The Green Energy Act was passed last year, and provides an improved program for small and medium-sized electricity-generating projects that want to sell electricity back into the provincial power grid. The program is called Feed-In-Tariff (FIT). There is an even more streamlined and accessible past of the program for projects generating less than 10 kW, called Micro-FIT. The program is administered by the Ontario Power Authority (OPA).

All co‑ops can participate in the program. The two main generating systems are photovoltaic (PV) solar and micro-wind. Generally the most feasible for urban areas is PV solar, and solar power brings you a higher price per kW hour. A 10 kW rooftop system will cost about $85,000 installed, is light enough to match the structural capacity of most roofs, and will generate electricity for up to 40 years with relatively little maintenance. It would take up roughly 850 square feet of roof space – about the size of a one-bedroom apartment on a flat roof, or the south-facing sloped roof space on three townhouses.

The co‑op would sign a 20-year agreement with its local hydro company to sell the electricity, for a fixed price of 80.2 cents per kW hour. The annual revenue generated by a 10kW system on your roof would be about $8,000; this varies, depending on your exact location.

This is a very high price for electricity, but the goal of the program is to provide an incentive for companies and people who want to invest in this technology and get a decent return on their investment. The other benefit is to contribute to increased electricity generation for the community without the need for huge centralized generating stations.

For more information about Micro-FIT. go to the OPA website. This is quite a good site, well organized with application forms, instructions, program rules, contracts, etc.