A Winnipeg non-profit unveiled a new way to help power their operations on Wednesday. BUILD Inc., an Indigenous job training organization, flipped the switch on a new 109.8-kilowatt solar installation on its Main Street headquarters. The program is a partnership with RBC’s Community Solar Program and Holland College to help make solar projects more affordable. “The goal is here to help organizations lower their expenses and also gain a long-term revenue stream,” said Shawn MacDonald with RBC. MacDonald said RBC invests in solar panel installation for non-profit organizations and the money generated from energy cost savings can be reinvested into the organizations. “We can take that resource, and we can seed it back into a community that really needs it,” said Sean Hogan, executive director of BUILD. BUILD, which is short for Building Urban Industries for Local Development, helps train people who are facing employment barriers to work in the trades. Hogan said the money would allow the organization to train more people, noting they helped 90 people find jobs in the industry. “We would like to blow past those numbers every single year,” he said. “So having our utilities decrease significantly, being able to put energy back into them and feel like contributing to the energy needs of our province, that all feels great, and we’re going to use that money very responsibly.” The solar installation on BUILD’s headquarters is capable of generating enough renewable energy to power roughly 12 homes.
