Twp council supports several solar proposals
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Township of Norwich council has helped several property owners in their quest to have rooftop solar panels installed.
Six requests for support were on council's Tuesday, Jan. 8 agenda and all but one received support in the form of Mayor Don Doan's signature.
Municipal support is one of many items required to earn “Priority Points” in the Ontario Power Authority's Feed-In Tariff Program, which allows for property owners to install a renewable energy project and feed the power it generates back into the provincial power grid at a guaranteed price.
Requests for support came from John and Andrea Mulder for 344778 Quaker St., Eric VanBoekel at 265295 Maple Dell Rd., Hettinga Farms for 345147 Quaker St., Ken Butyn for 325306 Norwich Rd., Bruce Barnim for 385229 Highway 59, and from John and Patricia Reyneveld for 465418 Curries Rd.
Council spoke to each request individually and approved all but the Butyn request because of an outstanding property standards and zoning compliance issue.
There had been an outstanding Building Code issue with the Barnim property, but Doan reported he had spoken with Barnim the day prior to council and that issue had been resolved.
Councillor Susan Hampson asked for Fire Chief Bob Parsons to make general comment on any concerns he might have with roof-top solar panel projects in relation to fire fighting.
He said these green energy initiatives present new challenges for fire fighters. Fires in buildings with roof-top solar panels will be handled differently than buildings that don't have them because of the potential for electric shock and earlier collapse due to the weight of the panels, said Parsons.
“We certainly want to learn (more about this technology) and we're open to doing that,” Parsons told the two solar company professionals who attended council with some of the applicants.
Parsons said he is willing to learn all he can about the new technology in order to maintain the safety of his fire fighters and the public. He said there have been reported incidents of fire fighters being electrocuted while fighting fires where there are panels, and while the electricity may be powered off, there is residual power in the panels that causes a safety concern. The same is said for hybrid vehicles that have energy stored in them.
Jurgen Van Dijken of Arntjen Solar explained there are newer safety measures and shutoff technology to increase safety and it's all easily identifiable by the fire department when it arrives at a fire call where there may be roof-top solar panels.
Other municipal checks and measures along the route to securing a FIT contract include building permits for the roof-top projects. There are other measures required by the OPA, including engineer reports and permits from other regulatory bodies.