School Students Pay Visit to First Light I Solar Park

School students from public schools in the Napanee and Stone Mills region paid a visit to the First Light I Solar Park having 9.1 MW capacity. The students had gained understanding on the functioning of solar photovoltaic (PV) power, its impact on the environment and role played by solar energy in creating a cleaner future for Canada. First Light I is a utility-scale, fully-operational solar park located in Canada and is a winner of the ground-mount "2009 Solar PV Project of the Year" award of CanSIA.

Seventh and eighth grade students from the Selby and Newburgh public schools took part in the field trip. The trip was hosted by SkyPower Limited and MEMC Electronic Materials subsidiary SunEdison, the two companies that developed and built the solar park.

The students were given a guided tour around the solar park’s essential sites such as weather station, lookout area and communications/satellite system. First Light I Solar Park has generated over 10 million kWh of electrical energy, sufficient enough to power around 1,000 homes, which is equivalent of eliminating 8,000 tonnes of CO2 from the earth’s atmosphere and removing 1,800 vehicles off the road.