Sample home, Metro Vancouver (fictional)

1. Property overview

2. Roof suitability

Google identified 3 roof sections totalling about 168 m². About 59 m² could hold panels: up to 30 panels (12.0 kW).

“Sun” is the yearly solar energy reaching each section after shading from trees and nearby buildings, per kW of panels (median across the section).

3. Suggested panel layout

Synthetic roof for this fictional sample; in your report, panel positions come from the Google Solar API for your roof.

4. Estimated system size

We suggest 12 panels (4.8 kW): the size with the best long-term value for your home that does not produce more electricity in a year than you use. On BC Hydro’s self-generation rate, exports beyond what you use in a billing period earn 10¢/kWh, less than the power they replace, so covering less than all of your use often gives better value.

Suggested size or all of your use?

Suggested: 4.8 kW gives the best long-term value of the layouts that don’t produce more electricity than you use. It’s expected to come out $540 over 25 years in today’s dollars, after paying for the system.

Covers your yearly use: 11.2 kW (28 panels) produces about as much electricity as you use in a year. The extra 6.4 kW costs about $17,720 more after rebates and saves about $631 more in the first year, so the extra panels take roughly 28 years to pay for themselves. Rebates add only $200 for the extra panels, because they are capped. Over 25 years it’s expected to cost about $5,466 more than it saves, in today’s dollars.

Even covering all your use, your bill won’t reach zero: about $149 remains in the first year, because solar credits can’t pay the Basic Charge, and summer surplus earns less than the winter electricity it has to replace.

A larger system can still make sense if you plan to add an electric car, heat pump or other electric load, expect electricity prices to rise faster than we assume, or simply want to produce as much as you use. Section 3 compares other layouts on your roof.

5. Estimated annual production

About 4,415 kWh in the first year (920 kWh per kW), falling about 0.5% a year as the panels age.

Cross-check: PVGIS estimates about 1068 kWh per kW for an ideally placed south-facing array near Vancouver, Natural Resources Canada about 1007. The best panels on your roof: 933 kWh per kW.

6. Your electricity use

About 9,750 kWh a year, from your electricity bill. Confidence: high.

• Based on 365 days of billing history, which covers a full year of seasons.

7. Estimated installation cost

• Installed price per watt (DC), before incentives: our low / base / high range is built around published Canadian averages and widened because prices vary a lot between companies and roofs. It is not a quote.
• Small systems cost more per watt because of fixed costs (permits, electrical work, connection); we use a minimum installed price of $8,000.
• A string inverter typically lasts 10–15 years. We include one replacement in year 13 at $0.30 per watt. Microinverters often carry 25-year warranties, which would remove this cost.
• An allowance of $75 a year (rising with inflation) covers monitoring, occasional inspection and minor repairs.
• BC exempts solar panels, and inverters and wiring bought with them, from PST; most quotes already reflect this.

8. Potential rebates and programs

Included as potential amounts:

• BC Hydro Solar & Battery Rebates: up to $4,800 for this system. Requires BC Hydro technical acceptance before you buy or install, and an HPCN-member installer. Paid while funding lasts.

Other programs to know about (not in the figures):

• BC Hydro Self-Generation Service (RS 2289) (BC Hydro): In effect. Production above your use in a billing period earns a 10¢/kWh credit against Energy Charges.
• PST exemption for solar panels (Province of British Columbia): In effect. Solar panels, and inverters and wiring bought with them, are exempt from PST.

Confirm current rules, and get any required pre-approval, before you sign or install. See our rebate database.

9. Savings and payback

Without any incentives the expected payback would be 22.7 years, with net savings of $1,994 over 25 years.

Cumulative cash position

Starts at minus the net cost and crosses zero at payback. A dip partway through is the inverter replacement. Pessimistic: higher price, 10% less output, more snow, slower price rises, lower use, unused export credit lost. Optimistic: the reverse.

10. Important limitations and risks

• On BC Hydro's self-generation rate, electricity you export beyond what you use in a billing period earns 10¢ per kWh, and the credit can only pay Energy Charges. In this design about 81 kWh a year would be credited that way, mostly in summer, compared with about 11.9¢ per kWh for electricity you would otherwise buy.
• BC Hydro Solar & Battery Rebates: $4,800 is a potential amount, not a promise. Requires BC Hydro technical acceptance before you buy or install, and an HPCN-member installer. Paid while funding lasts.
• Installed prices vary widely between companies. Our cost range is based on published averages; your quotes may be higher or lower.
• Electricity prices may rise more slowly than assumed, and export and net-metering rules can change, as BC Hydro’s did in July 2026.
• If your roof will need replacing within the next 10 years, replace it first: removing and reinstalling panels later typically costs thousands of dollars.
• Panels and inverters can fail. Most panels carry 25-year performance warranties; string inverters usually need replacing once (we include that cost).

11. Our recommendation

Why

• A 4.8 kW system (12 panels) would produce about 4,415 kWh in its first year, roughly 45% of the 9,750 kWh your home uses.
• Estimated cost $13,440 before incentives, $8,640 if the incentives listed are approved. It would cut about $573 from your electricity bills in year one.
• In the expected case it pays for itself in about 16.6 years; the range across our scenarios is 9.3 years to more than the system’s life.
• Over its life, solar electricity from this system would cost about 16.9¢ per kWh, compared with the roughly 14.8¢ you pay today for each extra kWh (including delivery charges, riders and tax where they apply).
• The financial case depends on getting the incentives: without them the system would barely break even, about $1,994 ahead after 25 years, which is less than the same money would earn in a low-risk investment.

Next steps

• Get at least three written quotes. Compare price per watt and estimated kWh per year with this report.
• Check rebate rules before signing anything: most programs need approval before you buy or install.
• Ask each installer about the export rules that apply to you and how they modelled them.
• Use our free quote checker to compare quotes with this report.

Questions to ask any installer

• What is the total installed price, and the price per watt (DC)? Does it include permits, electrical upgrades and the utility connection?
• Which panels and inverter (or microinverters) are proposed, and what are their warranties? Who honours the workmanship warranty if your company closes?
• What annual production (kWh) do you estimate, and what software and shading assumptions did you use?
• Is my roof in good enough condition to last as long as the panels? What does removal and reinstallation cost?
• Will you handle the utility interconnection application and any rebate pre-approval, before anything is bought or installed?
• Are your savings figures based on my actual rate and the current export rules?

Assumptions, calculations and sources

For each of 25 years we work out your electricity bills with and without solar using your utility’s rate structure (fixed charges, energy tiers, delivery charges, export rules and GST), that year’s prices and that year’s panel output. The difference is the saving. Payback is when cumulative savings, less maintenance and an inverter replacement, exceed the net cost. Full methodology.

• Google’s Solar API estimates how much sunlight each panel position receives over a year, in DC kWh, using 3D roof and surroundings models. We convert to AC with Google’s 85% factor (inverter, wiring, soiling and other losses).
• We subtract a further 3% (1–6% across scenarios) for snow on the panels in winter.
• Panels lose about 0.5% of their output each year.
• We analyse 25 years, a common panel warranty length. Panels often last longer, which would improve the result.
• Future savings are discounted at 4% a year, roughly what a low-risk investment might earn instead.
• New solar customers since 1 July 2026 are on RS 2289: production above use in a billing period earns 10¢/kWh as a credit against Energy Charges only. BC Hydro does not say whether unused credit carries forward; we assume it does in the expected case and that it is lost in the pessimistic case.
• BC Hydro’s rate riders (the Deferral Account Rate Rider and others) are not included because the current percentage could not be confirmed. Leaving them out slightly understates savings.
• PST does not apply to residential electricity in BC; GST (5%) does.
• Price increase scenarios (1.5% / 3% / 4.5% a year) are our assumptions. BC Hydro bills rose 3.75% in April 2025 and April 2026 under government direction.

Sources

• BC Hydro: Residential tiered rates
• BC Hydro: Self-generation (RS 2289, from 1 July 2026)
• BC PST Act Part 6: residential electricity exempt
• EnergyHub: Cost of solar power in Canada (2023 data, BC $2.52–3.17/W, AB $2.60–3.27/W)
• NREL: PV O&M cost benchmark (about US$20–31 per kW per year, including inverter replacement)
• Google Solar API: DC to AC conversion of 85%
• Jordan et al. (2016): median panel degradation about 0.5% per year
• Estimating PV snow losses (Canadian studies: typically 2–5% a year, higher on low-tilt arrays)
• PVGIS v5.2, PVGIS-NSRDB (2005–2015), 1 kWp, 30° tilt, south, 14% losses. © European Union

Important

• This report is an estimate for planning purposes. It is not an engineering design, a structural or electrical assessment, a quote, or financial, tax or legal advice.
• Roof measurements, panel positions and solar production come from the Google Solar API’s analysis of aerial imagery and 3D models and may differ from your actual roof. An installer must verify them on site.
• Savings are not guaranteed. They depend on future electricity prices, utility rules, how you use electricity, the equipment installed and its performance.
• Incentive amounts are potential amounts under program rules as we last verified them. Eligibility and approval are decided by each program, often only before you buy or install. Programs can change or close without notice.
• We are independent: we do not sell or install solar systems, and we do not share your information without your permission.
• This report is not affiliated with or endorsed by any government, utility or Google.

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