Alberta’s Quiet Solar Revolution

According to a new report from the Pembina Institute, investor confidence in Alberta’s renewables sector is lagging behind peer jurisdictions. Two years of policy and regulatory uncertainty, which began in 2023 with the surprise seven-month moratorium on new wind and solar projects, dampened investor confidence in the province’s renewable market.

A report on renewables, Down But Not Out, examines data from the Alberta Electric System Operator’s (AESO’s) project connection queue over the last four calendar years (2021-2024), encompassing the period before and after the moratorium.

But, there is another side to the renewable discussion.

Alberta’s micro-generation market continues to grow. Homeowners, small businesses, and the farming community have invested almost $100 million in distributed generation in the last 6 months, adding solar PV systems to their rooftops, buildings, and properties. This is driven by Albertans’ desire to reduce their dependency on local utilities and drive down the cost of energy. Most importantly, this has been made possible by Alberta’s forward-thinking Micro-Generation Regulation. The private sector has responded to regulatory certainty and invested over $750 million in micro-generation solar PV systems.

During the last three months, 4,000 new microgenerators have come online in Alberta. Over 70% of them joined the Solar Club™.

The Solar Club now has nearly 11,000 members and is growing daily. Collectively, Members are net zero (i.e., imports and exports are balanced). Last year, Members imported 75 million kWh from the grid and exported 75 million surplus green energy from their solar PV systems back onto the grid. We have networked all Solar Club Members together under the Hummingbird Virtual Solar Community. They have installed over 200,000 solar panels, and the Hummingbird VSC has a capacity of over 100 MW, making it the third-largest solar farm in Alberta.

Got solar? Join the Solar Club and be part of Alberta’s success story.