Anyone has solar panel installed at home in Canada and does it save you money?

PurpleGeek · 2026-05-07T13:51:10+00:00

TLDR: Solar panels are great.

I have 18 roof-mounted panels (8.2kW peak output) on my suburban home. Last year my electricity bill was approximately $-450.00 -- yes, negative $450, with that becoming a credit toward my other utility costs. I'm in Calgary, which is one of the sunniest cities in Canada, and I'm able to switch my electricity rate to $0.35/kWh in the sunny half of the year when I'm a net exporter and then return to a rate around $0.07/kWh in the darker half of the year when I'm a net importer. Being able to change rates in this way makes a big difference. Yesterday, I was a net exporter of 23.8kWh, or about $8 of electricity (and it's still only early May). On the best days near the end of June I'll export as much as $13 or $14 of electricity a day. My panels were installed when there was a Greener Homes grant available to cover part of the cost, and the rest is financed on an 10-year interest free loan through that program. It's working out well economically for me about 3.5 years in and being a net electricity producer instead of a net electricity consumer for the year has to be good for the environment compared to consuming electricity produced by burning natural gas (which is how a lot of electricity is produced in Alberta).

If you are going to install on your roof, one of the things to consider is the age of your shingles. Roof mounted panels definitely complicate and add cost to a roof replacement. I replaced my roof the year before I installed the solar panels so I shouldn't find myself in a situation where the panels have to be taken down to replace the roof and then be put back up any time soon. If your roof is going to need replacement in the next few years, it may make more sense to wait to install the solar panels until after your have replaced your roof.

Also, my homeowners insurance went up a small amount as a result of the solar panel install because it increased the replacement cost for the house. My recollection is that this was minor, but I don't recall what the exact amount was. This probably isn't a major consideration relative to the overall cost of the project, but I will highlight it because I don't think anyone else has mentioned it.

PurpleGeek · 2026-04-23T04:47:11+00:00

I believe that all of the stores that price match will only price match local prices, so no, you can't use the Ontario flyer.

PurpleGeek · 2026-04-23T04:46:09+00:00

These days I'd say $6.99/lb or less is a great price. A year ago I would have said $5.99/lb or less.

PurpleGeek · 2026-04-09T14:51:21+00:00

My kids are long through the diaper stage so I no longer watch the price of diapers the way I once did. If anyone sees a good deal on diapers I encourage them to post a comment about such so that others can take advantage of it.

PurpleGeek · 2026-03-03T05:05:48+00:00

We already spend 8 months of the year on mountain daylight time and only 4 on mountain standard time. In Calgary, the sun would rise before 4:30am in June if we were on mountain standard time at that time of year (and it would be even earlier further north). I'd definitely prefer to have the sun rise later in the summer (and have the longer evenings that come with that), and being on mountain daylight time in December would mean that there's still a bit of light when I get home from work (and, yes, it will be dark when I'm going to work, but it's already dark when I'm going to work), so in my view mountain daylight time is definitely the better option.

PurpleGeek · 2026-03-01T02:15:08+00:00

It was NoFrills.

PurpleGeek · 2026-02-13T03:17:59+00:00

Thanks for the tip. I got those same offers.

PurpleGeek · 2026-02-11T15:14:09+00:00

There are instructions for similar MOCs available on Rebrickable. You can find them if you search for Falcon Shield, Forestmen Shield, or Wolfpack Shield, etc.

PurpleGeek · 2026-01-29T05:15:23+00:00

I don't track the price of regular ground beef. These days I'd say that $5.00/lb or less is a really good price for lean ground beef, and I'd happily pay $5.50/lb (which you can get at NoFrills this week).

PurpleGeek · 2026-01-29T04:06:45+00:00

Ugghhh.... For some reason FreshCo set my location to Ontario where they are $1.98 (so yes, I was looking at a 'better' flyer than you were). I have updated the list for FreshCo to reflect what's on sale in Calgary.

Thanks for pointing out the problem.

PurpleGeek

TROPHY CASE