When Milfred Hammerbacher thinks about why he does his job, he thinks of your grandchildren – or potential grandchildren. That’s because he’’s the president of Canadian Solar Solutions Inc. Their parent company, Canadian Solar Inc., is in the top 10 solar panel manufacturers in the world. “I have been an environmentalist most of my life, and you just have to look at the horizon in Toronto and look at the haze and realize that ‘Gee, we aren’t doing the best thing,’” he says. “From just the point of view of pollution, using clean sources of energy makes a lot of sense. In a hundred years when our grandchildren are looking for energy, a renewable source of energy makes a lot of sense. It’s a novel idea in our generation to look to the future.”

Canadian Solar was founded in 2001 as part of that vision and was first listed in the NASDAQ Exchange in November 2006. Their growth can be tracked through the addition of seven manufacturing subsidiaries in China with close to 4,000 employees. Their 2008 revenue was over $709 million, a 34% growth from their 2007 revenue, a sure sign that interest is building. Their solar panels are used in Germany, Spain, Italy, the United States, Korea, Japan and of course Canada, and have been used by Audi-Volkswagen and in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.

This technology has been around for longer than we may think. The first solar cell that resembles what we know now was developed in the 1800s by American inventor Charles Fritts. His devices were very inefficient, transforming less than 1% of the absorbed light into electrical energy. Since then, the technology has changed and adapted to support larger and more demanding projects. In August 2009, Spectrolab Inc. announced the production of a cell that can convert 41.6% of concentrated sunlight into electricity, a world-record conversion rate.

The most familiar benefit of using solar energy is the reduced environmental footprint. Although pollution comes from many sources, creating electricity though burning coal or natural gas is a significant contributing factor. Solar power is also very reliable, despite the myth of cold showers and candle-lit dinners on cloudy days. Solar Canada guarantees their panels will last 25 years but because of the changing technology and relative newness of modern solar panels, there is no real way to know how much longer.

Although it may seem that solar energy is better fit for cottage country or Jersey cow family farms, Hammerbacher says it is fairly simple for most residences and business to adopt this alternative. He recommends first that you assess what other steps you have taken to make your home more energy-efficient through proper sealing and insulation. After these factors have been addressed there are some other logistical concerns that should be considered. You must have a clear south-facing roof that is free of shade, which could be a critical decision-making factor if you have a tree-filled yard and don’t want to sacrifice them for the new solar system. Also it is difficult to install the system onto old roofs, so this may be the perfect opportunity to re-shingle that splintering wood you have been putting off fixing. After these factors have all been addressed, the panels can be easily installed and wired into your home by Canadian Solar. “It can almost be out of sight. You can make it look pretty much like your roof so you don’t suffer from the ‘not in my backyard’ syndrome that you might have with some other sources,” Hammerbacher says. “I like wind energy but I think some people don’t want to see a windmill in every direction they look. Solar panels you can put on your building and put on your roof and no one can see it.”