OptiSolar Farms Canada Inc. will build five 10 megawatt (MW) solar farms in Sarnia, a city of 90,000 at the tip of Lake Huron in southwestern Ontario. These five farms will provide Sarnia’s Local Distribution Company (LDC), Bluewater Power, with an additional 50 MW of electricity generating capacity.

The project was announced in April, 2007 after OptiSolar Farms signed a contract with the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) to sell solar electricity under the Renewable Energy Standard Offer Program. Following consultation with the public and after all local approvals are received, construction will begin in 2008 at a site located in the southeast corner of Sarnia, near Modeland Road and Confederation Street.

OptiSolar Farms will install hundreds of thousands of ground-mounted solar panels that capture energy from the sun and convert it to electricity. The projects will generate several million dollars in local construction work and procurement contracts.
By 2010, the solar farms will be feeding high-quality solar electricity into Bluewater Power’s electricity system.

The proposed 50 MW of solar electricity in Sarnia supports the Ontario Power Authority’s long-term goal of bringing the total contribution of renewable energy to 15,700 MW on the provincial electricity system.