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The Piitapan project was set up by the Lubicon Cree Community and Sacred Earth Solar in 2015 to power the community health centre. In the heart of the Tar Sands, fossil fuels were failing the Lubicon Cree so they turned to the power of the sun. They installed 80 solar panels, totaling 20.8 kilowatts on a pole-mounted system, any excess energy generated from the system goes back into the grid. This project involved the entire community, it provided training, reduced reliance on fossil fuels, and strengthened their independence.<\/p>\n
Several steps were taken to establish the project:<\/span><\/p>\n\nCommunity Visioning<\/span><\/li>\nIdentifying project location<\/span><\/li>\nEnvironmental and cultural assessment<\/span><\/li>\nInterconnection application<\/span><\/li>\nDesign and engineering<\/span><\/li>\nFinancing, construction, and fundraising.<\/span><\/li>\nOperation and maintenance<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t
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\u201cOne of the challenges with coordinating a large project was bringing solar equipment into the community. Many vendors told them that Little Buffalo was in a \u2018beyond recognizable zone\u2019 so it took time (and patience) to arrange the delivery of eighty solar panels, two separate racking systems, inverters, heavy electrical cables, and 10 steel beams that weighed close to a 1,000 pounds each.\u201d \n<\/em>Melina Laboucan-Massimo, Project Organiser, Lubicon Cree<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t
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Community engagement and relationships were vital throughout the process. Through building capacity energy sovereignty was strengthened.<\/span><\/p>\nLessons Learnt:<\/p>\n
\nIndigenous voices must be meaningfully included in energy policy decision-making.<\/span><\/li>\nEnergy policy must be equitable and reflect the lived realities faced by Indigenous communities.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n <\/p>\n
\u201cThis project maters to us because it represents who we are and where we are going in the future. When you see the work you, can say that I did that, I took part, and I did it right. A lot of people will see it everyday and I can tell people I worked on this.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\nKarlton Sawan, Lubicon Cree<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Solar in the heart of the Tar Sands<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":23412,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"templates\/template-page-with-hero-banner.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Piitapan Solar Project - Climate Action Network<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n\t \n