(Left to right) Michael Molnar, CEO of Restoration Lands Inc.; Ruth Hoyte, Mayor of Coldstream; Charlotte Mitha, President and CEO of B.C. Hydro; Harwinder Sandhu, MLA for Vernon-Lumby; and Scott Anderson, MP for Vernon-Monashee, on the roof of Restoration Lands Inc. where the massive solar array has been installed (photo by Liam Verster / Vernon Matters)

By Liam Verster

Sustainable Energy Project

Massive solar array unveiled at Lavington industrial park

Aug 6, 2025 | 1:16 PM

The site that used to be home to the glass plant in Coldstream has been converted to a new industrial hub, and is being powered with sustainable energy.

Restoration Lands Incorporated has installed 2,640 solar panels, covering the equivalent of two football fields on the roof of the facility in Lavington, to power the Okanagan Eco Industrial Park (OEP), the area’s new industrial hub.

“We produce 1.7 megawatt hours of dc power, which is about enough to power [155] homes,” Michael Molnar, CEO of Restoration Lands Inc., said at the unveiling of the array Wednesday, Aug. 6.

“It’s currently servicing the electricity needs of every business on our entire 92 acre site.”

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The companies established at the OEP benefit from the panels range from modular home construction to mushroom growing to a rebar plant. Molnar said there were plans to establish even more industry at the property, and to meet those needs his company would be looking at more solar panels and battery storage opportunities in the coming years.

This project was hailed as the largest rooftop solar panel array in B.C., and maybe even Canada, and was supported by B.C. Hydro.

“At B.C. Hydro we want industrial customers and commercial customers to benefit from all sorts of small energy solutions that are practical, scalable and, really importantly, financially sound, and getting a chance to see a project like this, at this scale, it really does make you realize the scale when you behind you and see that this is the largest installation of rooftop solar in B.C.,” Charlotte Mitha, President and CEO of B.C. Hydro, said Wednesday.

“This solar installation was made possible through grants through B.C. Hydro’s Low Displacement Program, and that empowers large energy users, like this site, to generate electricity on-site and reduce the demand on the provincial grid.

“Our incentive for this one was almost $875,000, and that helped Restoration Lands cover 40 per cent of the installation cost.”

Mitha added this project could serve as “a blueprint for how utilities and industry can collaborate to drive electrification, sustainability and economic renewal.”

The financial aid for this project came through a funding stream that is part of B.C. Hydro’s $700-million Energy Efficiency Plan, with both Mitha and Molnar indicating that source may be tapped again for future projects at the site in Lavington.

Molnar added the former glass plant employed around 350 people before it closed, but the renewal of the site by bringing in and expanding industries within the OEP could result in roughly 1,000 new jobs being created in the North Okanagan, which the local MLA applauded.

“Often some people with different perspectives think that sometimes taking care of climate and investing into clean energy is going against jobs, but this is the perfect shining example that we can take care of climate, we can take actions to diversify our economy into clean energy sector or any other ways, but it will still create more jobs,” Harwinder Sandhu, MLA for Vernon-Lumby, told Vernon Matters following the unveiling of the solar array.

“The other important significance is what we can do by working together at all levels of government. [People] with different perspectives and different opinions, rather than seeing it as us versus them, let’s work together. What should be the focus, for me, is always people, and I think this collaboration also shows that that’s how we should work together.”

The solar panels were provided and installed by the Canadian company Kuby Energy. Jake Kubiski, CEO of Kuby, told Vernon Matters the panels have a 25-year warranty, though were expected to have lifespans far beyond that period.