Driving Innovation In New Brunswick For Renewables
We call it the NOREASTER®, and the innovative design represents significant market potential here in Canada, the US, and further abroad. In June, we were chosen by NB Power to assist in building the first utility-scale solar farm in Atlantic Canada.
by Mark McAloon
One of the wisest decisions we made in the early days of our business was to knock on the doors of Saint John Energy.
“When we first talked to Saint John Energy back then, we found a company that shared our vision, realized the potential of renewables, and was eager to partner.”
When we started five years ago, it is fair to say there was skepticism in New Brunswick about the potential for green energy, especially solar. After all, Saint John has a lot of fog and we live in a province of long, snowy winters. The question we heard time and again was, “What good are solar panels in these conditions?”
But when we first talked to Saint John Energy back then, we found a company that shared our vision, realized the potential of renewables, and was eager to partner.
That initial support and encouragement from Saint John Energy helped propel us from a small firm focused heavily on the residential market to where we stand today – as one of New Brunswick’s leading renewable energy developers.
Huge opportunity
In June, our company was chosen by NB Power to assist in building a 4,000-panel solar farm in Shediac, the first utility-scale solar farm in Atlantic Canada.
This is a huge opportunity not only for us but for the advancement of renewable energy in New Brunswick.
This will be the first large-scale solar farm to use the solar racking systems we developed and manufactured right here to make the most of our snowy climate. Our unique design puts the back of the solar panel to work as well, capturing the sun’s rays reflecting off the snow.
“Our unique design puts the back of the solar panel to work as well, capturing the sun’s rays reflecting off the snow.”
We call it the NOREASTER®, and the innovative design represents significant market potential, not only here in Canada but in the U.S. and further abroad.
Saint John Energy gave us the space to experiment. They allowed us to set up solar panel testing stations on land outside their headquarters on the west side of Saint John. They backed us as we set up weather monitoring stations around the city to collect data on solar.
All of this was technology we had to develop because there were no off-the-shelf products that would allow us to prove out what we needed.
Even in foggy climates
Anyone who lives here knows that New Brunswick has a unique environment. We needed to gather our own data to find out how powerful a source of energy the sun could be, and how we could maximize it.
What most people don’t know is if there is any amount of light, there is energy available to be captured. So even in a foggy city like Saint John, there is potential to take advantage of solar energy. We just needed to test out variables like the best angles for the solar panel to capture the rays and the effect of strong winds, ice and snow.
The data collection and experimentation we carried out at our testing stations gave us the confidence to explore new, emerging smart technologies in the renewable energy space.
By 2018, we developed New Brunswick’s first small-scale solar farm near Sussex, then moved on to complete the first commercial-scale solar projects in the province, including one last March at the state-of-the-art Day & Ross trucking terminal in Moncton.
Growing our team
And now we’re on to the first utility-scale solar farm in the Atlantic region with NB Power.
“We have been growing our team and now we’re on to the first utility-scale solar farm in the Atlantic region with NB Power.”
With this growing success, we have been building out our leadership team that began with Sarah Barrie, an exceptionally talented and proven business leader, as our Chief Operating Officer.
Last fall, we brought aboard Joe Allison, an executive with extensive experience in the development of technology products and services, as our Business Development Officer.
And, most recently, I was thrilled to welcome my brother, Jeff McAloon. An accomplished and growth-oriented leader, he is serving as our Chief Revenue Officer and will be driving our revenue growth, including our export opportunities.
I couldn’t be more excited for the future – for our company, for the opportunities that lie ahead, and for the role we and others will play in expanding renewable energy options for a better planet.
And I couldn’t be more proud than doing all of that from right here in Saint John, New Brunswick.
Mark McAloon is the Founder and CEO of The Smart Energy Company™.
