Calgary mall solar installation successful in putting power back into grid
Global News
The Chinook Centre system uses specialized hardware, software and communications systems that facilitate the two-way power flow while maintaining safety and reliability.
A hurdle to adding solar that feeds back into the grid in high-density areas has been overcome by a Calgary utility and shopping centre.
Thursday, Enmax and Cadillac Fairview announced their 53,000 square foot solar panel pilot on the roof of the CF Chinook Centre mall was successful in putting electricity back into the grid, a first for secondary networks.
Secondary networks serve electricity to high-density areas of the city through an interconnected web of transformers. Enmax said secondary networks provide high reliability for the users, but weren’t previously able to export power back into the greater grid.
The Chinook Centre system uses specialized hardware, software and communications systems that facilitate the two-way power flow while maintaining safety and reliability.
“The success of this pilot is an exciting step forward in enabling customers on our secondary network to adopt renewable energy options such as solar and battery storage,” Enmax president Jana Mosley said in a statement.
“This innovative solution will give urban customers – both in Calgary and potentially across North America – more choice in how they generate and use electricity while maintaining a safe, reliable grid.”
Most parts of the city’s grid is capable of two-way power flow, allowing customers with solar panels to get credits for excess electricity from solar generation.
The pilot between Calgary’s largest retail complex and the city-owned utility started in April 2021, and involved enough solar photovoltaic panels to cover approximately three hockey rinks. The system has generated over 600,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) since its installation, and has exported 5,425 kWh back into the grid since May – enough to power a typical-sized home for 10 months.
The scene of the bus flying through the air and quickly slamming to the ground was captured by a security camera. Parents and witnesses watched on helplessly.
Montreal is increasing police patrols and cracking down on loitering in the metro system in response to a massive rise in people struggling with drug addiction and mental illness.
Like Liberal leaders before him, the Conservatives are attempting to define Liberal Leader Mark Carney to voters before he has a chance to.
'I'm proud to have served a country full of people who stand up for what's right,' Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a video on his last day in office.
Shortly after midnight, stargazers can catch a glimpse of the total lunar eclipse, or a full worm blood moon.
The Canada Revenue Agency says it's working to update its systems to reflect the current inclusion rate on capital gains after a last-minute reversal by the federal government.
The family behind one of Canada’s most well-known ice-cream brands says they’re absorbing “all immediate increases in our costs” as the U.S.-Canada trade war heats up.
Friedrich Trump called his business in Bennett, a town that sprang up because of the Klondike Gold Rush, the Arctic Restaurant & Hotel.
A new poll suggests that 40 per cent of Canadians are worried about losing their jobs as many businesses scale back hiring plans in response to the trade war with the U.S.
At the Halifax Stanfield International Airport, the tariff trade war between Canada and the U.S. is leaving flyers who travel between the two countries feeling very uneasy.
The man pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Migratory Birds Regulations after hunting snow geese without a permit, says a release from the ECCC.
Doug Ford is set to fly in and out of the U.S. capital on Thursday for a meeting with President Donald Trump's commerce secretary which could calm or reignite trade tensions.
'Half of us here are dual citizens, including me -- Canadian and American, half of us,' Point Roberts resident Brian Calder told Global News.