CanSIA - Ontario Solar Farms Quantitative Survey Results
CanSIA – Ontario Solar Farms
Quantitative Survey Results
July 22, 2009 - Release
1
Survey Summary and Methodology
This quantitative survey was held on behalf of CanSIA to
explore opinion on solar energy and support for solar
farms on agricultural land.
The project entails an online questionnaire with 600
respondents across Ontario from the general population.
The data is proportionate regionally, by gender and by age
groups.
The survey sought an additional 600 responses from 8
electoral districts in South West Ontario (around London)
and Eastern Ontario (around Cornwall/Belleville) that are
more rural and agricultural in nature.
The following slides present – where and as noted –
Ontario-wide results and results from the 8 rural ridings.
2
Survey Summary and Methodology
The margin of error on a sample of 600 is +/- 4% 19 times out of 20.
The eight rural Ontario electoral districts surveyed were: Chatham-
Kent-Essex; Elgin-Middlesex-London; Oxford; Lambton-Kent-
Middlesex; Dundas-S. Glengarry; Leeds-Grenville; Lanark-Frontenac-
Lennox-Addington; and Prince Edward Hastings.
The Ontario general population responses were collected between
June 30 and July 4, 2009. Rural riding responses were collected
between July 1 and July 9.
3
Key Findings
Ontarians support solar energy very strongly as well as government
support for solar initiatives
There is strong support for individual choice among farmers to
develop solar farms and most agree the province should allow solar
farms on some agricultural land
Arguments about how limited an amount of land is required and
that land is not damaged go a long way toward making respondents
even more supportive of solar farms
Most think it best for rural Ontario’s economy to allow solar panels
on agricultural land
4
Solar Support
Do you support (strongly or somewhat) or oppose (strongly or somewhat) the use of
solar power to generate electricity in Ontario? (Ontario wide)
65 32 11
0 20 40 60 80 100
Strongly support Som ewhat support Somewhat oppose Strongly oppose
Do you support (strongly or somewhat) or oppose (strongly or somewhat) the use of solar
power to generate electricity in Ontario? (Rural Ridings)
59 36 3 2
0 20 40 60 80 100
Strongly support Somewhat support Somewhat opposed Strongly opposed
5
Positives of Solar
“Based on what you know what would be a positive thing about the provincial government
encouraging more production of electricity from solar power rather than from other sources of
energy to generate electricity for Ontario?” (Ontario-wide - open end - % saying each)
Clean Energy/ Better for
environment
48
Low cost energy
23
Renewable
14
Less reliance on other
sources of energy
11
Gov. should subsidize
solar
Safe source of energy
5
6
DK
13
0 10 20 30 40 50
6
Negatives of Solar
“Based on what you know what would be a negative thing about the provincial government
encouraging more production of electricity from solar power rather than from other sources of
energy to generate electricity for Ontario?” (Ontario-wide - open end - % saying each)
Expensive
31
Don’t generate enough
power
7
Concern about weather
fluctuations/reliability
6
Would take up
space/usable land
4
DK
43
0 10 20 30 40 50
7
Energy Initiatives
There are different projects being looked at to increase the amount of renewable energy used to produce
electricity in Ontario. We would like to know whether you strongly support, somewhat support,
somewhat oppose, or strongly oppose having each of the following projects in the community you live in.
(% Strongly/Somewhat Support)
86
Generating electricity from
rivers/dams with
hydroelectric stations
86
78
Installing windmills on
some agricultural land to
generate electricity
82
Installing solar panels
instead of growing crops
on some areas of farmland
to generate electricity
62
68
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Ontario-wide
Rural ridings
8
The case for solar farms
In both the general population and in rural ridings, there is near
consensus agreement that it would be unfair if people in cities were
allowed to install solar panels but farmers were not
There is strong agreement that farmers should be allowed to use
some of their land to install solar panels to generate electricity
• Fewer (though still more than half of residents of rural ridings) agree
that farmers should be allowed to use all of their land for solar farming
A majority in rural ridings agree that the provincial government
should allow solar panels to be installed on some agricultural land
instead of crops to generate electricity
Respondents in rural ridings are somewhat more likely to agree
strongly with most of these points than the average Ontarian
9
Solar Support
We are going to present you with statements you might hear about solar energy. For each we’d like to know
if you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, strongly disagree… “The provincial government
should allow solar panels to be installed on some agricultural land instead of crops to generate electricity.”
Ontario-wide
16 50 22 12
0 20 40 60 80 100
Strongly agree Som ewhat agree Som ewhat disagree Strongly disagree
Rural Ridings
19 48 22 11
0 20 40 60 80 100
10
Agree/Disagree
We are going to present you with statements you might hear about solar energy. For each we’d like to know
if you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, strongly disagree. (Rural Ridings)
A farmer should be allowed if he/she chooses to use some of their land to
install solar panels to generate electricity
I would welcome a major investment in solar energy in my area
It would be unfair if people in cities were allowed to install solar panels
on their property but farmers were not permitted to do so on their
property
Farmers should be allowed to install solar panels instead of growing
crops on some of their land so they have another possible source of
income
If industrial land owners are allowed to install solar panels on their
land, then farmers should be allowed to do the same on their land
A farmer should be allowed if he/she chooses to use ALL of their land to
install solar panels to generate electricity
40 48 9 4
36 50 11 3
36 45 15 5
31 49 14 6
34 41 19 6
23 32 28 18
0 20 40 60 80 100
Strongly agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Strongly disagree
11
Agree/Disagree
We are going to present you with statements you might hear about solar energy. For each we’d like to know
if you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, strongly disagree. (Ontario wide)
A farmer should be allowed if he/she chooses to use some of their land to
install solar panels to generate electricity
35 51 10 4
I would welcome a major investment in solar energy in my area
34 53 10 3
It would be unfair if people in cities were allowed to install solar panels
on their property but farmers were not permitted to do so on their
property
Farmers should be allowed to install solar panels instead of growing
crops on some of their land so they have another possible source of
income
If industrial land owners are allowed to install solar panels on their land,
then farmers should be allowed to do the same on their land
A farmer should be allowed if he/she chooses to use ALL of their land to
install solar panels to generate electricity
33 46 15 7
23 56 17 5
27 47 18 8
19 35 27 20
0 20 40 60 80 100
Strongly agree Somewhat agree Somewhat disagree Strongly disagree
12
Solar Support
What do you think would be best for the economy of rural Ontario - allowing farmers to turn their land into solar
farms, or to keep all farm land for agricultural purposes? Do you feel that way strongly or just somewhat?
Rural Ridings
19 50 18 13
0 20 40 60 80 100
Strongly feel farmers should be allowed
Somewhat feel farmers should be allowed
Somewhat feel all farmland should be kept for agriculture
Strongly feel all land should be kept for agricultural purposes
Ontario Wide
18 48 22 12
0 20 40 60 80 100
13
Limits on Solar
Most Ontarians support a limit or prohibition on solar development
from taking place on most agricultural land
But the amount of farmland that on average Ontarians would allocate
to solar panels is 250 times what the solar industry is requesting
We specifically asked respondents to tell us what percentage of
Ontario’s farmland should be allowed for use as solar farms
• On average they told us just over one quarter of agricultural land could be
allowed for solar developments
• The solar industry needs only about one tenth of one percent of Ontario
farmland to reach its full potential as an option for renewable energy in
Ontario
14
Solar Farms
Please fill out this sentence: If solar power generation expands in Ontario, with solar panels over land
or buildings to capture solar energy, I think solar panel installations should be limited to take up no
more than a maximum of % of Ontario’s farmland. (Ontario-wide)
29
0 20 40 60 80 100
Please fill out this sentence: If solar power generation expands in Ontario, with solar panels over land
or buildings to capture solar energy, I think solar panel installations should be limited to take up no
more than a maximum of % of Ontario’s farmland. (Rural Ridings)
27
0 20 40 60 80 100
15
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