Rooftop, ground-mount and carport arrays sized against your consumption profile — because in Ontario a solar system earns credits, not cheques, and the two are not the same business case.
Ontario net metering credits offset the commodity portion of your electricity bill. They do not offset delivery charges, they do not offset regulatory charges, and the province does not pay cash for surplus generation.
That single fact should govern the design. An array sized to fill the available roof will generate credits you cannot use, which expire after twelve consecutive months. An array sized against your actual consumption profile earns on every kilowatt-hour it makes.
A proposal that values generation at your full blended rate per kilowatt-hour is overstating the saving, often substantially, because delivery and regulatory charges are not offset.
Ask any bidder to show the assumed value per kilowatt-hour and where it comes from. If it matches the bottom line of your bill divided by consumption, the payback is wrong.
Commercial solar is covered by the Clean Technology Investment Tax Credit at 30%, refundable, including the balance-of-system equipment, for property available for use through 31 December 2033. Battery storage qualifies in its own right, whether or not it is paired with generation.
The credit is claimable by taxable Canadian corporations and by REIT mutual fund trusts. It is not available to individuals, sole proprietorships, municipalities, school boards or non-profits — which is a conversation better had at the start than at the end.
Grid-tied work is installed and filed by an ESA-licensed electrical contractor, who submits the Notification of Work before anything is mounted. Net metering runs under O. Reg. 541/05, capped at 500 kW, with two routes depending on size — and the threshold is lower than most owners expect. The detail is on the grid connection page.
| Type | Suits | The thing to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Ballasted flat roof | Commercial and industrial membrane roofs | Structural capacity for ballast plus snow; remaining roof life |
| Mechanically attached | Steel deck, sloped roofs | Penetration detailing and the roof warranty |
| Ground mount | Sites with land | Setbacks, grading and trench runs to the service |
| Carport | Institutional, retail, fleet sites | Highest cost per watt; often justified by the canopy, not the power |
If your roof has fewer than ten years of life left, deal with the roof first. Removing and reinstalling an array is a cost nobody budgets for and it eats the return.
We install residential systems where the numbers work. The federal credit does not apply to residential property, so the case rests on net metering and on your own consumption — which means a house that is empty all day is a weaker candidate than the roof area suggests. Financing is available on qualifying projects.
Net metering in Ontario is capped at 500 kW nameplate. Systems of 10 kW and under follow a simpler micro-generator process; above that, the local distribution company runs a system impact assessment before connection is approved.
No. Ontario issues credits, not payments. Unused credits carry forward and expire after twelve consecutive months, which is the reason to size against consumption rather than roof area.
No. The Clean Technology ITC is claimable by taxable Canadian corporations and REIT mutual fund trusts. Public and non-profit owners should look to utility incentive programs instead, which are not restricted by tax status.
An ESA-licensed electrical contractor files the Notification of Work before installation begins, and the installation is inspected against the Ontario Electrical Safety Code. This is separate from, and additional to, the municipal building permit.
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Send the building type, the approximate size and what prompted the project. You will get a scoped proposal with the incentive position set out line by line — not a number on a page.