Ontario Feed-In Tariffs Create Tens of Thousands of Solar Jobs, Cost = 1 Donut/Month

December 2nd, 2010 by Zachary Shahan

Solar Panels at the Harwood Estate Vineyards in Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada

Paul Gipe of Grist recently had a post on a great story from Ontario that I thought our readers would love to see on here. The underlying point is that Ontario’s feed-in tariffs for solar photovoltaics are going to create tens of thousands of solar jobs for just the cost of a donut a month (yes, just your standard donut, nothing special). Not bad. This is what a new report on the matter by ClearSky Advisors has found.

ClearSky Advisors found that, “by 2015, Ontario’s solar PV industry will have created 72,000 person-years of jobs.” 72,000 person-years of jobs or 60 donuts… you choose.

I’m sure opponents have cried over and over and loud and clear that this program would cost taxpayers a fortune, so it is great to see someone conducting a study on the matter and telling people: “actually, this is a good, efficient program well worth the cost.”

Of course, this report isn’t just about the feed-in tariff program, but is also about the region’s larger Green Energy and Green Economy Act as well, which is getting plenty of green energy haters all wound up. But the feed-in tariff program is a critical piece of that Green Act, which is supposed to help Ontario close all its coal-fired power plants in four years.

With the report predicting that the region will install 6,000 megawatts of solar PV by 2021, as well as utilizing other renewable energy sources, that looks like a realistic goal (and one many regions should be working towards).

“For comparison,” Gipe notes, “California is expected to have a total installed capacity of 800 megawatts and the U.S. 1,700 megawatts of solar PV by the end of 2010.”

Why is More-Costly Solar Such an Economic Win?

Solar supposedly costs more than nuclear or coal per kWh of electricity, right? So, how can solar be such a good choice economically for Ontario? Well,.. take job creation into account and you’ve got your answer.

ClearSky’s summary suggests that this policy may in fact work as intended at creating new jobs. The report says solar PV creates 12 times more jobs than nuclear per kilowatt-hour of electricity generated and 15 times more than coal.

…

ClearSky calculates that while investment in solar PV results in 30 percent to 40 percent as much electricity as investment in conventional sources, the investment in solar PV pays dividends in job creation. According to ClearSky’s summary, investment in solar PV creates 2.4 to 6.4 times more jobs than a similar investment in conventional sources.

Solar energy is a job-creator. And in social, health and environmental benefits and you’ve got a pretty clear answer as to why Ontario is favoring solar energy.

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Photo Credit: kmaraj via flickr (CC license)

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Tags: ClearSky, ClearSky Advisors, FITs, green energy, Green Energy and Green Economy Act, Ontario, Solar Jobs, solar photovoltaics, Solar PV

About the Author

Zachary Shahan spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as the director/chief editor. Otherwise, he's probably enthusiastically fulfilling his duties as the director/editor of Solar Love, EV Obsession, Planetsave, or Bikocity. Zach is recognized globally as a solar energy, electric car, and wind energy expert. If you would like him to speak at a related conference or event, connect with him via social media. You can connect with Zach on any popular social networking site you like. Links to all of his main social media profiles are on ZacharyShahan.com.

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RemiPG

I’m all for renewable energy and Solar PV, but I really don’t like when “advisors” or “analyst” tell me it’s only going to cost pennies a year to do something. Everything only costs pennies when divide up between a population as large as Ontario’s.

Not only does it not provide useful information (although I’m sure their full report was more complete), but that mindset set of “only a few more pennies” largely contributed to bring us in this fiscal mess we are experiencing now.

I believe Ontario’s feed-in-tarrif as it is is a good thing in the long term, they just didn’t choose the right words to justify it, in my opinion.
- http://www.zacharyshahan.com Zachary Shahan
  
  i respect your preferences & point, but i, on the other hand, find it quite useful to see the info put in such terms, as I think many people do.
  
  if you want to discuss macro issues, you want macro terms and data, if you want to discuss micro issues, you use micro terms and data. both can be discussed with regards to this issue, but most people are more interested in the micro.
  
  i think we thoroughly cover the macro on here, so it’s nice to give people a view of the micro from time to time as well.
  
  of course, no matter which way you discuss it, some will always have an inclination to the opposite approach.
Bill Woods

“72,000 person-years of jobs or 60 donuts… you choose.”

There’s 13 million people in Ontario, so figure there’s about 5 million households. So that’s 300 million donuts. Or about 1 person-week of work for 60 donuts. (Which, if you flip it around, doesn’t sound like a great wage rate.)
- http://www.zacharyshahan.com Zachary Shahan
  
  OK, good point on the best comparison to use on that point.
  
  luckily, though, those people aren’t getting paid 60 donuts, but are probably getting a decent wage (for relatively little cost to the gov)