Solar panels in Thunder Bay, Ontario

Thunder Bay has lower but still viable solar production at 1,050 kWh per kW annually. Synergy North distributes electricity, the utility formed on 1 January 2019 when Synergy North merged with Kenora Hydro. Long summer days help offset shorter winter days. Higher electricity costs in northern Ontario can partially offset lower production.

Ontario’s net metering program credits excess solar at the full retail rate. HRSP ($10K for solar + battery) or net metering available – but not both.

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.

Check all available rebates →

Thunder Bay is modelled at 1,050 kWh per kW a year, against about 1,200 in Windsor at the other end of the province. That gap is real and worth stating plainly rather than talking around: the same array produces roughly an eighth less here than in the southwest, so covering an identical bill takes a correspondingly larger system. Two things soften it. The figure is annual, measured across the dark months as well as the long northern summer days, so the winter is already inside the number rather than waiting to surprise you. And panels are more efficient in cold air than in heat, which is why a bright February afternoon after the snow has slid off a pitched array can outproduce a humid July one. Ontario’s connection rules do not change with latitude either — the 12 kW micro-embedded threshold the Ontario Energy Board raised from 10 kW on 1 May 2026 applies through Synergy North exactly as it does through any southern utility, which gives a northern design a little more headroom than it had last year.

If your bill or an old quote says Thunder Bay Hydro, that company no longer exists under that name. Thunder Bay Hydro merged with Kenora Hydro to form Synergy North, effective 1 January 2019. The combined utility serves more than 56,000 residential and business customers across northwestern Ontario and operates from Cumberland Street North in Thunder Bay. Your net metering connection, your offer to connect and your meter all come from Synergy North.

The more surprising fact about Thunder Bay is economic rather than corporate. At 1,050 kWh per kW a year this is one of the weakest solar resources in Ontario — only Sault Ste. Marie is modelled lower, and Sudbury and Huntsville match it. And yet the average saving quoted here, $2,480 a year, is among the highest of the 102 places on this site. Only three others are higher, and two of them are in Saskatchewan.

That combination looks contradictory and is not. A solar system is sized against the bill it is meant to offset, not against the latitude. Thunder Bay households heat harder and longer, run bigger electrical loads through a longer winter, and therefore start from a larger bill — so the system built to offset it is larger, and a larger system on weaker sun can still displace more electricity than a small system on strong sun.

What it does not do is shorten the payback, which runs 9 to 12 years here. A bigger system costs more to buy. Weaker sun on a larger roof buys a bigger annual saving for a bigger up-front cost.

• View Solar Panel Pricing →
• Check Available Rebates →
• Ontario Solar Overview →

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