SunEdison, a division of MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. (NYSE: WFR), announced yesterday that it will develop and build industrial and retail roof-top solar photovoltaic (PV) projects for CanFirst Capital Management, a private real estate company also based in Toronto, Ontario.
With this agreement, SunEdison will finance, build, own, operate, monitor and maintain photovoltaic solar energy systems with capacity totaling 1.5-megawatts (MW). They will be hosted at CanFirst Capital Management facilities, and the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) will purchase the energy produced under the terms of Ontario’s Feed-in Tariff Program (FIT)*. CanFirst Capital Management will receive lease revenue for roof-top space allocated to the projects, without any upfront capital equipment costs.
“We are committed to supporting responsible energy initiatives for Ontario. Building sustainability is an important aspect of our operations. We see this as an excellent opportunity to increase the value of properties for our clients,” said Paul Braun, Managing Director at CanFirst Captial Management. “SunEdison was our first choice in solar rooftop providers because of their proven record of successful installations and their in-depth understanding of the complexities involved in solar projects.”
Construction of the seven roof-top PV systems will begin this fall, with the majority of installations completed by spring 2011. Over 20 years, the systems will generate sufficient energy to avoid emitting 6.2 million kilograms of CO2 into the atmosphere. The CanFirst Capital Management solar projects will be located in the Greater Toronto Area including Burlington, Markham, Mississauga, Richmond Hill, Oakville and Toronto.
Dave "The Connector" Forde has been involved in the technology industry across Canada for over 10 years in sales and marketing roles. Part of my passion is to connect people and help to grow businesses. Chair of 
