RENFREW COUNTY — Twenty per cent of farmers are looking at ways to introduce green energy, like solar power on their farms, says a Farm Credit Canada survey.

To help them, the federal government announced it will now offer energy loans to farmers to get their projects up and running. This could open the door to many new solar farm projects, which are by far the least expensive of the green energies, when compared to wind turbines and biodigesters.

Dan Marandola, of Sunquake Energy, wants to focus on solar power for farms and just finished his own rooftop project near Douglas in Renfrew County. He put up 44 panels on 1,000 sq. ft. of roof at a capacity of 9.68 kiloWatts. At 80.2 cents earned per kiloWatt/hour, Marnadola expects to earn $10,000 per year.

A farmer would pay $90,000 to $100,000 for panels and installation for a similar project, he said. The project could pay for itself in 10 years, while panels could last more than 20 years, he added. "There is a lot of interest. This is going to be big for farmers."

The current subsidized price — almost double the 42 cents per kiloWatt/hour paid last year — is expected to drop as more projects are finalized. A south-facing barn roof is most suitable for the project.