Solar panels in Peterborough, Ontario : 22 Xolar installs in Peterborough
Cottage-country consumption, Hydro One delivery, and a ten-year payback.
Peterborough is modelled at 1,100 kWh per kW a year — around thirtieth of the 35 Ontario cities on this site — with a payback of 10 to 12 years on a 9 kW system saving about $2,120. Modest sun and an above–average saving is the Kawartha pattern: households here draw more than the provincial norm, so the system is sized to a bigger bill. Hydro One is the distributor.
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Peterborough — 13.5 kW rooftop
Completed February 2023
Real Xolar installs in Peterborough
Completed systems across the Peterborough service area — first-hand specs, not industry averages.
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What 22 real Peterborough installs tell us
Aggregated from completed Xolar systems in Peterborough — first-hand data, not industry averages.
Peterborough energy & net metering
What Hydro One charges here, and how surplus solar is credited in Ontario.
Peterborough’s electricity is distributed by Hydro One, which acquired Peterborough Distribution Inc. from the City in August 2020. Ontario’s Time–of–Use rates apply: 9.8 cents off–peak, 15.7 mid–peak and 20.3 on–peak under the OEB’s regulated price plan, with the Ontario Electricity Rebate applied to the bill. Solar generates hardest through the middle of the day, so what it displaces is the mid and on–peak bands rather than an average rate.
Hydro One Time-of-Use rates in Peterborough
Electricity prices per kilowatt-hour . The Ontario Energy Board sets them province-wide; only delivery charges differ by utility.
On-peak power costs 2.1× off-peak, and on summer weekdays (May to October) on-peak runs 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., the hours a rooftop array produces most. So the power a Peterborough system offsets is the most expensive power the household buys.
How your system works behind the meter
Most of a Peterborough system's value comes from power used behind the meter — electricity your panels make and your home uses on the spot, offsetting energy you'd otherwise buy at 9.8–20.3¢/kWh. Only the surplus flows past the meter to Hydro One for net-metering credit.
Rebates & incentives in Peterborough
Every active local, provincial, federal and Xolar program a Peterborough homeowner can stack. How the HRSP works, who qualifies and how to apply: Ontario solar rebates and incentives .
- Free heat pump install (valued up to $25,000) in Ontario for income-eligible homes with electric or oil heatOil to Heat Pump Affordability (Ontario, via Save on Energy)
- Up to $7,500 (air-source) / $12,000 (ground-source)Home Renovation Savings Program (HRSP) – Heat Pump
- Up to $5,000Home Renovation Savings Program (HRSP) – Solar
- Up to $5,000Home Renovation Savings Program (HRSP) – Battery
- Up to $1625Fall 2026 Sale – Battery
- Up to $2550Fall 2026 Sale – Solar
- Up to $475Fall 2026 Sale – Heat Pump
Heat pump installation in Peterborough
Xolar installs cold-climate heat pumps in Peterborough as well as solar. A ductless heat pump starts at $13,997 installed for one zone, and a central ducted system at $14,997, before rebates and tax.
The rebate is paid per ton, so a typical 3-ton system earns $3,750 in an electrically heated home. Pre-approval is required before installation.
Heat pump packages and prices → · How the Ontario heat pump rebate works →
Solar Panels in Peterborough, Ontario
Peterborough produces about 1,100 kWh per kW of panel a year – solid Eastern Ontario sunshine, a little behind Toronto and Ottawa but well ahead of the north of the province.
Electricity here is distributed by Hydro One, not by a municipal utility. The City sold Peterborough Distribution Inc. to Hydro One in a deal that closed on 1 August 2020, so anything you read naming Peterborough Distribution predates that. Ontario’s Time-of-Use pricing applies, and because solar peaks in the middle of the day it offsets the mid and on-peak bands rather than an average rate.
On a typical 9 kW Peterborough system that works out to roughly 9,900 kWh a year, about $2,120 in savings, and a 10 to 12 year payback. Ontario’s HRSP and net metering remain mutually exclusive – you take the rebate or the 1:1 credits, not both.
Ontario HRSP - Up to $10,000 for Solar + Battery
Ontario’s Home Renovation Savings Program (HRSP), launched January 2025, offers:
- Up to $5,000 for solar panels ($1,000/kW)
- Battery storage at $300/kWh up to $5,000
- HRSP maximums are per category rather than one shared pot: up to $10,000 for solar and storage, up to $12,000 for heat pumps, up to $7,700 for insulation
Important – HRSP vs. Net Metering: Solar installed under HRSP must be sized for on-site load displacement only – net metering is not permitted under HRSP. If you prefer net metering (earning 1:1 credits for excess solar), you would not apply through HRSP. Your Xolar advisor can help determine which option provides the best return.
Note: The Canada Greener Homes Grant and Loan programs are now closed.
Below-Average Sun, Above-Average Saving
Peterborough is modelled at 1,100 kWh per kW a year. That places it around thirtieth of the 35 Ontario cities on this site — level with Orillia, below Kingston at 1,110 and Barrie at 1,130, and a long way behind Chatham-Kent at 1,210.
And yet the average saving quoted here, about $2,120 a year, is higher than in Hamilton at $2,100 or Guelph at $2,050, both of which get better sun at 1,160 and 1,150.
The explanation is the same one that applies across cottage country and northern Ontario. A saving is production multiplied by what that production displaces, and the second term depends on the household rather than the sky. Kawartha properties tend to run larger electrical loads: well pumps, septic pumps, electric heating in a good number of homes, outbuildings, and in some cases a second building on the lot. A bigger bill means a bigger system, and a bigger system on modest sun can displace more than a smaller system on good sun.
What that does not do is shorten the payback, which runs 10 to 12 years here against 9 to 12 in Guelph. A larger system costs more to buy.
The practical reading is that the city-level sunshine figure understates Peterborough’s case if your own consumption is high, and overstates it if you are in a compact, gas-heated house in town. As everywhere, twelve months of your own bills is the number that matters.
Hydro One Is Your Distributor, and It Is Not Like the City Utilities
Electricity in Peterborough is distributed by Hydro One. That is worth stating plainly because most Ontario cities on this site are served by a municipal or regional distributor — Alectra, Enova, GrandBridge, Elexicon — while Hydro One is the province-wide utility that covers much of rural and small-town Ontario.
For a solar customer, the financial framework is unchanged. Time-of-Use pricing is set by the Ontario Energy Board: 9.8 cents off-peak, 15.7 mid-peak, 20.3 on-peak. The 12 kW threshold that decides whether your project takes the simplified micro-embedded generation route is an OEB rule, raised from 10 kW on 1 May 2026. Ontario’s Home Renovation Savings Program pays up to $10,000 for solar panels and battery storage together. The 23.5% Ontario Electricity Rebate applies. None of these depend on who owns the poles.
What is worth checking is your own rate class. Hydro One serves a wide mix of urban, rural and seasonal customers, and delivery charges are not uniform across them. A property outside the built-up area may sit in a different class from one downtown, and that affects the bill you are trying to offset — which is the number a solar quote should be built from.
So the useful step before comparing quotes is to take twelve months of your actual bills rather than a provincial average. In a service territory this varied, the average is doing more work than it can bear.
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22 installs in Peterborough · 270 across Ontario · 549 nationwide
Completed Xolar installations — each dot represents a city where we've installed solar.
Areas We Serve in Peterborough
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What Peterborough homeowners say
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Peterborough solar questions
Is solar viable in Peterborough?
Yes. 1,100 kWh/kW is solid for eastern Ontario.
HRSP ($10K for solar + battery) or net metering available.
Payback: 10-12 years.
What solar rebates are available in Peterborough?
Ontario’s HRSP provides up to $5,000 for solar + battery storage at $300/kWh up to $5,000 (heat pumps carry a separate $12,000 maximum).
Important: HRSP solar cannot use net metering – customers must choose one or the other.
The federal Greener Homes programs are now closed.
Who provides electricity in Peterborough?
Hydro One.
The City of Peterborough sold Peterborough Distribution Inc. to Hydro One in a deal that closed on 1 August 2020, so the local distributor most Peterborough homeowners remember no longer exists.
Ontario’s Time-of-Use rates apply either way: 9.8 cents off-peak, 15.7 mid-peak, 20.3 on-peak, with the Ontario Electricity Rebate applied to your bill.
If you are checking an older quote or article that names Peterborough Distribution, that is why.
How does net metering work in Peterborough?
Hydro One offers 1:1 net metering – exported solar earns credits at the full retail rate, and those credits roll over for 12 months before resetting.
As of May 1, 2026, systems up to 12 kW qualify for Ontario’s simplified micro-embedded connection process (up from 10 kW); larger systems can still net-meter through the standard connection process.
The trade-off worth understanding is that solar installed under Ontario’s Home Renovation Savings Program cannot use net metering at all, so you choose between the HRSP rebate and 1:1 credits rather than taking both.
Why is Peterborough's saving higher than cities with better sun?
Because the saving depends on the bill more than the sunshine.
Peterborough is modelled at 1,100 kWh per kW a year, around thirtieth of the 35 Ontario cities on this site, yet its average saving of about $2,120 exceeds Hamilton’s $2,100 and Guelph’s $2,050, both of which get more sun.
Kawartha households tend to draw more — well and septic pumps, electric heating in many properties, outbuildings — so systems are sized to displace more.
The trade-off appears in the payback rather than the saving: 10 to 12 years here, because a larger system costs more to buy.
Does being on Hydro One change anything for solar?
Not financially.
Hydro One is the province-wide distributor rather than a municipal one, but Time-of-Use rates, the 12 kW simplified-connection threshold, the Home Renovation Savings Program worth up to $10,000 for solar and storage, and the 23.5% Ontario Electricity Rebate are all set provincially and apply identically.
What it does affect is the practical path — your net metering application, the engineering review and the meter all come from Hydro One.
One thing worth checking is your own rate class: Hydro One serves urban, rural and seasonal customers and delivery charges differ between them, so build your quote from twelve months of your actual bills rather than a provincial average.
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