Sustainable Energy for a Brighter Community Future
Power Your Community with SPICE Solar Projects
If your community building has a roof, it’s an asset waiting to be optimized. Installing solar panels with SPICE not only reduces CO2 emissions and electrical bills but also enhances the viability of your organization. Embrace the shift towards a cooperative green energy movement that benefits both the environment and your finances.
Is Your Building a Candidate for Solar?
The perfect candidates for SPICE solar projects are community buildings with large roofs, high energy production potential, and excellent solar access.
Our initial assessments include Google Earth screenings, site visits and utility bill examinations to check if your project will be viable. If necessary, we also consider the capacity of local distribution wires through an EPCOR distribution study to maximize your project’s potential.
Market Your Commitment to Sustainability
By partnering with SPICE, you gain the marketing advantage of showcasing your commitment to sustainability. Businesses and organizations that may not have the means to install their own solar systems can still participate in the green energy revolution, accessing solar electricity and its environmental attributes through our projects.
Your Journey to Solar with SPICE
Interested in Partnering?
Interested community organizations can take the following steps
Start the Conversation
Solar Assessment and economic viability
We will conduct a scan of your site and utility bill and propose a solar system including possible financing terms. We decide together if we want to go ahead with the project.
Letter of Intent
We will sign a letter of intent to outline our mutual project intentions and roles and define the next steps and timeline.
Project development
We will do all necessary steps to get your solar project going. This can include a technical feasibility analysis, an energy audit, etc. An important part of this step is to define the community benefits of your project together.
Memorandum of Understanding
Once we have finalized all parameters of your project, we will sign a Memorandum of Understanding as a joint commitment to the project.
Funding and Contracts
Communication of the project and SPICE fundraising starts while all required contracts get signed.
Installation
Once funding and contracts are in place, installation can proceed!
Profit and Ownership
Start saving by using the profit from your own power to cover the system lease, leading to ownership of the solar system and the full benefit of savings after the contract term.
Application Form
FAQs
What are the criteria for a community building to qualify for a SPICE solar project?
The most important criteria is to have space for a solar system, ideally on a roof. In the first viability check, we will look at the details of your building and roof as well as your power consumption and decide from there if a further project development makes sense.
How does the installation process work with SPICE as a project partner?
Every project starts with a conversation. If there is serious interest to explore solar options, our next step is a viability check where we look at your site and power bill and then discuss with you if a project is technically and economically feasible for you. If you decide to go ahead, we will sign a Letter of Intent and develop the project with all critical parameters such as system design, choice of contractor, lease conditions etc.
In parallel we will work with your community on defining the community benefits this project will bring. Once everything is settled and a Memorandum of Understanding is signed, we start the communication and fundraising for the project and get all contracts ready to go. With sufficient funds and everything else in place, the last step is the installation of your solar array.
Can any community organization apply to become a project partner, or are there specific types?
Any community organization that owns a building and uses power in that building can apply to become a project partner. We are not limited to non-for-profits or charities, but work with any community or corporation that is sharing our values regarding our environmental and social responsibilities.
What are the costs involved for a community organization to partner with SPICE?
There are no upfront costs to starting into the project development for a solar system with SPICE. The only thing we need from a community is the willingness to provide information and the availability of the decision makers for conversations. If a project is technically and financially viable, we work together to design a lease and operating model that fits the community’s situation.
How long does a typical solar project take from initiation to completion?
The project duration depends a lot on how quickly data can be supplied and decisions can be made by the community. Starting with the initial conversation, project development can be done as quickly as a few weeks and the installation to completion can be done within a month given materials and contractors are available and the weather is playing along. In reality projects often take a bit longer mostly due to resource limitations all partners are experiencing.
What kind of support can community organizations expect from SPICE during and after installation?
The installation of the project itself only takes a week or two for getting the modules and electrical in place. Together with our contractors, we strive to make this exciting time as smooth and short as possible.
Following that, a final inspection is conducted before the system can go live and you can start using the power coming off your roof. In our Design-Build-Lease Model SPICE owns the system for the duration of the lease term while your community gets to harvest the full benefits from it. Therefore our interest in a smooth installation process and operation is just as big as yours.
How does SPICE ensure the quality and reliability of the solar installations?
We use the huge amount of knowledge about Solar that we have in our organization to ensure that every project is well planned, realized and maintained. In our choice of contractors, we pay close attention to their knowledge and experience in Solar and always conduct our own inspection of the work done. We work together with the contractors in the sourcing decisions to make sure the modules, inverters and other materials in use meet our quality and social sourcing standards.
Are there any geographical restrictions for community buildings to become project partners?
In order to keep our project development costs reasonable, our main focus is Edmonton and the surrounding area. This includes any community within a 2 hour drive of Edmonton. However, there is no strict boundary to where we can do projects as long as it is in Alberta.
What happens if a community building's energy needs change after installation?
If your community’s energy usage significantly changes in the years to come, that may impact the economics of your project. With our detailed project calculation model, we are able to simulate various scenarios that you may consider possible in our project development phase. This way we can give you as much peace of mind for your decision as possible.
How does SPICE involve the community in the solar projects?
Part of our project development process is to engage with the community to design the community benefits of the project. Once we know the project is generally viable and we have signed a letter of intent, we will hold a design charrette workshop with the community members and work together to frame a community benefits statement. This includes commitments of all partners and measurements for the benefits over the project lifecycle.
