May 30, 2016 – The Canadian Solar Industries Association (CanSIA) celebrated solar industry leaders and innovators at the annual Game Changer Awards Gala earlier this month, recognizing individuals and organizations that have helped the solar energy industry mature.

“Solar energy is a leading solution for the world’s climate challenges,” said John Gorman, CanSIA president and CEO. “The 2016 solar industry Game Changer award winners have showcased their creativity, ingenuity and passion in providing best in class products and services, as Canadians demand more progressive action on climate and energy issues.”

Partnered with CanSIA, Women in Renewable Energy (WiRE) presented the Woman of Distinction Award for Solar to Joan Haysom, senior renewable energy specialist at Leidos Canada and a University of Ottawa professor. Congratulations!

Other winners include:

Solar Industry Leader  
Jordan Hoogendam, president, senior engineer, Zon Engineering Inc.

Emerging Solar Leader  
Mike Skirzynski & Noel McDonald

President’s Solar Award  
Fidel Reijerse, president, RESCo Energy Inc.

Solar Adopter  
Imaginea Energy Inc.  

Solar PV Project of the Year  
Canadian Energy

Project Finance Innovation  
Panasonic Eco Solutions Canada Inc.

Community/First Nations’ Solar Project  
Alderville First Nation Solar Inc.

Solar Thermal Project of the Year  
Kleinfeldt Mychajlowycz Architects Inc.

Solar Developer  
Grasshopper Solar Corp.

Solar Service Excellence  
Toronto Hydro

Smart Energy Management  
PowerStream Inc.  

Toronto Hydro thanked CanSIS for the honour.

“This award recognizes our efforts to streamline the process of connecting solar projects to our electricity grid in order to help customers complete their projects quickly and easily,” Toronto Hydro stated, noting it has interconnected 1300 solar projects representing about 70MW to date.

Meanwhile, PowerStream was recognized as a Game Changer for its residential solar storage pilot, Power.House. It said the project forms part of company’s strategy to embrace the future of grid modernization—a future that sees fewer large, central generating assets and more distributed generation resources, including solar, at the “grid edge.”

CanSIA is a national trade association established in 1992 that represents the solar energy industry throughout Canada.