum company, an Indian company that specializes in hi-tech materials and tools used to manufacture photovoltaic solar panels.
University of Windsor to Provide Renewable Energy Specialists
Although a third of the newly created solar jobs will be dedicated to solar panel assembly, Solar Source anticipates that a sizeable portion of new positions will also go to highly skilled solar energy scientists responsible for testing and design. It plans on hiring a number alternative energy specialists from the University of Windsor in the years to come. Not only does the university offer an enticing candidate pool due to its proximity to the upcoming manufacturing facility, but it also specializes in some of the research and development expertise needed for the project.
City of Windsor Invests in Solar Jobs
The City of Windsor has agreed to contribute up to $4 million towards the construction of the photovoltaic panel manufacturing facility - the first of its kind in Ontario. With city-wide unemployment approaching 12.6% in April of this year, it is possible that renewable energy development could help reverse the region’s economic stagnation. The plant itself will contribute as many as 500 jobs once completed, but the construction phase will also create numerous opportunities, not to mention all of the ancillary jobs that typically accompany major investments.
Jacob Travis, Director of Ontario Solar Academy, comments, “The Windsor plant is exactly the kind of private investment the Green Energy Act’s FIT program intended; not only will it create jobs in the manufacturing sector, but it also enables the region’s new solar companies to install projects with equipment made in Ontario. The program is working.”
The Windsor plant also holds obvious export appeal due to the facility’s location near the American border. Proximity to the United States was a key factor in selecting the site, with the company’s President, Ross Beatty, acknowledging the US as “the largest market for solar energy in the world.”
