FIT, a program established by the Green Energy and Green Economy Act in 2009, helps subsidize green energy by paying a premium price for renewable energy generated by businesses and homeowners. Since Toronto Hydro is the city's local distribution company, any Toronto business or homeowner that gets approval from the OPA for the FIT program goes through Toronto Hydro to get hooked up to the grid.
The Metropolitan Tea Company project is the largest of Toronto Hydro's solar-roof FIT projects to date, and has a generating capacity of up to 500-kilowatts.
The project kicked off in March 2011, when, shortly after moving in to its new building, the Metropolitan Tea Company contacted Toronto Hydro wanting to install solar panels on the roof of its new headquarters. The building is located on Butterick Road in south Etobicoke.
"When they applied to us, we thought this was a good project and we went through the process with them," says Gary Thompson, supervisor of generation planning and transmission capacity with Toronto Hydro. "We helped them with an environmental assessment, we visited the site, and we were able to offer them advice and direction and put our engineers' expertise at their disposal."
Toronto Hydro also helped connect the Tea Company with suppliers of solar panels and helped them facilitate their payment agreement with the OPA.
The installation earned the company a Toronto Board of Trade Sustainability Award in November.
Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: Toronto Hydro, Gary Thompson