鈥婻esearchers from Simon Fraser University's Clean Energy Research Group (CERG) believe B.C.'s northwest may have more potential for solar than people may realize.

Their research was published in in December 2024 in which they argued that Canada should focus on building utility-scale solar projects to kickstart its green energy transition. Utility-scale projects combine solar power with battery storage technology to get the most out of the energy.

Anil Hira and Prasanna Krishnan believe that a combination of solar, wind and hydro would be best-suited to address the clean energy needs of northern B.C.

"There are many creative ways to think about energy storage that could start to unravel the problem of seasonality that you have in northern B,C.," said Hira, who is the director of CERG and a political science professor at SFU. "Solar can help us to diversify our energy mix so we are not so reliant on hydro and reduces the intermittency problems with wind.鈥�

Hira added that solar could be used to create a pumped hydro storage system with large hydro projects of the region, like the Site C dam and hydroelectric generation station on Peace River.

"When power is not being used, you pump the water back uphill, and then your reservoir acts as a battery," said Hira.

The cost of installing solar panels is another factor in why Hira and Krishnan are pushing for utility-scale projects.

鈥淭he prices have dropped dramatically in the last decade by an estimated 90 per cent. It's a vital part of energy plans in many countries, yet in Canada, that potential has barely been touched on. While solar power makes up approximately four per cent of global electricity generation, it only accounts for 0.5 per cent in Canada," continued Hira.

Krishnan shared that according to the Government of Canada's solar map of the country, there's a case to be made for solar in northern B.C. The map measures solar based on a region's photovoltaic potential in kWh/kWp. Shortly put, photovoltaic cells convert sunlight into energy. The higher the photovoltaic potential is, the more energy a project can produce.

"[The region] certainly can't compare to somewhere like Southern California or Mexico, but from what I see, you'd be looking at generating half as much in the the summer months," said Krishnan. "It looks good."

While not a utility-scale project, solar farms exist in the region, such as the i.

Land use is a concern for large-scale solar, but the authors believe that the projects "should be concentrated in marginal and in maximum sunlight regions that has few other uses [as] concentrating solar in a few areas also reduces the challenges of community acceptance."

For example, the proposed  in the interior would be built on nearly 100 acres of underdeveloped land which features low lying vegetation mainly in the form of shrubs and low grasses.

Hira and Krishnan note that solar policy in the United States is further ahead than Canada.

"Frankly, the solar landscape in Canada is very different," said Hira. "That was part of the impetus for us to write this paper. There's a mistaken impression that Canada is not suitable for solar."

"The lobbying efforts in Canada have been weak compared to other countries," he said. "In Germany, because of their feed-in tariffs, there are solar panels all over the landscape, including throughout agricultural sectors."

Germany's  promote the production of renewable energy by supporting the market development of renewables. A key feature of the tariffs is priority access to the power grid, which ensures efficient integration for energy producers. There is also a guaranteed fixed price per kilowatt-hour for a set period 鈥� typically 20 years 鈥� to secure a return on investment. Additionally, the government retains the right to adjust the fixed tariff based on market developments.

"In the United States, there's the Inflation Reduction Act that offers opportunities for renewable energy companies. We don't have anything like that in Canada," said Hira. "I fear with Donald Trump taking over in the US and the Conservative Party likely taking over in Canada, we're going to take a step backwards instead of forwards on renewable energy."

While solar energy has many benefits, Krishnan said that it also a downside in the form of the waste it produces as there is not enough infrastructure world wide to process it.

"Setting up the infrastructure to deal with end-cycle emissions should certainly be something that happens along with the deployment of renewables. However, I think we would caution against using the waste argument as a reason to not make changes today," said Krishnan.

"There's a reason why the oil and gas sector in Canada is championing carbon capture and storage. It allows them to continue in their business," said Hira. "While the argument of solar waste has merit, at the end of the day, we can't ignore the well-documented fact that continuing reliance on fossil fuels has incredible effects on agriculture, droughts, wildfires and on human health."

"We have the choice between a really harmful source of energy that happens to be cheap and has strong industry lobbies, or a more environmentally-friendly choice, even though it still has some downsides," continued Hira.

"The problem is, there just isn't enough political will or support behind solar energy in Canada and that's where we think this paper can possibly make a different to try to tilt the conversations towards more productive directions," Hira said.

Hira mentioned there is a larger discussion to have that has already been initiated in the EU around the circular economy.

"That includes re-manufacturing and re-purposing materials, but also thinking more carefully about the manufacturing process itself and how to reduce waste by crafting materials that are more easily recyclable. Right now, we're playing from so far behind in North America on the circular economy that these concepts are just brand new. Implementing a circular economy is going to be a long-term challenge."

Proactive policies and financial support from governments are needed to harness the full potential of a transition to clean energy, the report concludes.
 
"Support for such efforts would have a transformative effect on our electricity systems," said Krishnan.