Offsetting Fossil Fuel Energy with Unique Solar Booster
Approved for funding in Round 10: Open Call in 2015, Morgan Solar partnered with Enbridge to build a 10-megawatt flagship utility-scale solar power plant called the Alberta Solar One. The project is located in Southeast Alberta and takes advantage of the best solar resource in the country to produce clean energy, create local jobs and raise the productivity of marginal land.
The project’s construction was completed in 2021 and uses Morgan Solar’s revolutionary high efficiency Sun Simba CPV modules mounted on Savanna dual-axis trackers. The unique optical film technology – which boosts the energy generation of photo voltaic (PV) modules – nearly doubles the efficiency of conventional solar panels while remaining competitive on sticker price. Generating approximately 22,000 megawatts annually, the Alberta Solar One offsets about 13,300 tonnes of carbon annually and produces enough clean electricity to power the equivalent of 1,850 homes. Alberta Solar One began producing electricity in April 2021 and will continue to do so for its lifetime. This project is helping Alberta to meet its decarbonization goals for the electricity grid.
Providing Guidance for Future Solar Projects in Alberta
Alberta Solar One proved that utility-scale solar electricity generation is viable in Southern Alberta. Beyond that, this project proved that optical film technology can be successfully implemented at a utility-scale level. The continuous and open sharing of project learnings throughout the process has paved the way for others in the industry to develop large solar projects using this technology in Alberta. There was also substantial regulatory uncertainty this project helped to overcome. By advancing through the process and providing feedback to industry and Government, Alberta Solar One helped make the process more efficient and effective for those who develop solar projects in Alberta in the future. Additionally, the economic impact that Alberta Solar One was significant during construction and the project continues to make an impact to this day. COVID-19 created a difficult time for businesses to find work, and this project offered work that could be done safely during the pandemic.
What’s next?
Solar energy is now de-risked in Alberta from a technology standpoint and is now in the process of undergoing full market adoption. The clean energy Alberta Solar One produces is currently being sold to Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO). This clean energy offsets energy drawn by Enbridge from the AESO pool to power its pump stations in a virtual ‘self-supply’ arrangement. Additionally, Morgan Solar is currently working with partners on expanding into variants of the technology that can be incorporated into buildings; for example, solar cells that can generate 100% of the power with 90% of the cells and mitigate the impact of single axis trackers’ shading on bifacial modules.