Siemens Canada enters solar market

Siemens Canada will soon introduce 50 new jobs to its Burlington facility as the company gears up to manufacture inverters for Photovoltaic (PV) power generation. With delivery dates scheduled for November 2010, the company will begin ramping up production immediately. 

These inverters are designed for customers that are investing in commercial and solar farm applications, allowing them to meet the “minimum required domestic level” requirement by the Ontario government’s feed-in-tariff (FiT) program. PV Inverters play a significant role when it comes to solar generated electricity. The technology that Siemens Canada is providing takes DC power as input generated from a PV-Module and converts that power into AC power, which is then an output into the grid connections.

“Siemens’ goal is to help our customers setup Solar PV installation which meet the requirements of the Ontario government’s recently announced FiT program”, said Joris Myny, vice president of Siemens Industry Automation and Drive Technologies.  “Siemens is committed to expand its green portfolio and this is just another example of our commitment to Canada.”
 
The FiT is a program that places emphasis on the design to implement the adoption of renewable energy sources and encourage grid parity, which is a point where renewable electricity is cheaper than or equal to power from non-renewable sources. FiT contracts are guaranteed for 20 years and Ontario is the only province currently offering a FiT.

Siemens’ most recent announcement follows its 2009 decision to manufacture an innovative line of motor control centres. In addition to the company’s direct financial investment to photovoltaic manufacturing, Siemens will be engaging locally based suppliers, by sourcing and purchasing materials such as cabinets, e-houses (buildings used to house electrical components), transformers and wiring.