Clifton, President; Jourdan, Lead PV Installer; Andrew, Technical Sales Lead; April, HSSE Manager; Owen, Senior Project Manager; Julia, Operations Manager; Mark, Construction Manager and Dave, Quality Manager. Photo by Rebecca Lippiatt.
Helping Albertans See the Light: Great Canadian Solar is Instrumental in the Growing Movement of Embracing PVs By Nerissa McNaughton
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reat Canadian Solar (GCS) was founded in 2009 by Clifton Lofthaug and Tamara Chivers to be an industry leader in renewables and to specialize in engineering, procurement, and construction of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. The home-based business turned thriving corporation, and now celebrates 12 years of industry experience. “The company was started from a passion to help people and businesses lessen their environmental footprint, says Lofthaug, president. “From 2009 to 2014 we were the first solar company in Western Canada to have installed over 1.0 MW of solar capacity,” adds Julia
Edgar, operations manager. “Five years later we celebrated the installation of 10.0 MW of solar capacity. We expect, in 2022, to be celebrating 100.0 MW of installed solar capacity.” The first project was the Bocock farm system. “They provided us with our first opportunity even though we had no experience. This project launched GCS and we owe so much to the Bocock family,” says Lofthaug. From there it was innovation and growth in quick succession. GCS is proud of its largest project todate with a major Oil and Gas (O&G) refinery. For Lofthaug, this project has a special meaning.
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