The Government of Alberta announced a new province-wide rebate program for solar panel installations. The rebate program, which will launch this summer, is expected to return up to 30% of the total cost for homes and 25% for businesses.
The announcement was well received at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, as the rebate program hopes to create over 900 jobs in the solar sector alone.
NAIT’s Alternative Energy Program receives as many as nine times more applicants than they can hold. In the past two years, they have doubled in class size to accommodate growing interest in the field.
With the high initial cost of installing solar panels, students and staff are excited to see the government getting involved.
“Without the government, I think it’s kind of hard to push renewables, and then without them being pushed onto people’s houses they never really get better, right? If you aren’t always working on it, it’s kinda just gonna like flat line,” says Ronak Patel, a first year alternative energy student.
NAIT’s program teaches students about a multitude of different alternative energy technologies for students to pursue. “Besides solar there’s a lot avenues for these guys to chase down… Anybody who’s in the solar industry is sort of stuck waiting until all these government incentives come out,” notes Tim Matthews, a technologist working at NAIT’s alternative energy lab.
The province says details will be defined in coming months, including qualifying systems, installation and eligibility requirements.
