P.E.I. drive-in theatre embracing sustainability with switch to solar power

A 60-year-old drive-in theatre on Prince Edward Island has found a unique way of managing its high electricity bills: solar energy.

Work is wrapping up on the installation of solar panels at the Brackley Drive-In Theatre on the province's north shore.

Theatre owner and operator Bob Boyle said the panels will need to be hooked up to the Island's power grid by Maritime Electric.

"I know it's important ... for us as a province to be net zero," he said.

"I thought that we can be a leader or a trailblazer too, to try and highlight that for tourism, that if ... a 60-year-old drive-in can — that mostly operates at night — can go solar or work on solar, maybe their business can too."

Managing costs

For Boyle, the decision to switch to solar power wasn't just about bragging rights.

It came after watching his electricity bills soar in recent years. In addition to several years of diminished theatre attendance due to COVID-19, Boyle and his wife were left searching for ways to manage costs.

"We need to look at this in order to make the business financially sustainable for years to come," said Boyle. 

"So we were very fortunate that ACOA came out with a tourism recovery package, the tourism relief fund, which would cover up to 50 per cent of eligible expenses. Without that funding, this project would not be able to go forward." 

He said solar panels are also being installed at the family's motel — the Brackley Country Inn — with a total project cost of $110,000. 

Boyle said it's been a lot of work, but he'll be proud to increase the financial and environmental sustainability of his businesses.

'The right incentives'

In order for more smaller operators to consider solar, he said, changes will need to be made to the existing provincial incentives.

Currently, businesses and farms are eligible for $350 per kilowatt installed, with up to 40 per cent of installed costs, to a maximum of $10,000.

For Boyle, that $10,000 rebate alone wouldn't have been enough to move forward with his solar project. And he suspects other tourism operators, after several quiet years due to COVID-19, are facing the same financial constraints.

He said there aren't federal government incentives for businesses to switch to solar. 

"I think it is definitely one thing tourism operators could do to help their financial situation for years to come when the right incentives are in place," said Boyle. 

"We're not quite there yet because I think once they start doing the research, they'll see that the cost or the barrier to get into solar or putting solar on their property is still quite high for those smaller operations. But I hope in the near future, you know, in the next year or so, that there will be programs put in place for tourism operators."

Boyle said switching to solar won't just benefit the businesses themselves, and the Island's net-zero targets — it's becoming increasingly important to visitors to P.E.I. as well. 

"Sustainability is very high on their list," he said. "So if we can make Prince Edward Island stand out or shine that much more by being more sustainable — whether it's your cottage that you're staying in or the drive-in that you come and enjoy a movie — that will help put us on the map for sustainability."