Solar panels in Newfoundland and Labrador

Month to month, yes; across the whole year, no.

Both Newfoundland Power and NL Hydro run net metering as a banking model rather than paying retail for every surplus kilowatt-hour.

When your panels produce more than you use, the surplus kilowatt-hours are banked and applied to future bills.

Any surplus still remaining at your annual review is bought back at a wholesale rate — for Newfoundland Power, the same rate it pays to purchase power from NL Hydro — which is well below the retail rate you pay for grid power.

The practical takeaway: size your system to your own annual usage rather than to over-produce.

Yes.

Credits don’t roll over indefinitely.

On NL Hydro, any unused credited energy is settled on the annual anniversary date of your connection, so the bank resets each year and leftover surplus is paid out at the wholesale rate.

Newfoundland Power settles surplus at the end of its annual review period.

Individual residential systems are capped at 100 kW on both utilities — NL Hydro limits you to 100 kW or the capacity needed to meet your own needs, whichever is lower, and Newfoundland Power also caps installations at 100 kW.

Newfoundland Power additionally notes a province-wide limit where total installed customer-owned generation cannot exceed 5 megawatts.

Eligible generation includes solar photovoltaic (as well as wind, geothermal, biomass, tidal, and wave).

A typical home system sits far below the 100 kW ceiling.

On NL Hydro’s rate schedule, the residential first-block energy rate is about 15.6¢/kWh on the Island Interconnected system (rates are much lower on the Labrador Interconnected system).

Newfoundland Power rates rose an average of 2.3% effective July 1, 2026, driven by higher power-supply costs, though the utility says its rates remain among the lowest in Atlantic Canada.

There is currently no provincial solar-specific rebate in Newfoundland and Labrador — the provincial takeCHARGE efficiency programs cover insulation, air-sealing, heat recovery ventilators, EV chargers, and oil-to-electric conversions, but not solar PV.

The federal Canada Greener Homes Grant closed to submissions at the end of 2025 and the Greener Homes Loan is also closed, so federal solar incentives are no longer available.

The economic case for solar here rests on offsetting your own electricity use.

Start before you buy anything.

NL Hydro asks customers to call before purchasing or installing equipment, then submit a Net Metering Interconnection Application Form, sign an Interconnection Agreement, and meet the technical interconnection requirements — with the install completed within two years of approval.

Newfoundland Power uses an eight-step process beginning with an application, followed by utility review, approval, permits, a signed interconnection agreement, and system testing.

There are no application fees, but you cover any costs beyond a standard connection, such as line or service upgrades.