Ontario-based ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. and Germany’s Q-Cells SE will co-develop several renewable energy projects in the province of Ontario, with each company holding a 50% stake in the initiative. The joint venture, named Ontario Solar PV Fields Inc., encompasses seven different ground-mounted PV projects in North Eastern and North Western Ontario. These projects will create countless new green jobs, many of which will require professionals and engineers with quality solar energy training.

The Ontario Power Authority gave conditional feed-in-tariff (FIT) contracts to the partners in accordance with the Green Energy Act. The completed projects will total 64 megawatts of power - roughly one tenth of the 650 megawatts that were awarded to ground-mounted projects across the province. Construction is scheduled to begin next year, with Q-Cells providing the solar cells and ATS bringing its Ontario-focused expertise in developing solar projects.

For these large-scale solar energy projects, ATS and Q-Cells will rely on Photowatt Ontario – a divison of the Photowatt Group – to provide domestic content modules. Photowatt has been a subsidiary of ATS for over a decade and an important PV research organization since 1979. Its Ontarian branch is based in Cambridge, where PV module production began earlier this year.

An Ambitious Project Enabled by the Green Energy Act

Q-Cells North American Chief Executive Officer, Marc van Gervan, declared that “The Ontario market is set to be one of the dominant solar markets in America in 2011.” This confirms the efficiency of policies like the Green Energy Act, which received Royal Assent in May of 2009. It is this Act that enables the FIT and microFIT programs, which in turn help make Ontario more attractive to foreign investors. The province’s green policies encourage large international companies such as Q-Cells to develop projects in the province, stimulating the Ontario economy in the process.

Demand for Solar Energy Training to Increase

ATS Vice-President of Corporate Development, Marc Cecchetto, mentioned that Q-Cells and ATS aimed to “quickly serve rapidly developing solar opportunities in the Ontario market.” van Gervan sees similar potential in the Ontario landscape, saying that Ontario Solar PV Fields is “an excellent fit with [Q-Cell’s] internationalization strategy.” To respond to these growing opportunities, both companies and the province itself will need to develop the requisite manpower needed to install the ground-mounted PV modules. Proper solar energy training and renewable power courses are essential if Ontario is to reap the full benefits of the expanding green economy.