“There's a big difference between talking about theory and being able to practise it”
On a brisk April morning atop a NAIT parkade, a pair of Alternative Energy Technology students in hardhats, safety vests and steel-toed boots gingerly walk a two-metre solar panel across knee-high metal racking. Another pair waits to secure it in place, following the instructions of the electrical contractor overseeing the installation of an array big enough, under ideal conditions, to power an average home for roughly two weeks.
Power generation, however, isn’t the main point of the exercise. This array, supported by RBC Foundation, is a learning opportunity – several, in fact.
For one thing, it’s a chance for these students – more than a dozen gathered to install 17 panels – to get out of the classroom and work on a task they'll encounter in future jobs. Once this first phase of the array is complete, they’ll then be able to collect power generation data to help them learn to design these very systems. Future phases of the project promise even more lessons.
In the meantime, the installation also lets them show off burgeoning skill sets. Liam Logan was part of the second-year class that helped install the 34 panels of an adjacent, companion array late last fall. Afterward, the same contractor asked if he’d submit a resumé.
“I was a little in shock,” says Logan. He thought the work would be a good way to test himself, and maybe start making industry connections. He was right. Logan starts as a residential solar installer with the company this summer.
Learn more about what you can do with an Alternative Energy Technology diploma
Wish fulfillment
Every solar array in Alberta – which together accounted for 2% of total generation in the province in 2022 – is unique for its location, size, design and so on. So is NAIT’s parking-lot array, but for unusual reasons.
Its design was led by Alternative Energy Technology instructor Rae-Anne Wadey (Electrician ’16, Alternative Energy Technology ’13). She did it as her capstone project for the Bachelor of Technology in Management, and intends to use it as a teaching tool.
At the time, RBC Foundation had committed $500,000 over three years to support solar energy initiatives at NAIT. “So we tied them together,” says Wadey.
With modifications by the engineering firm that finalized the design, and with accommodations for budget, the end result will fulfill Wadey’s “wishlist.” She wanted a system to allow students to compare the impact of size and configuration on outcomes, hence the side-by-side systems.
But Wadey also wanted something more interactive, which was an array riddled with faults that students may encounter, and need to correct, in the field. That’s phase two, due next fall.
Wadey has successfully explained such concepts in a classroom, she says, but “there's such a big difference between talking about it in theory and then actually being able to practise it for real – or as real as we can make it in a safe, controlled way.”
Once complete (phase three will add “bifacial” panels that also capture light reflected from surfaces – in this case, the parking lot), the array will help Wadey cover nearly every aspect of solar power installations.
Dr. Agatha Ojimelukwe, dean of the School of Energy and Natural Resources, sees it as a tool that will serve the needs of Alberta’s ever-expanding energy generation industry.
“To help prepare students for future careers, and to ensure industry has the skills and talent it needs, we are providing that hands-on experience,” says Ojimelukwe. Solar-generated electricity, she adds, “is a creative and innovative way to power communities, and we are equipping students to be able to do that.”
Living proof
Liam Logan may be proof of that.
Soon after finishing high school, he started in the Alternative Energy Technology program, fascinated by renewables and electric vehicles. He’ll be just 19 years old when he starts his new job, where he’ll also train as an electrician apprentice. That array, Logan acknowledges, sparked what he believes will be a diverse and rewarding career.
“My very long-term goal is to own a solar install company that covers design and the whole process,” he says.
In the meantime, Logan looks forward to learning as much as he can about residential and commercial installations, and, eventually, project management. Soon to graduate, he already feels positioned to make a difference.
“As long as I can help push the process further and assist in making things more sustainable, I'm happy with that,” says Logan. “The idea of making the world a better place speaks to me.”
Funding greener futures
In fall 2023, the RBC Foundation committed $500,000 over three years in support of solar energy and related initiatives at NAIT. Half is going toward equipment and installation on NAIT’s Main Campus; the other half will fund curriculum development and youth, student and industry engagement activities.
“The solar lab creates a unique opportunity to help students prepare for a changing world,” says Kirk Muise, RBC regional president for Alberta & Territories. "As industries and the country move toward a more sustainable future, RBC Foundation is funding programs across Canada that create new and accessible pathways for green skills careers.”
It’s also energizing NAIT. What electricity isn’t used to power the parkade below it will be routed to the rest of campus, offsetting the polytechnic’s carbon emissions for years to come.