Solar panels on homes in Quebec has never been worth it - until now!
For years, installing solar panels in Quebec has felt more like a passion project than a smart investment. With some of the cheapest electricity rates in North America, most homeowners (and as a Quebecker, I count myself among them) have never seen the economic incentive to install solar photovoltaic (PV) systems at home - until now.
By my math, it would have taken over 30 years of operation to pay back the initial investment in rooftop solar. With a typical lifespan of about 25 years, setting up home solar power in Quebec seemed like a complicated way to waste money and make my power LESS green. Allow me to explain:
I say "less green" because solar panels use rare earth metals and plastics, they require energy and resources for material extraction, manufacturing and shipping, and eventually they stop working.
The greener power option for me when I built my home 20 years ago was very obvious, just hook up to the renewable energy readily available from hydro pole at the end of my laneway. There have been advances in solar panel recycling to keep them out of landfills, however that still needs to dramatically improve to call solar energy truly "green power".
Hydro power in Quebec is "clean" in the sense that the damage has already been done to water ways and lands, largely in unceded indigenous territories. But at least the power generated is endlessly renewable as long as the earth spins and rivers flow. Since I already have access to clean renewable power, adding my own rooftop renewable energy only made sense if I was going to save money, which would not have been the case until now.
Hydro Quebec just announced plans to launch a landmark subsidy program aimed at helping 125,000 homeowners, businesses, municipalities, and farms to install solar panels over the coming years. Slated to begin soon in 2025, this new program is part of Quebec’s broader strategy to double its electricity production by 2050, preparing for an anticipated surge in demand for power driven by manufacturing and electrified transportation.
Solar in Quebec: a missed opportunity until now
Despite its reputation for cold winters, Quebec actually has a solid solar profile. The southern half of the province receives between 1,100 and 1,500 kWh/m²/year of solar irradiance, which is comparable to Germany, a global leader in solar energy adoption where the average is between 1,000 and 1,200 kWh/m²/year in many regions.
Comparing Quebec's solar potential with other cities
- Montérégie, Outaouais, Estrie, and the greater Montreal area receive similar solar energy levels to cities like Berlin, London, or Amsterdam.
- Cities like Toronto, Ottawa, and Sherbrooke get just slightly less annual sun than Boston or New York City.
- Southern Quebec even beats much of the UK and northern France for solar potential.
So why hasn’t solar power caught on in Quebec?
The problem: long ROI, low electricity rates
The main barrier to solar adoption in Quebec has always been an economic issue, not a technical one.
With residential electricity rates hovering around $0.073/kWh (compared that to $0.13–$0.18/kWh in Ontario or the Northeastern US), Quebeckers don’t save enough per kilowatt-hour to justify the $15,000 to $30,000 upfront cost of a typical residential Solar PV system.
Even with net metering to allow homeowners to send their surplus power back to the grid, Hydro-Québec currently only offers credit-based reimbursement, and those credits expire after two years. That makes it difficult to recoup the investment, with payback periods typically ranging from 15 to 20 years longer than most homeowners find acceptable. It has seemed until now that Hydro Quebec was just as happy to keep us on the grid rather than off.
That left Quebec trailing far behind not only Europe but also neighboring provinces and U.S. states in solar panel installations. For example:
- Ontario had over 2,500 MW of solar installed by 2023, largely thanks to its early MicroFIT feed-in tariff programs.
- California, with slightly higher solar panel potential than Quebec, has over 40 times more solar PV installed per capita.
- In Germany, where the solar potential is lower than Quebec’s, over 2 million homes already have rooftop solar panels fitted.
The gap isn’t due to solar inefficiency, it’s due to lack of supportive policy. Hydro Quebec’s new program seeks to close that gap.
What’s changing: grants, cash payments, and new possibilities
Under the upcoming solar incentive program, Hydro-Québec plans to:
- Offer direct financial subsidies for installing solar panels on homes, potentially in the range of $500–$1000 per kW installed, significantly reducing system costs;
- Replace credit-based net metering with cash-based reimbursement for excess solar energy exported to the grid;
- Double the maximum allowable capacity for residential solar systems from 20 kW to 40 kW, and allow up to 1000 kW for commercial and industrial properties;
- Include municipal and agricultural infrastructure as eligible categories for fitting solar panels, potentially enabling microgrids and rural resilience.
This marks a critical shift in solar power economics in Quebec. A solar system that once took decades to pay off could now see an ROI in under 10 years, especially for larger homes, farms, or commercial buildings with higher energy use.
Solar as a path to Net Zero: smart homes, smarter power use
Solar panels alone won’t get most homes to Net Zero Energy or Emissions but they are a powerful piece of a larger strategy.
Today’s smart home technologies make it possible to align energy production and use power more intelligently in homes:
- Smart thermostats and load-shifting appliances allow homeowners to use energy when their panels are producing power, such as running dishwashers or EV chargers in the afternoon.
- Vehicle-to-home (V2H) systems let homeowners use their electric vehicles as backup home batteries, powering the home during peak demand or outages.
- Heat pumps, which are already rapidly replacing oil and gas heating in Quebec, run especially efficiently when paired with solar and time-of-use controls.
- Smart inverters and energy dashboards help optimize self-consumption, improving ROI and reducing strain on the grid.
As these systems become more affordable and interconnected, it becomes feasible, even in Quebec, to build a net-zero-energy home powered entirely by solar panel electricity, without sacrificing comfort.
Power-use case studies: who will benefit?
Quebec's new solar grant program has the potential to unlock solar for a range of property types:
Homeowners in Quebec: Urban and suburban homes with good southern roof exposure can install up to 40 kW of solar panels under the new rules, which is more than enough to cover virtually everyone's annual usage and feed some clean power back into the grid.
Rural and agricultural properties: Commercial farms in Quebec as well as smaller hobby farms often have large unused roof or land areas and can benefit from multi-kW solar systems. Producers like Alain Perreault, who installed 120 solar panels back in 2018, now offsets 80% of their electricity use, saving nearly $5,000 per year, and that was without solar grants.
Municipalities and community buildings: Schools, arenas, libraries, parking garages and town halls in Quebec can participate at scale with the installation of solar panels, helping communities improve energy resilience and lower operational costs.
Commercial and industrial users: Warehouses, factories, and big-box retailers in Quebec can all soon benefit from installing hundreds of kW of rooftop solar panels, especially with new incentives and simplified export options.
So why does solar in Quebec make sense now?
Solar power generated by photovoltaic panels makes sense everywhere as it transitions us away from fossil fuel power, and since Quebec is already set up to sell excess power, then the more we have the better. The province sells a lot of power to neighbouring provinces as well as some northern US states.
So if Hydro Quebec gives Quebeckers like me a financial incentive to generate my own renewable energy by installing solar panels on my roof, then they will have more of their own to sell. Read that this way - it seems like they finally see their business growth opportunities and just asked us to go into business with them.
And in the coming decades, as populations grow and we make the switch from gas-powered cars to EVs, and from fossil gas heating to efficient cold-weather heat pumps, Quebec’s electricity demand is projected to increase by up to 50%. At the same time, the province needs to decarbonize rapidly to meet its climate goals.
Expanding hydro capacity takes years and faces environmental limits. Solar power, on the other hand, is modular, scalable, and can be installed within months.
With this new grant program, Hydro-Québec is signaling that solar panels will no longer be a fringe technology. It will be a mainstream energy solution, part of a decentralized, digitized, and decarbonized electricity future for Canada.
A boon for Quebec’s solar contractors and green building trades
While much of the focus around Hydro-Québec’s upcoming solar panel grant program has been on residential and commercial users, the solar industry itself stands to gain enormously from this shift. For solar contractors, electricians, roofers, and related trades in Quebec, the program represents one of the biggest growth opportunities in decades.
Until now, solar panel installation professionals in Quebec have been a relatively niche group of professionals, with only a handful of companies operating at scale. But with 125,000 customers targeted for new solar installations, the demand for skilled solar professionals in Quebec is expected to surge rapidly over the next 5 to 10 years.
Growth expectations for solar contractors with the new solar grants
Here’s what solar professionals can expect as the program rolls out:
- Increased demand for licensed electricians and specialized solar installers, particularly those with experience in grid-tied systems, smart inverters, and EV-charger integration.
- A new wave of training and upskilling opportunities, possibly supported by the provincial government or trade unions, to ensure the workforce can scale up.
- The growth of multi-trade solar service firms that can offer bundled solutions: solar + heat pump + battery + EV charger + home automation.
- Opportunities for solar contractors in rural and regional markets, where solar adoption has been slow due to lack of financial incentive until now.
As the solar panel installation market matures, there will also be rising demand for long-term solar system maintenance, monitoring, and upgrades, offering a more sustainable, recurring revenue model beyond one-time installations.
Solar grants, a catalyst for clean energy jobs in Quebec
Hydro-Québec’s new solar panel grants program could be a turning point for local clean energy employment. In provinces like Ontario and U.S. states like California, well-structured solar incentive programs have supported the creation of tens of thousands of well-paying jobs, particularly in construction and skilled trades.
By stimulating the solar sector now, Quebec has the chance to:
- Create a durable green economy at the provincial level,
- Encourage young people to pursue careers in clean energy technology and construction, and,
- Strengthen energy resilience by building decentralized energy infrastructure one rooftop at a time.
The changing green economy in Canada - building homes and ramping up manufacturing
Quebec is sending a pretty clear message that this is not just a solar program for homeowners, it’s a call to action for an entire industry to gear up, grow, and help lead the energy transition. And the timing couldn't be better given the sudden and shocking changes to the global order and economic system.
Canada as a whole was given a wake up call by the US at the start of 2025, and we were reminded of our self-applied vulnerabilities and dependence on our southern neighbours.
Quebec is loaded with minerals and metals that are in high demand, and that also have high-energy footprints for manufacturing. So what better place is there to produce and refine highly-sought after metals the world needs, than a place with an abundance of clean energy and those very minerals under our soil?
Another soon-to-boom industry will be prefab, modular kit homes, as the very lofty goals for residential construction set by the new Canadian government need to be met. We currently have only about half the workers needed to meet the targets of the Building Canada Homes program, and with the removal of trade barriers between provinces, solar power is another industry that has the potential to create significant economic growth and employment opportunities.
We had a scary start to 2025 thanks to 'he who shall remain nameless', but that triggered a national unity movement, and that reminded us of the skills, resources, and economic independence that complacency had us overlook. Let's call it 'elbows up economics'. That is a phrase coined right now by yours truly, so remember where you heard it first if it takes hold ;-)
What’s next to jumpstart the Quebec solar industry?
The new Hydro Quebec solar grant program is expected to launch in mid to late 2025, and in the meantime, homeowners and businesses can:
- Assess their roof orientation and solar exposure, also known as insolation;
- Monitor announcements for grant eligibility and application timelines;
- Consult with local solar installers in Quebec to get pre-quotes and get in the queue;
- Explore options for EV integration, battery storage, and smart controls to maximize future savings.
If the province gets this right, solar power in Quebec might finally reach its full potential, and not just as a clean energy solution, but as a smart investment for homes and businesses across the province.
Now that you know more about the Hydro Quebec solar grants program for homes, find more info about Solar PV & sustainable & resilient green building techniques in the Ecohome Green Building Guide and these pages below:
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