Published On: August 20, 2024

Are You Solar Ready™? Going Solar Has Never Been Easier

Our new Solar Ready™ Program and Pre-Solar Rate™ are getting micro-generators into the game faster than ever.

With its sunny skies and deregulated power market, Alberta has become a hotbed of activity in the residential solar market. Alberta’s Micro-generation Regulations are the most progressive in Canada, and homeowners are investing on average between $20,000 to $25,000 to put solar on their rooftops.

The Solar Club™ encourages homeowners to consider adding solar to their rooftops by offering a below-cost incentive Pre-Solar Rate™. This new service will bridge the gap between the homeowner formally signing a contract with a solar installer to the Wires Service Provider designating a site for micro-generation. It can often be as many as 180 days before a new solar micro-generator can start reaping the benefits of lowering their monthly utility costs.

The Pre-Solar Rate is uniquely available to customers who are at one of the following points in their solar journey:

  • You’ve signed a solar installation contract and are waiting on the installation to begin; or
  • The system has been installed and you’re waiting for the inspection and bidirectional meter to be installed; or
  • The inspection is complete and the bidirectional meter installed, and you’re waiting for the Wires Company to flag the site for micro-generation.

Natural Resources Canada partnered with the Canadian Solar Industries Association to develop Solar Ready Guidelines which focuses on the technical specifications of becoming “solar ready.” The Solar Club is the first company in Alberta to address the business side of the solution with a Pre-Solar Rate to help consumers lower their utility costs from the very beginning of their solar journey.

Solar adopters often encounter roadblocks or confusion throughout the solar journey. Our Solar Ready Program has automated this process; the day the Wires Service Provider updates the site listing as a micro-generation site, our system automatically enrolls you in the Solar Club Loyalty Program – no muss, no fuss.

The solar market continues to grow at an exponential pace. In 2020, there were 5,000 micro-generation sites in the province, and the number has grown to over 25,000 sites with solar installed in just four years. During the summer of 2024, approximately 40 to 50 new sites are being added to the market each day, with owners investing collectively over $1 million on a daily basis in solar.

The Solar Club has created a unique virtual community called the Hummingbird Virtual Solar Community. With over 140,000 solar panels installed on rooftops around the province, it counts over 7,000 members networked together through UTILITYnet’s Community Energy Marketer program. Humminbird VSC members have invested over $100 million in Alberta’s solar market.

We have set the standard for micro-generation in Alberta through the Solar Club by building the largest virtual solar community in the province, one household, business, and farm at a time.

Owners can expect to significantly reduce or even completely offset their electric bills when they install a solar PV system. Solar panels generate free, renewable energy throughout their 25 to 30-year lifespan, meaning every kilowatt-hour (kWh) of solar used to power a home is one less unit purchased from the grid.

Solar Club – Doing What We Can, One Kilowatt-Hour at a Time

thinking about solar?

Once you have solar installed on your home, you are considered a micro-generator and are automatically eligible to be part of Alberta’s best solar loyalty program.