Solar panels in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories

Yellowknife has outstanding solar energy potential, with installations producing an average of 1,095 kWh per kW installed annually – among the highest in all of Canada. This means a typical 10 kW residential system generates approximately 10,950 kWh per year. Yellowknife benefits from extended summer daylight (up to 20 hours around the solstice) and cold temperatures that improve panel efficiency. The subarctic climate provides excellent solar irradiance, particularly from March through September when daylight hours are longest.

Yellowknife is served by Naka Power (formerly Northland Utilities) at approximately 37-38 cents/kWh – nearly double the Canadian average of 19.2 cents/kWh. This makes Yellowknife one of the most expensive cities for electricity in Canada. By going solar, Yellowknife homeowners can save approximately $3,300 per year. Over a 25-year system lifespan, that translates to over $82,000 in total savings, with returns growing as electricity rates continue to increase.

Yellowknife residents can access net metering through Naka Power for systems up to 15 kW, receiving credits at the full retail electricity rate. Credits expire annually on March 31st. Important: The Arctic Energy Alliance (AEA) solar rebate ($4/watt up to $20,000) is NOT available in Yellowknife – this program is restricted to communities not on the hydroelectric grid (diesel communities). The federal Canada Greener Homes Grant closed to new applicants in March 2024, and the Greener Homes Loan closed October 1, 2025. Neither is available to new applicants. Even without rebates, Yellowknife’s high electricity rates make the payback period among the shortest in Canada at 7-10 years.

Yellowknife is the strongest case for residential solar on this entire site, and the reason is the price of electricity rather than the amount of sun.

Naka Power charges roughly 37 to 38 cents per kilowatt-hour — close to double the Canadian average of about 19.2 cents. Because a solar system’s value is the electricity you stop buying, that rate does more work than sunshine ever could. The average saving quoted here is $3,300 a year, the highest of the 102 places on this site and more than double what a Charlottetown or Corner Brook household saves. Payback runs 7 to 10 years, the shortest band we quote anywhere.

Production helps too. At 1,095 kWh per kW a year Yellowknife outperforms most of Atlantic Canada, which surprises people who assume the far north must be poor for solar. Long summer days at this latitude do a great deal of work between May and August.

But the shape of that production is the thing to plan around. Yellowknife’s output is concentrated hard into the summer and close to absent in December, while a subarctic household’s consumption runs the other way. That mismatch is what makes the credit rules matter more here than almost anywhere: Naka Power credits excess generation at the retail rate, but credits expire annually. A large summer surplus banked against a dark winter is useful; a surplus larger than your whole year’s consumption simply expires.

The practical consequence is that Yellowknife rewards sizing to twelve months of consumption precisely — not conservatively, because the rate is high enough to justify a real system, and not generously, because anything above your annual usage is written off each year.

• View Solar Panel Pricing →
• Check Available Rebates →
• Northwest Territories Solar Overview →

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