Photos © Brian Summers. Photos courtesy LoyaltyOne.

The solar array on the roof allows the call centre to generate enough electricity to cover the building's use through the amount of power going back onto the grid. It is the largest rooftop solar panel in Canada.

The nation's largest rooftop solar panel has been unveiled in Mississauga, Ont.

LoyaltyOne's Air Miles Reward Program Customer Call Centre has a 1115-m² (12,000-sf) solar array on the roof and carport, allowing the generation of enough electricity to cover the building's use through the amount of power going back onto the grid.

There are more than 800 photovoltaic (PV) solar panels—147 kW of power on the roof and 18 kW on the carport—which generate 165 kW per hour of sunlight. This represents enough energy to power 16 average-sized homes. The smaller array on the carport provides solar thermal hot water heating to produce electricity to heat water for the building.

Debbie Baxter, chief sustainability officer for LoyaltyOne, said the company wanted to incorporate more green issues into a business process, and a solar panel was a major focus for their new Mississauga building.

"We hope to be a catalyst and a leader in environmental solutions," she told Construction Canada Online. "I hope it really catches on and people and companies decide to jump into this area."

The 4645-m² (50,000-sf) building has been designed with potential Silver and Gold certifications in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for both the exterior and interior of the building. It is designed to reduce energy usage by 15 per cent and water use by 30 per cent. The building has daylight sensor-controlled lighting to reduce consumed energy when rooms are empty. Outside the building, underground cisterns collect rainwater for landscape irrigation. There are also 52 skylight units spread throughout the building interior to use less conventional lighting.

A full-length wall of solar inverters—typically hidden behind drywall in most applications—has been exposed in the communal lunch and game room, allowing employees to see the accumulation of power through the solar installation system in action.