Good afternoon. My name is Elizabeth McDonald, and I'm the president of the Canadian Solar Industries Association, or CanSIA, as we're more commonly known.
CanSIA is the national trade association for the Canadian solar energy industry. We represent almost 600 corporate members, a diverse range of businesses active across the full breadth of solar electric and solar thermal technology value and supply chains present in every province of this country.
Since 1992, CanSIA has worked to develop a strong and efficient Canadian solar energy industry with capacity to provide innovative solar energy solutions while playing a major role in the global transition to a sustainable clean energy future. In 2010 the Canadian solar energy industry labour force has grown to almost 4,000 full-time jobs and has had, for the first time, a market value of over $1 billion Canadian.
The benefits of a solar energy industry to the economy are well understood. Germany, for instance, has industry sales of over €19 billion, export sales of over €6.5 billion, and a labour force of over 80,000 in 2009.
With me today is Dr. Phil Whiting, president and CEO of EnerWorks in Dorchester, Ontario, Canada's largest manufacturer of solar thermal systems. Dr. Whiting is chair of CanSIA's solar thermal committee. We are very appreciative of the opportunity to meet with your committee today, and we do understand that you're facing some difficult challenges in these pre-budget consultations, as you must balance the realities of attempting to address the deficit this country now faces against the need to encourage economic development and innovation.
Before I go any further, let me address the question, why solar energy? Solar energy is a valuable part of Canada's clean energy portfolio. It is, after all, the renewable energy resource that is more abundant and ubiquitous than any other natural resource native to Canada. Solar energy has the potential to contribute to Canada's economic growth, rising energy demands, greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets, and balance of trade, and to maintain Canada's global leadership role as an energy superpower. Up against all that, Canada actually ranks near the bottom in per capita generation and utilization of solar energy among its industrial trading partners.
Basically, there are two types of solar technology: solar electric and solar thermal. Both convert sunlight into clean electrical and thermal energy. Solar electric technologies have a long history in Canada for use in off-grid locations, and now, more and more, on-grid; however, today we are going to focus on solar thermal technologies.
I now turn it over to Dr. Whiting.