Home Solar in Nunavut:

Nunavut is the largest of Canadian provinces and territories by land area. It is the country’s second least populous place and one of the world’s most remote, nearly unsettled regions. Nunavut has a polar climate. The capital is Iqaluit.

Nunavut government utility policies favor solar installation. In addition to a good net metering policy and superior rate design, high energy prices make it a favorable place for businesses and residents to invest in solar energy.

Solar Incentives

Nunavut 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 rebates or tax incentives in Nunavut. There may be some local ones in your town, so be sure to check.

Other Energy Incentives

The Home Renovation Program for Nunavut residents also offers a sliding-scale, forgivable loan for materials and labor associated with home renovation, repairs and efficiency upgrades like insulation, thermostats, appliances and LED lighting. The maximum amount varies from $50,000 to $65,000 depending on the type of project(s).

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. Nunavut gets a high 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.

Nunavut’s Net Metering program is good. Credits can be carried over into the next month, and you can connect a system up to 10 kW in size. Your credits expire at the end of March every year.

Solar Setup Fees

Nunavut’s program does not charge fees for interconnection studies or a bi-directional meter (necessary for Net Metering). Other provinces and territories do carry this fee.

Electricity Prices

Electricity prices in Nunavut are on the high end. 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.

The average total cost of electricity in Nunavut is $0.375 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.

Nunavut has the best electricity bill rate design. It has tiered rates and no monthly fixed fees. That means that you can theoretically completely eliminate your electric bill and still be tied to the grid! Being tied to the grid is a good thing, because otherwise you cannot have power at night unless you’ve paid for an expensive battery to store energy.

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 Nunavut. Refer to the Home Renovation Program for sliding-scale, forgivable loans.

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 Nunavut. We regularly source the best deals and terms for customers.