Ontario homeowners can get residential solar grants through a current province-wide program, plus several municipal loans, but each one comes with its own conditions. Knowing which incentives and rebates are open in 2026, who qualifies and how a claim works makes it easier to estimate your savings in CAD.

Current Ontario solar rebates and local incentives

For new projects, solar incentives in Ontario for 2026 centre on one province-wide program. Municipal loans can sit on top of it. Several provincial rebates from earlier years are closed, so start with the programs below.

How much is the rooftop solar rebate?

Ontario launched the Home Renovation Savings Program on January 28, 2025. It is delivered by the Independent Electricity System Operator’s Save on Energy initiative and Enbridge Gas, with Ontario government support. The solar rebate pays $1,000 CAD per kW of new rooftop photovoltaic capacity. It is capped at $5,000 CAD and at 50% of eligible costs.

Capacity is not rounded to whole kilowatts. A 4.84-kW system could receive up to $4,840 CAD before the other limits apply. Eligible costs cover panels, mounting, connection costs and inverters. Newdawn-es helps homeowners access these government incentives as part of its residential solar installation service.

How much can battery storage add?

Storage has a separate rebate stream. Battery storage earns $300 CAD per kWh, capped at $5,000 CAD and at 50% of eligible costs.

Combined, a qualifying solar and battery project can receive up to $10,000 CAD. Each stream still keeps its own limit, so a large battery cannot make up for a small array. Our battery energy storage systems can store power from a solar array.

Which municipal financing options are available?

Some Ontario cities offer loans you can combine with the provincial rebate. Availability depends on your municipality.

• Toronto Home Energy Loan Program: loans of up to $125,000 CAD for eligible residential property owners, solar photovoltaic projects included.
• Ottawa Better Homes Loan Program: up to $125,000 CAD or 10% of assessed property value, repaid through a property-tax model.
• Guelph Greener Homes Program: loans of up to $50,000 CAD for projects that include solar photovoltaic systems. Its grants of up to $15,000 CAD for low-income households fund air-source heat pumps, not solar.

Durham Region offered a deep-retrofit rebate of up to $5,000 CAD, and Whitby residents could get a matching rebate of up to $5,000 CAD. That retrofit program is now fully subscribed and closed to new applicants. Check your own city’s financing before you sign a contract.

Who qualifies and how do you claim the rebate?

To be eligible, both the homeowner and the installation have to meet the program’s conditions. The claim then has two stages, one before installation and one after. Missing either stage can cost you the rebate.

Homeowner and installation eligibility

You must be at least 18, own the home and pay for the equipment and installation. If you rent the home out, you can apply as the owner. An occupied new-build home can also qualify.

The home must be connected to Ontario’s electricity grid. Off-grid homes are excluded, and so are customers on the Hydro-Québec grid through Cornwall Electric. The rebate covers new rooftop systems only, not additions to or replacements of existing solar or battery systems.

• Housing types: detached and semi-detached homes, row houses or townhomes, and mobile homes on permanent foundations.
• Equipment: new, and purchased in Canada.
• Ownership: the homeowner owns the system. Third-party-owned systems do not qualify.

A licensed electrician must design and install the eligible solar energy system, so self-installation is ruled out. This is a key part of eligibility to confirm with your installer before you collect quotes.

Approvals before purchase or installation

Your contractor submits a pre-installation application first. You can expect approval or a request for clarification within one week. Wait for written program pre-approval and local-distributor approval before buying anything. The distributor checks connection feasibility, including feeder or transformer capacity, short-circuit limits, voltage and power quality. Effective May 1, 2026, the Ontario Energy Board raised its micro-embedded generation connection threshold from 10 kW to 12 kW. This is a process threshold, not a maximum home system size.

Municipal building rules and Electrical Safety Authority requirements are separate steps. The 2024/29th-edition Ontario Electrical Safety Code took effect May 1, 2025. Almost all electrical work requires a notification, and only Licensed Electrical Contractors may do electrical work for hire. From April 1, 2026, the Electrical Safety Authority charges $336 CAD for contractor-installed systems of 10 kW or less, including up to two inspection visits. Toronto requires a building permit when rooftop panels exceed 5 m². The reported permit fee is $214.79 CAD from January 1, 2026.

The claim after installation

After the solar panel installation, your contractor has 30 days to submit the post-installation application for program review. The claim must include:

• Itemized final invoice: showing the eligible equipment and costs.
• Photographs: of the completed installation.
• Connection and inspection records: applicable distributor connection documents and Electrical Safety Authority inspection documentation.

The rebate is paid only once both applications are approved. A claim can be refused if work starts before written pre-approval, if equipment is ineligible or non-compliant, if documents are missing, or if the system is not designed for load displacement.

Which older incentives and tax credits still apply?

Many incentive programs still show up in search results, but most are now closed. Know which ones have ended so you don’t base your budget on a rebate you cannot get.

Closed federal grants and loans

The Canada Greener Homes Grant closed to new applicants in February 2024. Its solar photovoltaic grant is no longer available for a new project.

• Former grant amount: $1,000 CAD per kW of solar capacity, up to $5,000 CAD.
• Final upload deadline: December 31, 2025 was the last date to upload documents for the Greener Homes Grant.
• Canada Greener Homes Loan: closed to new applicants after October 1, 2025.
• Former loan terms: $5,000 to $40,000 CAD at 0% interest, repayable over up to 10 years, for previously approved applications only.

No general federal personal income-tax credit or deduction exists for solar panels a homeowner installs solely for personal use. The Clean Technology Investment Tax Credit is not a residential solar credit, so leave tax credits out of your household calculation.

Former Ontario programs and sales tax

Several home energy rebates in Ontario have ended. The Home Efficiency Rebate Plus stopped accepting new applicants on February 5, 2024. The former Home Efficiency Rebate ended new intake on January 27, 2025.

The microFIT application window closed on December 1, 2017. It is not an option for a new residential solar project.

Ontario’s HST is 13%, and there is no general HST exemption for an ordinary rooftop photovoltaic purchase. Include HST in every quote you compare.

What can solar panels save an Ontario home?

Your savings depend on how much solar electricity your home uses and which rates that electricity replaces. Getting an accurate estimate starts with sizing the system, then pricing the production against your actual bill.

Sizing and production before estimating savings

Floor area alone cannot tell you the system size or installed cost, even for a 2,000-square-foot house. Sizing starts with 12 months of electricity use in kWh. It then accounts for usable roof area, orientation, slope, shading, roof condition and future loads such as a heat pump or electric vehicle.

• Local production: Toronto plans with 1,150 kWh per year for each installed kW.
• Orientation: Toronto estimates about 15% less output from east- or west-facing sloped roofs than from south-facing ones.
• Location-specific data: Natural Resources Canada maps use a 0.75 performance ratio and cite roughly 0.6% annual degradation.
• Daily and seasonal gaps: output drops in winter and cloudy weather and stops at night, so a grid-connected home still draws power from the grid.

Energy storage fills part of that gap. A battery stores solar or grid electricity and supplies backup power during an outage.

Estimating annual savings in CAD

Take an illustrative 5-kW system producing 1,100 kWh per kW, or 5,500 kWh a year. If the home uses 70% of that output directly, it displaces 3,850 kWh. At an assumed 15.7¢/kWh, that is worth $604.45 CAD a year. These figures are an example, not a guarantee. Ontario Energy Board prices from November 1, 2025 to October 31, 2026 are 9.8¢, 15.7¢ and 20.3¢/kWh for time-of-use off-, mid- and on-peak. Ultra-low overnight pricing is 3.9¢ overnight and 9.8¢ weekend off-peak. Its mid-peak and on-peak rates are 15.7¢ and 39.1¢. Tiered prices are 12.0¢ and 14.2¢/kWh.

The Ontario Electricity Rebate became 23.5% for eligible customers on November 1, 2025, so base your estimate on your real energy bills. A full comparison also includes fixed charges, rebates, maintenance, equipment replacement, degradation, financing and battery costs. A 2025 Canadian report cited a 2021 Ontario study of a time-of-use and heat-pump scenario. That study estimated about $1,270 CAD a year in net savings and a possible 15.5-year payback. According to Toronto, payback depends on roof conditions, use, rates and financing.

Choosing the rebate or net metering

The rebate and net metering are mutually exclusive. The Home Renovation Savings solar incentive is for load displacement, and a system that receives it can never be net-metered. Net metering is a separate route: instead of a rebate, it gives bill credits for surplus renewable energy you export to the grid. According to the Ontario Energy Board, net-metering credits are not cash. They carry forward for up to 12 months and offset electricity-consumption charges, not other bill charges.

A battery can move your electricity use away from peak-rate periods, which can reduce energy costs, and you choose which loads it backs up. New Dawn Energy Solutions assesses your electrical load and backup needs before preparing a tailored solar battery storage system proposal. Compare both routes before you decide whether to apply for the rebate.

Frequently Asked Questions