The

Job Seekers Guide to the

Canadian Solar Industry

Research completed by Emerging Leaders in Solar Energy (ELSE) Canada
in partnership with Smart Mint Search Inc.
2016

Special Thanks goes out to all of those that participated in our surveys and interviews.
Also a big thank you goes out to all of the volunteers who helped in
the research and preparation of this report.

Written by:
Sarah Giesbrecht
Adil Vegdani
Behzad Faripour
Cam Relke
Haraparampreet (Preet) Kaur
Josh Spackman
Michael Tran
Nathania Putri
Oni Hoque
Paul Hilborn
Sharon Au

Introduction

This report is for all job seekers and young
professional wanting to grow their careers in
the innovative and growing industry that is the
Canadian solar sector. The goal of this research
and this report is to help individual young
professionals have an easy and comprehensive
resource for learning about the industry and to
help guide them in the development of their
careers. This report is separated into 3 main
sections: first, background of the solar Industry
in Canada; second the current landscape of the
sector; third, insights into roles and career
paths; there is also an appendix with some
more technical background.

Solar 101

Solar is part of the larger movement away from
fossil fuels and towards what is referred to as
clean, renewable or green energy.
The creation of this new sector
within the energy industry has
come from many different factors,
but there is a growing global
awareness that the use of
renewable energy is critical in
addressing climate change,
creating new economic
opportunities, and providing
energy to the many people still
living without modern energy
services.

Renewable energy provided
approximately 19.1% of global
final energy consumption in 2013,
and capacity and generation have
continued to increase since theni.
Wind, solar photovoltaic (PV), and
hydropower had the most rapid
growth and largest increase in
capacity. By the end of 2014,
renewables made up
approximately 27.7% of the worlds power
generating capacityii.

Solar can be divided into two technical groups:

solar PV and solar Thermal1. Solar PV is usually
divided into groups based on the capacity of
power generation. The capacity of residential
and commercial installations is usually in the
range of two kilowatts to multiple megawatts.
Their purpose is generally to offset some
percentage of the total energy use of a home or
building. The capacity of utility installations can
be in the range of many megawatts. Their
purpose is to provide and sell electricity, usually
at a profit, at a scale large enough to satisfy the
demands of many consumers. The largest
current utility installation is found in California
and has a capacity of 579 MWiii.

There has been an increasing interest in solar
PV technology as a low-carbon energy option in
the past decade. Supportive policies such as the
Feed-in Tariff (FiT) have encouraged the
development of solar PV. Thus, global PV

NOTE: The rest of this report will focus

primarily on solar PV, but for more technical

background please see the Appendix

capacity has increased from 1.4 gigawatts (GW)

in 2000iv to 177 GW in 2014v, and solar PV
module prices have declined from $4 per watt
in 2008 to less than $1 per watt in 2012.vi
International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)
figures suggest that the average cost of solar
will compete directly with fossil fuels in most
markets by 2025. The cost of solar modules has
declined by 73% over the past five years. The
cost of bringing new solar plants online
continues to decline worldwide.vii With the
rising solar PV competition, it offers potential
contributions to both the energy supply and
greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction.

However, PV in Canada has been slow to
emerge despite the global trend.viii In 2014, of
the 40 GW of solar PV capacity added, North
America added 6.7 GW, of which Canada only
added 1.7 GW.ix The energy consumption in
Canada has increased by 26% from 1990 to
2004x, and Canadian GHG emissions continue to
risexi. However, Canada has only used a fraction
of its renewable energy sources. According to
2000 statistics, only 1.3% of Canadas primary
energy supply came from renewable energy
(excluding hydroelectric and combustibles).xii
Part of the reason for this may lay in the fact
that Canada has a large selection of energy
options, including hydroelectricity (e.g.
Manitoba, Quebec, and British Columbia),
natural gas (e.g. Ontario and Alberta), and wind
(e.g. Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Nova Scotia).
The deployment of solar PV will be limited by
the potentials of these, and other low-carbon
energy sources.

In 2014, the installed capacity in Canada for
solar PV was 1.915 GWxiii. Of that amount, 810
MW (42%) came from residential and
commercial solar while the remaining 1105 MW
(48%) came from utility scale solar farmsxiv. In
2010, the residential and commercial capacity
was 76 MW which indicates a greater than 10
fold increase in 5 years. Utility PV capacity has
grown a more modest 5.5 times greater in the
same time spanxv.

The National Energy Board of Canada has

estimated based on cost models that solar PV
will comprise of less than 5.4 GW of capacity
(6%) of Canadas electricity capacity by 2035.xvi
The Canadian Solar Industries Association
projected that solar PV capacity with almost
6,300 megawatts (MW) by 2020; that is roughly
Produce approximately 1% of electricity generation
xvii
in Canada. Although these estimates are

based on very different models and

assumptions, they all show that the estimated
solar PV potential in Canada are very limited by
economic and policy factors. Even the optimistic
predictions of the industry association are far
from the estimates of technical potential.xviii

Even though there are challenges within the

Canadian market there is still a lot of potential
for growth over the next 10 to 15 years. This
will be discussed in greater detail later on in this
report, but for now we will look at the current
Canadian landscape a bit closer.

Current Landscape

As seen in the last section there is great
potential and challenges in the solar PV market
within Canada. To look closer at the current
Canadian landscape, we will take a look at the
types and size of solar companies currently
operating in the country.

Most of the growth in solar has happened
within Canada is centered in Ontario, with 46%
of Canadian solar companies being
headquartered in Ontario. A lot of the growth
within Ontario has come from two major
factors: first, its lack of other options besides
using nuclear and fossil fuel production. Quebec
and BCs low solar rates can be partially
attributed to their wealth in hydro power. For
Ontario, if they want to move towards a green
energy future then solar will need to represent
a large portion of that energy produced.
Second, the Ontario government and cities have
been politically supportive of the solar industry

through providing incentive programs. Ontario

also receives more sunlight than solar leaders
like Germanyxix which goes to show the huge
potential that Ontario has for even more
growth in this sector.

A surprising finding is that Alberta has the
second highest number of solar companies in
Canada, which should continue
to increase as the new NDP
government continues to
increase support for renewable
energy. In late 2015 the
Alberta Provincial Government
announced $5 million of
funding to be put towards
building solar projects.xx They
have also set targets that 30%
of Albertas power will be
generated from renewable
energy sources by 2030xxi. This
will be a huge growth
compared to the 7% seen in
2008.xxii

Now that we know where the
companies are, we can take a
look at the types of companies
operating within the Canadian
solar industry. As highlighted in
the graphic on the next page,
there are four main categories
of companies within the Canadian solar market:
Manufacturers & Suppliers, Developers2 & Asset
Managers3, Energy Services4, and other
professional service firms (consulting,
insurance, law).

Developers are defined as companies that

development and build commercial or utility scale
solar projects
3
Asset Managers are defined as companies that own
and operate commercial or utility scale solar projects
4
Energy Services are defined as companies that sell
and/or finance solar panel installations to residential
owners

Solar Manufacturers and

Suppliers in Canada have
seen an increase in
competition over the
past few years with the
removal of Canadian
content provision in FIT
contracts and the
economic savings of
manufacturing oversees.
Currently in 2016, the
majority of
manufacturing happens
in China, but there are
some exceptions
including a few suppliers
that operate in Canada.
In the short-term,
manufacturers and
suppliers provide a great
source of roles for job
seekers in the design and
technical engineering areas, as well as sales and
business development. In the long-term, these
companies will need to invest in R&D, lowering
costs and developing human capital if they want
to remain competitive in the global market.

A large portion of Canadian solar companies are
either Developers/Asset Managers (30%) or
Energy Services (39%). These two categories
comprise 69% of the companies surveyed.
Within this large segment of the solar industry
there are many opportunities for different roles
and career paths. However, as will be discussed
in a later section, the majority of the roles
currently available are within the engineering
and project management areas. Nevertheless,
as the industry continues to mature, these
companies will continue to develop and require
workers with a wider breadth of skill sets in
areas such as HR and Marketing.

The last category is a miscellaneous group of
supporting companies (like insurance and law
firms) which work in the Canadian solar industry
and make up about 13% of the surveyed
market. These companies that help support

companies directly in the solar industry are

excellent areas for people looking to work
within the field. These companies tend to be
more established as a whole with their
departments focusing on clean tech just being
developed. For example, there are consulting
firms that have many different practice areas
with new expertise forming in renewable
energy. This means that they can help provide
training to those you do not have such a strong
area of functional expertise.

Through our research we have seen a fairly
diverse market forming. In addition to the types
companies explained above there is also a large
number of stakeholders that are connected to
the solar sector. These include government
organizations, utilities, and other related
industries like construction or energy efficiency
companies. Within these areas, there is the
potential as well for many jobs and
opportunities for those looking to develop a
career in clean tech space.


While there does seem to be a fairly robust
ecosystem being created within the solar
industry it was found that only 32% of Suppliers,
46% of Developers, 9% of Energy Services and
50% of Professional Services Firms had more
than 50 employees. This means that while there
are a lot of companies in the Canadian market,
currently most of them are on the smaller size
(with less than 50 employees). For job seekers
this can make the job hunt a bit trickier to
navigate.

The smaller size of the organizations is due
partially to the fact that there is yet to be an
established Canadian market, with Ontario as
the major driver of the solar industry in
Canada. The importance of support from
government and other stakeholders is
crucial to the success of the solar
industry. There is great potential for the
smaller companies to scale up for more
consolidation within the industry.

Policy can greatly affect the ability of
solar technologies to enter the power
market. Government subsidies and
incentives can give consumers added
confidence that entering the solar
market will be a profitable option. In
Alberta, the electricity system is not
operated by the government, so

province-wide demand determines the

market price of electricity at any time.
This has diminished the desire for solar
companies to enter the market. Since
solar power is non-dispatchable,
operators of any solar power plants
would not be in control of the prices
they received. This is showcased by
the data found between the
percentage of companies within each
province that has 10 employees or
less. As the figure at the bottom of the
page shows, only 12% of solar
companies in Ontario have less than
10 employees. Ontario has the most
political support for solar of all the
provinces. When it began in 2009 the Feed-In
Tariff programs in Ontario paid a guaranteed
flat rate of $0.802/kWh for solar projects less
than 10kWxxiii. While the government has since
gradually lowered the rate offered per kWh,
Feed-in Tariff programs still offer competitive
contracts. This Tariff program has made Ontario
the leading solar power producer in Canada. In
contrast, Alberta has very little political support
for solar and 60% of their companies have 10 or
less employees. This shows that there is a great
potential to scale these companies up if there
were more supportive government programs
like those in Ontario.
The large number of solar PV projects within
Canada are primarily located in Ontario, as a

result of the Ontario Governments RESOP and

Feed-In Tariff programs.xxiv As the industry
further widens, there will be many
opportunities for job creation throughout the
solar PV value chain. This value may be
extracted and sustained with the development
of a skilled workforce in manufacturing,
engineering, design, construction, financing,
and operations.

There are concerns however that rising
electricity prices have encouraged a more
diversified energy strategy for the provinces,
concerns which could negatively impact the
competitiveness of manufacturing and
development of the renewable energy industry.
In comparison to cheaper natural gas, for
example, the desire for a diversified portfolio
would hurt the development of solar PV.
Government policy will need to address the
concerns over price fluctuations in future years
by way of government policy and other
incentive programs for solar PV projects, while
accelerating the advent of clean technologies
which are better positioned for grid parity5.xxv

functional roles work together. The downside

for younger applicants is that sometimes
growing companies are looking for people who
are already a functional expert who can come in
and do more than just one role. Also, it can hard
for smaller companies to provide the training
that is needed for junior employees. But, dont
let that scare you off! You can still build an
excellent career within the industry. Fast
growing industries and expanding companies
can accelerate promotions within companies if
you are able to prove yourself.

Roles within Solar

There are many different career paths that one

may take within the solar industry in Canadian.
As with nearly any industry there are similar
functional roles, but what makes the solar
industry slightly different is that it is a growing
industry. How does this change the job and
career landscape? Well, its simple, not all
functional roles will exist within each company.
A lot of smaller companies have what can be
referred to as hybrid roles, where a single
position can oversee multiple areas. For
examples, business development and marketing
can be in one role, or technical engineering can
be combined with project management. It can
be a great way to gain experience in multiple
areas and to have exposure to how the different
5

Grid Parity occurs when an alternative

energy source can generate power at a levelized cost
of electricity (LCOE) that is less than or equal to the
price of purchasing power from the electricity grid.

Basic Demographics

First lets look at some of the demographics
within the Canadian Solar Industry. As shown in
the infographic on the last page, the industry is
split 70% of males and 30% females. This
gender split does change when we look at
different types of roles. For example, in senior
leadership positions, there are 9 males for every
1 female. This means that there is a huge
gender diversity gap at the top of most solar
organizations. Similar phenomenon is
happening with Sales and Business
Development where 85% are males and 15%
are female. Engineering is a little better with
64% male and 36% female. Where as in Human
Resource roles, 80% are female; a similar
pattern can be found in Marketing roles where
67% are female. While this gap is quite large in
all the different functions, the most
disconcerting trend is the lack of females in
senior leadership positions. As a lot of different
research has shown that diversity is very
important for companies become and remain
competitive. McKinsey released research last
year showing that companies that were in the
top quartile on gender diversity were 15% more
likely to outperform their competitors. They
also found that companies that were in the top
quartile for racial and ethnic diversity were 35%
more likely to outperform their competitors.xxvi

As for age, we can see that there is a large
majority of young professionals
within the solar industry.
According to the survey
respondents, 50% of people are in
the 25 to 34 age range, and 57%
are 34 or younger. This means
that over half of the workforce
are millennials and looking for
growth in their career. This will be
important to note when we talk
about opportunities for
advancement in a later section.

Functional Roles

As you can see from figure, according to our
research this is what the current breakdown
looks like. The two largest groups are: Sales and
Business Development (23%), and Project
Management (16%). As we saw in the previous
section, where the majority of companies were
either energy services companies or
developers/asset managers, then it makes
sense that Sales and Project Management
would be largest groups of employees. The
other larger group was in the other category;
in this category, respondents have varying
functional roles but the majority were in
finance, procurement or supply chain.

As for growth within roles for each of these
functional groups it is hard to tell. Usually the
last function areas that see growth in hiring in
start-up companies are departments like
Human Resources (at 4% currently). This
showcases on area that could see growth over
the next 3-5 years. It is also likely that
Marketing (at 5%) departments will grow as the
market become more saturated and companies
need differentiate themselves more within the
market. Also, being able to appeal to the direct
end consumers or get social licenses to operate
will continue to be pressing concerns for more
solar companies. Engineering and Trades (both
currently at 12%) will probably grow but not as
high as other roles as these roles could remain

more in contract or temporary work placements

then in permanent full time roles.

In regards to the work experience in solar there
is pretty even split with 24% having worked 1-2
years, 29% having worked 2-5 years and 26%
having worked 5-10 years. This showcases that
there is a bit of knowledge and industry
expertise that has started to develop.

Backgrounds

There are a wide variety of both professional

and educational backgrounds within the
Canadian solar market. As mentioned earlier
there is a significant amount of knowledge and
expertise that has been created within the solar
industry already. It was found through our
survey that 60% of respondents had 2 or more

years of work experience with a large part of

that being within 5 to 10 years of experience.

First, professional work experience prior to
entering the solar industry ranged from all sorts
of functional backgrounds including: policy and
research, finance, operations and supply chain,
engineering, human resources, marketing, sales
and business development. The amount of
experience also ranges widely from none to
over 20 years. As the chart to the right
highlights there some functions where there
seems to be more previous work experience
than others.

Second, according to the research the Canadian
solar Industry is highly educated, with 74% of
the respondents having completed a bachelor
degree or higher. When it is broken down into
its functional groups, we can see that there are
differing educational requirements. Engineers
have a relatively high level of education with
50% of respondents having a Master degree or
higher. Senior Leaders are at the second highest
level with 40% having a Master degree or
higher6. As for educational background, they
break down like this: 40% in Engineering, 24% in
Business, 22% in other subjects, 12% in Social
Sciences, 2% in Economics, 1% Public
Affairs/Policy, 3% with no formal post-
secondary education. As for engineering skills
45% are electrical, 25% mechanical, 25% other
and 5% civil.

Getting the Role

A big question that is asked a lot is: How do I

find a job within solar? The number one way of
getting a role is networking. According to the
survey, 44% of respondents got their first role in
solar by networking with industry professionals.
Although, applying online had a decent result,
with 27% of respondents saying that was how
they got their first role. Those numbers change
a slightly with those respondents where their
6

Master Degree or higher meaning Masters, Phds and

Professional Degrees

current role isnt their first. 43% of respondents

say that they got their current role through
networking; with 15% for applying online, 17%
using a recruiter, 9% being promoted, and 15%
through other means. So, if you want to get into
the solar industry, going to networking events
and connecting with industry professionals
seems to be the most likely path.

Work Environments

An important factor to any career success is
finding a role and company that fits your
strengths and values. It can also be important to
find a position and company where your work
environment will suit your lifestyle.
According to the survey 46% of people in the
solar industry work in a mixture of office,
telecommuting from home and field work; this
does vary with different types of roles. In the
Business Development and Sales function, 50%
of people have a mixture type work
environment. Project Managers and Engineers
have the highest rates of a mixed work
environment as 62% and 60%, respectively, of
respondents describing their work as such.
Whereas, the majority (67%) of marketing
professional work in an office setting; Human
Resource professional have the highest rates of
office work environment with 80% of
respondents describing their work
environments as being strictly in an office.

Another aspect of work life is the amount of
travelling required for your position7. According
to the survey, 52% of professionals in solar
spent 1-25% of the work time travelling. 26% of
respondents didnt have to travel at all, and
22% had to travel more than 25%. The group
with the highest rates of travel are business
development or sales roles; 44% of the
respondents with those types of positions had
to travel 50% of the time or more. This would
suggest that while you should be prepared to
travel for your role, the amount will most likely
not be greater than 50% unless you work in
business development or sales.

For our survey purposes, we defined travelling as

having to stay anywhere that wasnt your home city
for more than 24 hours (i.e, overnight).

Opportunities for Advancement

Having opportunities to develop professionally
is something that most people want in their
careers; this is particularly true with the
millennial workforce. This could be a big
challenge that the solar industry as a whole as
well as individual companies must face.
According to survey respondents, 64% feel like
there are few, if any, opportunities for
advancement with their current employer.
Taking any respondents that are already in
senior leadership position out of the equation
that number only drops to 56%. This means that
over half of the employees in the Canadian solar
industry feel like they will need to look outside
their current company to grow their careers.
This could spell trouble, particularly if the
industry cannot accommodate all of those that
want to advance; this could potentially lead the
human capital that has been created within the
industry to leave to other industries.

There is one exception to this lack of

advancement opportunities and that is with the
respondents that work within business
development and sales. 47% of business
development and sales people thought that
there were moderate to a lot of opportunities
for their careers to grow.

There has been a great building of knowledge
and skills within the Canadian solar Industry
over the past decade. It should also be noted
here that there is a risk of losing human capital.
Based on our research it appears that many
solar companies are unable to provide the
learning development and advancement
opportunities that the workforce is looking for.
This is important to note and industry leaders
should be keeping an eye on this trend.

Conclusion

This report has covered a lot of information,
including: background on solar; an analysis on
the current landscape of the sector;
finally an extensive look at the type of
role and people within this industry. This
report has also shown there is a wealth
of human capital developing within the
solar industry in Canada. About a
quarter of those surveyed has worked in
the solar industry for 5 years or more.
There are also many different roles
available within the industry, from
project management to finance to
human resources. Many different career
paths are available and new ones being
created every day as technology
changes and as the energy ecosystem
begins to widen. Hopefully now that you
have read this report you have a greater
understanding of the Canadian solar
sector. There will be many opportunities
for professionals to develop or continue
their careers in this innovative and every
changing sector. All you need to do is
seize one!

wafers. Companies in this sector often

produce the polysilicon as well as the
wafers, but there are companies that
specialize entirely in wafer production.
Wafer quality is important for the
creation of efficient solar cells.

Appendix

Technical Background

Solar energy is generally utilized in two distinct
ways. Light energy, in the form of photons, can
be used to create electricity via photovoltaic
cells. This method is called solar PV. Another
form of solar energy capture is called solar
thermal. Solar thermal involves the use of
thermal collectors which harness the suns
energy to heat air or water for use in heating or
the generation of steam to produce power. The
latter method of energy production is also
called concentrated solar power (CSP), but it
will be considered under solar thermal.

Supply Chain

From the mining of silica, to the installation of
solar modules, there are many steps, processes,
and companies involved in the solar PV and
solar thermal industry. Here is an outline of the
sectors and types of companies involved in
each:

Raw Materials
Silicon is the main material used in
producing solar PV and solar thermal
collectors. It is used in the glass
protective coating of collectors as well
as in the silicon wafers. In 2014, about
92% of PV cells were silicon-wafer
basedxxvii. Silicon mining, therefore, is
one of the most important sources of
raw materials for the solar industry.
Cadmium and tellurium mining is
necessary for the CdTe PV cell while
aluminum is necessary for mirrors used
in thermal collectors, especially CSP.

Manufacturing

Polycrystalline Silicon (Polysilicon)
Silicon must be processed from
metallurgical-grade into a more
chemically pure polysilicon. The
polysilicon is further manufactured into

Glass
The quality of glass necessary for use in
solar energy collection must be
particularly high. Impurities and
imperfections in glass can reduce the
amount of light reaching the cells which
would in turn reduce their
effectiveness. Much of the solar glass is
produced by companies that do not
specialize in the solar industry.

Crystalline Cells
The transformation of a polysilicon
wafer into a functioning PV cell is a
highly technical process. Many cells
connected together form a module. A
large portion of the companies who
produce PV cells also produce wafers
and modules.


Solar Modules
Modules are an arrangement of
working PV cells such that current will
be produced when they receives light.
Companies that create solar modules
may also participate in some or all of
the other manufacturing processes.

Electronics
Certain electronic devices such as
inverters may be necessary to use solar
modules. Sometimes, companies will
produce the electronics to go with their
specific modules, but it is not difficult
for other companies not directly tied to
the solar industry to provide these
power electronics.

Solar Project Design, Installation, and
Maintenance


Consultation
When considering the implementation
of any solar energy producing system,
large or small, the first step should be
to analyze the feasibility of the project.
Consultation with a solar design
company will determine the benefits of
a possible solar energy project.

Installation
Any installation will likely be monitored
or even performed by the company that
created the design. Electricians
specializing in solar modules would
likely install small designs. Large
projects would likely require the
assistance of construction companies.

Maintenance
Maintenance of solar energy systems
can include cleaning solar modules,
calibrating electronics, and repair work.

Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st

xi

Rosenbloom, D. and J. Meadowcroft. 2014.

Harnessing the Sun: Reviewing the potential
of solar photovoltaics in Canada. Renewable
and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 40: 488-
496.

Century. 2015. Renewables 2015 Global

Status Report (Paris: REN21 Secretariat).

ii

Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st

Century. 2015. Renewables 2015 Global
Status Report (Paris: REN21 Secretariat).

iii

Wikipedia. (2016, 05 06). List of Photovoltaic Power

Stations. Retrieved from Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_photo
voltaic_power_stations

iv

xii

Jagoda, K., Lonseth, R., Lonseth, A. and T. Jackman.

2011. Development and commercialization
of renewable energy technologies in
Canada: An innovation system perspective.
36(4): 1266-1271.

xiii

Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st

Century. 2015. Renewables 2015 Global
Status Report (Paris: REN21 Secretariat).

Rosenbloom, D. and J. Meadowcroft. 2014.

Harnessing the Sun: Reviewing the potential
of solar photovoltaics in Canada. Renewable
and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 40: 488-
496.

vi
Rosenbloom, D. and J. Meadowcroft. 2014.
Harnessing the Sun: Reviewing the potential
of solar photovoltaics in Canada. Renewable
and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 40: 488-
496.

vii

Rosenbloom, D. and J. Meadowcroft. 2014.

Harnessing the Sun: Reviewing the potential
of solar photovoltaics in Canada. Renewable
and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 40: 488-
496.

viii

Jagoda, K., Lonseth, R., Lonseth, A. and T.

Jackman. 2011. Development and
commercialization of renewable energy
technologies in Canada: An innovation
system perspective. 36(4): 1266-1271.

ix
Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st
Century. 2015. Renewables 2015 Global
Status Report (Paris: REN21 Secretariat).

x
Jagoda, K., Lonseth, R., Lonseth, A. and T. Jackman.
2011. Development and commercialization
of renewable energy technologies in
Canada: An innovation system perspective.
36(4): 1266-1271.

Clean Energy Canada. (2016, May 16). Clean

Energy Canada. Retrieved from Clean
Energy Canada:
http://cleanenergycanada.org/trackingthere
volution-canada/2015/

xiv

Clean Energy Canada. (2016, May 16). Clean

Energy Canada. Retrieved from Clean
Energy Canada:
http://cleanenergycanada.org/trackingthere
volution-canada/2015/

xv

Clean Energy Canada. (2016, May 16). Clean

Energy Canada. Retrieved from Clean
Energy Canada:
http://cleanenergycanada.org/trackingthere
volution-canada/2015/

xvi

National Energy Board. (2016). Canada's Energy

Future 2016; Energy Supply and Demand
Projections to 2040. Ottawa: National
Energy Board.

xvii

The Canadian Solar Industries Association. (2012).

CanSIA Roadmap 2020. Ottawa, ON: The
Canadian Solar Industries Association.

xviii

Jagoda, K., Lonseth, R., Lonseth, A. and T.

Jackman. 2011. Development and
commercialization of renewable energy
technologies in Canada: An innovation
system perspective. 36(4): 1266-1271.

xix

Kadowaki, R. (2012, 05 01). Ontario embracing

solar energy's bright future. Retrieved from
David Suzsuki Foundation:
http://www.davidsuzuki.org/blogs/climate-
blog/2012/05/ontario-embracing-solar-
energys-bright-future/

xx

Dykstra, M. (2016, May 15). Here comes the sun:

Alberta government announces renewable
energy funding. Retrieved from Edmonton
Journal:
http://edmontonjournal.com/news/politics/
here-comes-the-sun-alberta-government-
announces-renewable-energy-funding

xxi

Alberta Government. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://www.alberta.ca/release.cfm?xID=38
9297B6E1245-F2DD-D96D-
329E36A4573C598B

xxii

Well, J., & Weis, T. (2016). Greening the Grid.

Drayton Valley, AB: The Pembina Institute.

xxiii

Ministry of Energy (Ontario). (2016, May 15).

Price Schedule. Retrieved from Ministry of
Energy:
http://www.energy.gov.on.ca/en/fit-and-
microfit-program/2-year-fit-
review/appendix-4/

xxiv

Promoting Innovation, Small Business Enterprise

and Job Creation through Solar Energy
Technologies, CanSIA 2010

xxv

Wikipedia. (2016, 05 16). Grid Parity. Retrieved

from Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grid_parity

xxvi

Hunt, V., Layton, D., & Prince, S. (2015, 01). Why

Diversity Matters. Retrieved from McKinsey
& Co.: http://www.mckinsey.com/business-
functions/organization/our-insights/why-
diversity-matters

xxvii

B. Burger et al. (2015, August 16). Photovoltaics

Report [Online]. Available:
https://www.ise.fraunhofer.de/de/downloa
ds/pdf-files/aktuelles/photovoltaics-report-
in-englischer-sprache.pdf