Cost of Solar Power In Canada 2024
Published by Rylan Urban on Feb 27 2018. Last updated Sep 3, 2023.
The average installation cost of solar power in Canada is $3.34/watt, or $25,050 for a 7.5kW solar pv system. This has increased from an average cost of $3.01/watt in 2021.
However, the cost of solar power changes depending on the size of the system required, your eligibility for solar incentives, the type of equipment used, and even on the province that you live in.
This page explains how to accurately calculate the cost of solar power for your property in just 3 steps. You can read from top to bottom or jump to your preferred section by clicking on it below:
System Cost Calculation
Determining the cost of installing solar power on your home ultimately comes down to two main factors:
- The cost that you will pay for your system (in units of $ per watt)
- The size of the system that you require (in units of watts)
The first factor is the number that we’ve published on this page – it’s the price that an installer will charge you “per installed watt”. The second factor requires you to do a simple calculation that takes into account your annual electricity usage and how much sunlight your province receives, on average.
Do you live in Alberta, BC, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI, or Saskatchewan? Then get a free personalized cost estimate:
1) Cost Per Installed Watt
As stated, the cost per installed watt is one of just two pieces of information that you need to determine the total cost of your solar system.
Here is the average cost per installed watt broken down by province:
Alberta | $2.60-$3.27 |
British Columbia | $2.52-$3.17 |
Manitoba | $2.72-$3.42 |
New Brunswick | $2.89-$3.64 |
Newfoundland & Labrador | $4.00+ |
Northwest Territories | $3.00-$3.77 |
Nova Scotia | $2.51-$3.16 |
Nunavut | $4.00+ |
Ontario | $2.42-$3.05 |
Prince Edward Island | $2.98-$3.75 |
Québec | $2.65-$3.33 |
Saskatchewan | $2.88-$3.63 |
Yukon Territory | $3.02-$3.80 |
Source: energyhub.org Research
It’s important to note that these numbers represent the range that’s likely to include the average costs. Systems can cost more or less than the average depending on the size and the type of equipment used.
As a general rule, a solar system in your province will be priced:
- Higher for premium equipment and installers, or if your required size is below 7.5kW
- Lower for standard equipment and discount installers, or if your required size is above 7.5kW
2) System Size Requirements
Sizing your solar system is about matching two factors: energy usage and energy output.
Energy Usage
Solar systems are sized based on the energy output that is required. Thus, you’ll need to determine how much energy you use over the course of a year (in units of kWh) by adding up the amount shown on your power or hydro bill.
All electricity bills are slightly different, but let’s take this one from Manitoba Hydro as en example. You can easily see that this customer used 86 kWh in the month of October:
Go ahead and add up your bills for 12 consecutive months to determine your yearly usage.
This number typically ranges from 7,500 to 15,000kWh for normal gas-heated homes, and 20,000 to 35,000kWh for homes that use electric heaters or for those with high electricity requirements.
Energy Output
The next thing you need to know is how much energy your panels will produce based on the area that you live in. Output is based purely on the amount of ‘equivalent full sunlight hours‘ that you get during the year.
Here is the annual average equivalent of full sunlight hours broken down by province:
- Alberta (1,276 hours)
- British Columbia (1,004 hours)
- Manitoba (1,272 hours)
- New Brunswick (1,142 hours)
- Newfoundland and Labrador (949 hours)
- Northwest Territories (1,064 hours)
- Nova Scotia (1,090 hours)
- Nunavut (1,092 hours)
- Ontario (1,166 hours)
- Prince Edward Island (1,104 hours)
- Quebec (1,183 hours)
- Saskatchewan (1,330 hours)
- Yukon (965 hours)
- Canada Average (1,126 hours)
Source: Solar Energy Maps Canada
Final Cost Calculation
Now that you know both your annual energy usage and the average annual full sunlight hours that your house gets, you can calculate the size of the system you need with the following equation:
Size of system needed (in kW) = yearly energy use (in kWh) / annual average equivalent of full sunlight hours (in hours)
So let’s pretend you added up your power bills and determined that you use 10,000 kWh over the course of a year. Let’s also pretend that you live in Ontario which receives an annual average of 1,166 full sunlight hours per year. You would do the above calculation to determine that the size of the system you need is 8.58kW!
(10,000kWh / 1,166h = 8.58kW)
This number can then be multiplied by the estimated cost per watt quoted in the pricing table above to get your final cost!
(8,580 Watts * $2.42-$3.05/Watt = $20,761-$26,169)
This means that an average 8.58 kW system would cost between $20,761 and $26,169 in Ontario.
Do you live in Alberta, BC, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI, or Saskatchewan? Then get a free personalized cost estimate:
More Clean Energy Reference Guides
Provincial Solar Guides
Complete solar power guides for every province and territory.
Clean Energy Incentives
Complete list of clean energy programs and incentives sorted by province.
Clean Energy Financing
Complete list of clean energy financing programs sorted by province.
Solar Energy Maps
Solar maps and production estimates for every province and territory in Canada.
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