Fix First HomeWhat home-upgrade rebates actually pay — and who you apply to.

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Solar panel and battery rebates in British Columbia

Solar sits outside the CleanBC programmes entirely. BC Hydro runs its own rebate: up to $5,000 for panels, and up to $1,500 for a battery installed with them, or $5,000 for a battery enrolled in its Peak Saver programme. The $10,000 on BC Hydro’s own headline needs Peak Saver.

What is available

up to $5,000 for panels

BC Hydro’s solar and battery rebates pay $1,000 per kilowatt of panels, up to half the installed cost and $5,000 a home, and $500 per kilowatt-hour of battery: up to $1,500 installed with solar, or $5,000 if the battery is enrolled in Peak Saver, the only way a battery without solar qualifies. Grid-connected systems only, first come, first served while funding lasts. New Westminster, which runs its own electric utility, offers the same with BC Hydro.

source · verified 27 September 2026

Worth knowing before you commit

Not part of the Home Renovation Rebate

Solar is a BC Hydro rebate in its own right. It is not one of the CleanBC Home Renovation Rebate measures, so the rules and the application are separate.

Grid connection is a condition

The rebate covers grid-connected systems for qualifying residential customers. Off-grid installations are not covered.

Apply before you install

BC Hydro wants a self-generation application before the panels go up, and a battery enrolled in Peak Saver within 14 days of interconnection approval to get the higher rebate. The owner is paid, even for a tenanted home.

What Peak Saver asks of you

BC Hydro can draw on or pause an enrolled battery during peak events of up to four hours, mostly in winter. Opt out of more than half the events in a season and the seasonal reward can be withheld.

Loans that cover solar

Nanaimo lends up to $15,000 at 0% on the property tax bill for solar on an electrically heated home, with applications closing 31 October 2026, and the Central Kootenay’s HomeSave counts solar generation and storage.

Who you apply to

Decided by your electricity provider, not your municipality.

Which body to apply to, by electricity provider
Your electricity providerWhere the application goes
BC Hydroapply to BC Hydro, before you install
New Westminsterthe City’s own version, with BC Hydro
FortisBC, or another utilitynot eligible: BC Hydro names FortisBC customers as excluded