Spotlight on solar: How St. George doubled its solar capacity

This month, the University of Toronto completed its latest solar project—installing 350 solar panels on the roof of the Bahen Centre for Information Technology (BCIT).

With these solar panels online, we exceeded our solar commitments for 2024—two years ahead of schedule. 

Since 2019, we doubled our solar capacity on the St. George campus, and are planning to further double that by 2024 with two more installations.  

This is an important leap forward in the university’s climate positive plan.  

According to Energy Manager Larry Yang, U of T’s St. George campus accounts for 85% of the university’s overall carbon footprint including its historical buildings and energy-intensive laboratories and research spaces. 

While upgrading all campus infrastructure will take time, harvesting solar is a relatively fast and efficient way to make progress in moving away from natural gas towards renewable energy. 

According to Ron Saporta, chief operating officer, property services and sustainability, the installed solar panels also create a balance between upgrading infrastructure and maintaining the historic look of the St. George campus. 

With 12 solar installations completed on campus to-date, the Facilities & Services team hasn’t stopped working on future solar projects. 

“We have more than 100 buildings on campus, which gives us lots of roof space and amazing potential for more solar renewable energy,” Saporta says. “I see us installing more until we have maximized our capacity.” 

In addition to growing solar capacity, F&S is also hoping to get the most out of solar by exploring additional technologies such as solar hot water, passive solar walls, and energy storage.