Saskatchewan residents feeling sunny about solar power

By Drew Stremick

With the federal carbon tax set to increase to $50 per tonne Friday, people around Saskatchewan are looking for ways to lower their carbon footprint and reduce costs associated with utility bills.

Catlin Schneider with Prairie Sun Solar in Regina says more and more home and business owners are looking to solar power as a solution.

“We’re crazy busy right now actually,” Schneider said. “We’re continuing to ramp up staff and we’re booked all the way into June and July already, with installs happening pretty much every day.”

The federal government announced it hopes to reduce emissions across all sectors by 40 to 45 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.

To help reach that goal, the federal government is providing $9.1 billion in new investments to help Canada’s economy continue the transition to a greener future.

Schneider hopes of that $9.1 billion there will be additional grants and rebates to help those who may be interested installing solar panels on their homes or businesses.

“Any money federally that comes through is huge. It definitely helps, and I can see it making a big impact,” Schneider said. “What kind of direction we’re moving in as a country not only sparks the questions and the interests from community members (and) businesses, then anything that supports those installations is great.”

As of right now in Saskatchewan, homeowners can get up to $7,700 in grants and tax rebates from the provincial and federal governments.

Under the Home Renovation Tax Credit, homeowners can save up to $2,100 in provincial income tax while the Canada Greener Homes Grant provides as many as 700,000 grants up to $5,000 to help homeowners make energy efficient retrofits to their homes, and up to $600 for EnerGuide evaluations to help homeowners plan those retrofits.

Additional information on the federal government’s plan to reduce emissions can be found on the Government of Canada website.