Alberta Residential and Commercial Solar Power Rebate

Residential and Commercial Solar Power Program

The Government of Alberta recently announced a rebate program for homes and businesses to install rooftop solar panels.

The program will draw from a $36 Million dollar fund which has been allocated from the carbon levy revenues.

The solar power rebate is expected to cut costs of home solar panel installations by up to 30% and up to 25% for businesses and non-profits.

If the $36Mn fund supplies 25% of costs, that will equate to $144Mn of new solar panel installations in Alberta.  Assuming an installed cost of $2.50 to $3.00/W (which is conservatively high), the program will equate to 48MW to 58MW of new solar PV capacity. Alberta currently has 15MW of installed solar PV capacity, meaning this program could triple the amount of solar PV installed in a very short time frame.

The residential and commercial solar power rebate program is expected to create 900 jobs in the next 2 years.

Details

The new Alberta solar power rebate is available for customers with electricity service and properties located in the province. The installation and solar installer must meet the following requirements:

Eligibility

• Wire Service Provider (WSP) interconnection approval signed on or after April 15th, 2017. All solar installations from this date will be eligible for the Alberta Solar Power Rebate..
• The solar power system must be grid-connected
• The solar array must not be eligible for other Alberta solar rebate programs such as Alberta Municipal Solar Program (AMSP), Alberta Indigenous Solar Program (AISP), Growing Forward On-Farm Solar, or other provincial solar incentives
• The project must not have received an incentive for solar PV on the same property (based on site ID) under this program - i.e. only one Alberta Solar Power Grant per site ID.
• Combined government solar incentives must not exceed 100% of the system costs
• The applicant must own the property or have long-term rights to use the property
• Solar power system must be designed and built by a qualified solar installer. Self-installations are not allowed. Kuby Energy is a qualified solar installer for this program
• Solar energy system must meet CSA requirements for electrical safety or equivalent safety standards. Kuby Energy guarantees all work meets or exceeds the highest Canadian electrical standards.

Alberta Solar Rebate Amounts

Residential Solar Incentive

0 to 15kW - $0.75/W up to the lesser of $10,000 or 30% of eligible system costs

15kW is approximately 50 solar panels.

Non-Profit/Commercial Solar Incentive

0 to 5MW - $0.75/W up to the lesser of $500,000 or 25% of eligible solar power system costs

5MW is approximately 13,000 solar panels.

To Apply

The program is now open for applications. You can begin an application on your own through Energy Efficiency Alberta, or we can do this on your behalf. We recommend the latter, as technical details on your solar panels are required.

Kuby Energy will complete all technical drafting, and is responsible for complying with all required regulations. To learn more, read the complete set of solar rebate guidelines.

‍