New rules for St. Albert’s industrial parks could soon let business owners put solar panels in their backyards.
St. Albert council passed first reading on Aug. 19 of new rules for solar collectors.
The current rules were written in 2016 and require solar collectors to be physically mounted to a roof or wall, explained city development manager Jean Ehlers. Technology has changed since then, and the city has fielded several requests from commercial landowners to put in ground-mounted systems or ballasted ones, which are ones where the solar modules are held down with heavy weights on a flat roof instead of by bolts or screws. (The Alberco Construction and Dez Liggett Transit Facility arrays are both ballasted systems.)
The new rules, if approved, would change the city’s land-use bylaw so that solar collectors would no longer have to be mounted to a wall or roof and could also be placed on the ground in the Commercial and Industrial Service District (currently the Riel, Riel South, and Campbell business parks). Ground-based systems would have to be in a side yard or backyard and follow all setback rules, and could not be taller than any on-site building, next to a residential area, or a source of glare off-site. They would also have to be accessory uses, so a landowner could not build a solar farm, Ehlers said.
Ehlers said these changes would help the city reduce greenhouse gas emissions by bringing more renewable power on-stream.
Edmonton solar design engineer Gordon Howell said he was surprised to hear St. Albert restricted ground-based systems in the first place, saying that it should be up to the landowner and designer to decide what system works best for their land.
“I personally think rooftop is far better in most situations,” he said, as you need more mounts and trenches on the ground, but ground-based systems can potentially generate more power, as you can align them better with the sun and more easily clear them of snow.
“If they have the land room, why not?”
Benjamin Thibault of the Solar Energy Society of Alberta said in an email that his group was pleased St. Albert businesses would have more flexibility under this law to secure the benefits of solar power. A study the group commissioned last year found that ground-based systems would make up over half the $4 billion in solar investment Alberta will realize between now and 2030.
Coun. Jacquie Hansen (who sits on St. Albert’s environmental advisory committee) said in an email that these changes were a great start that made solar more accessible to residents.
“I still think we need to work harder on assisting residents to make their homes more energy efficient,” she added, specifically by setting up a property-assessed clean energy (PACE) program to help with investments.
The new rules return for second reading Sept. 16.
