The Province is celebrating the one year anniversary of a program that provides $5 million for municipalities to install solar panels to save money and lower their carbon footprint.

Environment Minister Shannon Phillips says we're in just the right spot.

"Alberta has some of the best solar resources in Canada, they're comparable to places as far south as Florida and that's why it creates such great opportunities for us to lower our bills and to diversify the economy," Phillips says.

Eighteen communities including Black Diamond and Wheatland County have taken part in the three-year program.

So far, $2 million of the available, while $5 million has been handed out saving over $391,000 on energy bills and creating 60 jobs.

The President of the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties Al Kemmere says it's been a well accepted program.

"Projects accepted to this point have represented about 3.2 Megawatts of production and resulted in a savings of over 2,400 tonnes of greenhouse gas," he says.

Funding for the program has come from carbon levies on large emitters.