Home Solar in Manitoba:

Manitoba is a landlocked province in central Canada. As the country’s fifth most populated province, it is home to the cities of Winnipeg, Brandon and Steinbach.

Manitoban provincial government policies do not favor residential solar rebates and incentives. Although its poor policies and low electricity rates are also solar deterrents, its average rate plan structure and reasonable loan efforts can make Manitoba a somewhat favorable place for businesses and residents to invest in solar energy.

Solar Incentives

Manitoba does not provide any solar energy rebates or incentives that help to reduce the overall cost of solar systems.

Our EnergyPal Advisors can help you navigate any local incentives in your area and also apply them to the available solar panel offerings.

Rebates and Tax Breaks

Unfortunately there are no provincial rebates or tax incentives in Manitoba. There may be some local ones in your town, so be sure to check.

Other Energy Incentives

Manitoba does offer some other incentives and rebates for residents who make their homes more energy efficient or purchase energy efficient new homes. These offerings are not specific to solar energy, but still reduce consumption and pollution.

The Canadian federal government helps businesses to pay for their solar systems. It can abolish the first-year rule and achieve an accelerated Capital Cost Allowance (CCA) rate. For more information, visit the tax savings for industry portion of their website.

Utility Policies

Utility policy factors determine what your utility provider pays you for the excess power you produce and what you save on your power bill by reducing electricity usage. Manitoba gets a poor score for utility policies.

Interconnection Policy

One important policy for solar customers is called Net Metering. Net Metering is a billing mechanism that allows solar customers to push electricity to the grid for credit that can be used later, like at night when your solar panels aren’t generating power. This incentivizes people to go solar, provides clean energy for others to use and prevents waste.

Some provinces have poorer net metering policies than others, meaning that credits may not be able to be rolled over to the next month or year, or that you don’t earn full watt-for-watt credit for your excess energy.

Manitoba does not have a Net Metering program. You are just compensated for your excess energy at about 30% of the retail rate.

Solar Setup Fees

Unless you already have a bi-directional meter (necessary for Net Metering), Manitoba’s program charges you about $1000 to install one and complete an interconnection study. Other provinces do not carry this fee.

Electricity Prices

Electricity prices in Manitoba are low. Usually you don’t want high prices, but with solar, the higher the prices, the more you save, and the more economical a solar system becomes. So Manitoba’s low prices are not an advantage.

The average total cost of electricity in Manitoba is $0.096 per kWh, including fixed and variable costs, and assuming a monthly usage of 1,000 kWh. Under similar assumptions, the Canadian national average for all provinces is $0.135 per kWh.

Rate Design

Rate designs are comprised of monthly fees and either a flat or tiered rate you pay for electricity. Good rate designs, which save you money when you conserve energy, are tiered and have low fixed monthly fees. Poor rate designs have flat rates and high fixed monthly fees.

Manitoba is about average when it comes to the quality of its electricity bill rate design. It has flat rates but low fixed fees (around $9 per month).

You still pay fixed monthly fees when you go solar because you are still tied to the grid. Being tied to the grid is a good thing, because otherwise you might not have power at night or if your system stopped working suddenly. Even if you go off of the grid and rely on a battery source, the high cost of the battery would not outweigh the monthly fee and the overall savings obtained from a net metering program.

PACE Programs

PACE stands for Property Assessed Clean Energy and is a financing program for solar projects that is tied to the home instead of the homeowner. The PACE program is not available in Manitoba.

Customers of Manitoba Hydro can utilize something similar to a PACE program called a Home Energy Efficiency Loan. It covers solar systems, electric vehicle chargers, insulation and other efficiency-improving items. The zero-down, low interest loan is rolled into your energy bill and must be paid in 5–15 years, depending on the loan’s purpose. It is not transferable to the next resident as in the PACE program.

Other Energy Financing

Solar systems can be financed by bank loans, solar installer financing, new home mortgages, energy loans and home equity loans or lines of credit. Cash works too. Talk to your EnergyPal Advisor about financing solar options in Manitoba. We regularly source the best deals and terms for customers.

Talk to your EnergyPal Advisor about financing solar options in Manitoba. We regularly source the best deals and terms for customers.