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Emerging Leaders in Solar Energy hosted a “Solar Powered Challenge” integrated with a course for first year engineers at Queen’s University. The Solar Powered Challenge encouraged the Queen’s students to use solar power to provide a struggling region in the world with assess to clean drinking water.   A group competing in the Solar Powered Challenge was awarded the Mason Cup, a prestigious accolade given in recognition of a tremendous design process and solution in the course.

With over 750 contenders for the Mason Cup, the award is highly regarded. The Mason cup winners, Chris Little, Sadie Poste, Annabelle Corsi-Johnson, Ramiro Enriquez, Marnus Coetsee, rose to the challenge and created an portable filtration system that would be effective in the African country of Zimbabwe. The solution involved the use of three separate filtration devices along with a solar radiation tank that uses solar energy to disinfect the Zimbabwean water. 

The Mason cup winners took the project beyond the initial expectations of the challenge. The innovative solution provided is a stepping stone in the right direction for solar power awareness and universal clean water accessibility

On April 25, a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Nepal, followed by intense aftershocks that culminated in a 7.3 magnitude earthquake on May 12. Over 8,500 people were killed, and at least 22,000 more were injured. Nepal had low levels of energy access before the earthquake, and has now suffered a significant setback.

SunFarmer is a social enterprise co-founded by Canadian solar industry veteran Jason Gray and his former SunEdison colleague, Andy Moon. They have been active in Nepal for nearly two years, where they provide “rent-to-own” financing and long-term monitoring and maintenance for institutional solar projects including health facilities, schools, and farms. With an on-the-ground engineering team based on Kathmandu, they are currently responding to the energy needs of those impacted by the disaster, and planning for the long-term reconstruction of the country’s infrastructure.

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This spring, Emerging Leaders in Solar Energy (ELSE) will launch Canada’s first mentorship program for the solar energy industry.

Targeting students, recent graduates and young professionals less than 35 years of age, the program will match mentees with two experienced industry professionals for one-hour, in-person sessions. The ELSE program was modelled after a successful commercial real estate mentorship program which encourages pairs to develop diverse, casual mentoring relationships with minimal time commitments for mentors.
“My co-chair Lia and I were looking for ways to better serve ELSE members and to truly add value to their professional development efforts,” said outgoing ELSE Co-chair Jonathan Frank. “And on a broader scale, I felt that a mentorship program was a critical step in the maturation of the Canadian solar industry.”

John Gorman, President and CEO of CanSIA, notes that the industry’s reaction to the mentorship program has been overwhelmingly positive. “ELSE continues to design and implement programs and initiatives that are of tremendous value to the industry. Every member of CanSIA’s Board of Directors signed up on the spot,” said Gorman. “It’s another example of the vibrancy of the solar industry as represented by our emerging leaders.”

[The above is an excerpt from an article in CanSIA's SOLutions magazine. Read the full article]

Participate in Shout Out For Solar Day, January 16

Snap a photo in support of solar energy in Canada! Participation is simple: If you like solar, tell your friends, family and coworkers, "#GoSolar #Canada!"