By A small town in southern Alberta plans to power itself using only solar panels — believed to be a first in Canada.
The Town of Raymond is in the process of installing about 2,700 solar panels on top of all of its municipal buildings.
“Every time it’s a sunny day, we just get a smile down here because that’s what’s going to help us meet our goal of becoming net zero,” said Greg Robinson, director of community and economic development for the town.
Located 40 kilometers south of Lethbridge, Raymond is home to about 4,200 people.
So far, Calgary-based utility Enmax has helped install panels on nine of the town’s facilities, including its firewall, ice arena, golf course, and water treatment plant.
Once they’re all up, solar energy will cover all of the municipal government’s energy needs — from running buildings to lighting streets, Robinson said.
STOP!!!! Don’t make the giant blunder like so many towns in Ontario have done!!! You should learn from our mistakes!!! You do NOT need to put solar up on so many roofs!!! There are ways to cut the total number of solar panels in half, but obviously the solar companies don’t want you to know that. When towns are investing tax-payer dollars this is so important, you need to know your options. You need to first cut your Total Community Energy bill in half using ERS solutions, where the grid comes into your town you can build a small ERS box. Then that will cut your bills in half, and you can then use half the solar panels to get the exact same results. We are doing this in Ontario, and it requires ZERO tax-payer money and ZERO government rebates or incentives or involvement of any kind. Don’t waste tax-payers money, use this advice and the date this was posted for your date of accountability. Don’t pretend you were never informed! If anyone reading this is from Raymond, make sure your community leaders know their options before they make the same historical blunders that have been happening all over Ontario for the past decade.