British Columbia·Commercial and industrial solar
Commercial solar installation in British Columbia puts part of your facility’s electricity supply on your own roof, so you buy less from BC Hydro or FortisBC. On July 1, 2026, BC Hydro closed net metering to new customers and moved excess generation to a fixed credit of 10 cents per kWh, so the return now rests on how your generation compares with your use in each billing period, and on which BC Hydro program fits your system. Green Integrations has completed projects in British Columbia and designs and installs commercial and industrial rooftop solar and battery storage for BC facilities.
We start with your bills, so you see the modelled payback before you commit to a system.
Cost
Installed cost for commercial rooftop solar in BC runs about $1.30 to $2.10 per watt DC before incentives, and larger systems usually land lower in that range.
Solar panels, inverters, wiring and controllers bought together as a system are exempt from BC’s 7% PST (Provincial Sales Tax), while batteries are not. If BC Hydro finds the local grid needs an upgrade to take your system, it tells you whether you fund that work, and we raise that question before the budget is final. Our guide to what commercial solar panels cost in Canada explains what drives the price per watt.
| System size (DC) | Installed cost before incentives | Range on a $0–$2.1M scale |
|---|---|---|
| 100 kW | $130,000 to $210,000 | |
| 250 kW | $325,000 to $525,000 | |
| 500 kW | $650,000 to $1,050,000 | |
| 1 MW | $1,300,000 to $2,100,000 |
Self-generation
Under BC Hydro’s self-generation service, Rate Schedule 2289, your system powers the building first. If you generate more than you use over a billing period, the difference becomes a dollar credit at 10 cents per kWh. Credit you do not use carries forward, and you can ask BC Hydro to refund it. Credits cover energy charges only, so the Basic Charge and other charges stay on your bill.
Load displacement means generating power on site to replace power you would otherwise buy from BC Hydro. A commercial customer using under 2 GWh a year has neither incentive available above 100 kW AC, which makes system size the first decision. The limit is measured at the inverter. Allow about 6,600 square feet of roof for every 100 kW.
A bigger system can still use self-generation if the site limits net injection, the power it sends to the grid, to 100 kW AC per phase at the point of delivery. That allows up to 300 kW of export on a balanced three-phase service. Staying inside that limit typically avoids upgrades to BC Hydro’s primary distribution system, substations and transmission system, although the secondary system and the transformer serving your site can still need work. The federal tax measures still apply to a system this size.
Incentives
BC Hydro funding comes off your cost first, and the federal tax measures then apply to what is left. We have secured more than $20M in incentive funding, and our rebates and incentives page lists the programs in each province.
Capped at 50% of installed cost and $10,000 for a commercial building.
100 kW AC or less; BC Hydro acceptance before equipment is bought and installed; installed by a Home Performance Contractor Network member; first come, first served while funding lasts.
Capped at 50% of installed cost and $10,000 for a commercial building.
Battery installed with a solar system and charging from solar only; the system must be non-exporting; battery-only systems do not qualify.
Incentives covering up to 75% of total project cost, to a maximum of $1 million per site.
More than 100 kW AC; an eligible industrial or large commercial customer; at least 25,000 kWh displaced a year.
Up to 80% of eligible project costs.
Qualified facilities in BC Hydro’s demand response framework, where a site reduces or shifts its use at peak times.
Refundable credit of up to 30% of capital costs, net of other incentives.
Taxable Canadian corporations; the full rate depends on the prevailing wage and apprenticeship conditions.
100% write-off in the first year.
Applies to the net cost after rebates and tax credits.
BC Hydro sets each incentive through its own engineering and financial review, based on up to 10 years of energy savings, and it provides funding for a feasibility study. Projects submitted by February 11, 2027 and completed by March 14, 2028 qualify for a 30% bonus incentive, so we build those dates into the schedule from the start. When Restoration Lands in Coldstream built what BC Hydro called the province’s largest commercial-industrial rooftop array, a custom incentive of almost $875,000 covered almost 40% of the installation cost.
A 120 kW DC system on 100 kW AC of inverters, at $1.80 per watt and the full federal credit rate:
The first-year write-off then applies to the $144,200.
Your project will be modelled using your facility’s actual data.
Check which incentives may apply to your projectPayback
BC power is inexpensive, so payback on a BC project depends on your general service rate.
| BC Hydro rate | Annual peak demand | Energy charge | Demand charge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small General Service | Under 35 kW | 14.06 cents per kWh | None |
| Medium General Service | 35 to 150 kW, and under 550,000 kWh a year | 10.86 cents per kWh | $6.07 per kW |
| Large General Service | 150 kW or more, or over 550,000 kWh a year | 6.79 cents per kWh | $13.83 per kW |
Generation up to your use in a billing period avoids the energy charge at your rate. On Medium and Large General Service accounts, your highest 15-minute reading in each billing period sets the demand charge. Solar can bring that reading down when your peak falls in solar hours, although another peak can then set the charge, and 24-hour operations may see only a small drop. Our guide to how much a business can save covers the savings side.
Victoria · BC Hydro
Commercial solar panel installation in Victoria and across southern Vancouver Island follows the BC Hydro rules above. Every photovoltaic system in the city needs an electrical permit. Under the City’s solar panel policy, a building permit is waived only on a BC Building Code Part 9 building, with loads held to 5 lb per square foot and 50 lb at each attachment point, and panels no more than 16 inches above the roof. Larger commercial buildings fall outside that waiver, so structural drawings and the building permit go into the schedule from the start.
Vancouver · BC Hydro
Commercial solar installation in Vancouver needs an electrical permit, and the City’s criteria send flat roofs, ballasted mounts and buildings other than one- and two-family homes to a full building permit, so industrial solar panels on a flat warehouse roof need both. The system stays off until the City Electrician accepts the installation. New Westminster runs its own electrical utility, and BC Hydro’s commercial rebate needs a BC Hydro business account, so we confirm the utility rules there before a design goes further.
Kelowna · FortisBC
Commercial solar energy in Kelowna, West Kelowna and the South Okanagan runs on FortisBC rules, as it does in the Boundary and the Kootenays, and BC Hydro’s rebates and incentives do not apply there. The FortisBC Net Metering Program is open to commercial and irrigation customers. It banks excess generation in kWh and settles any balance once a year, at the rate FortisBC pays other power producers. Capacity tops out at 50 kW and production is limited to what offsets your expected annual use. A larger system sits outside the program, and its connection terms are set with FortisBC. The federal tax measures apply either way. Coldstream, just to the north, is BC Hydro territory, so check the name on your bill first.
Storage
Battery storage moves daytime solar into later hours, can trim the demand charge on Medium and Large General Service accounts, and can keep critical systems running through an outage.
The BC Hydro battery rebate requires a non-exporting system, which gives up the 10 cent credit, so we evaluate the battery and the array together against your load profile and rate.
Industries
Industrial customers have no 2 GWh test for load displacement, and large roofs clear the 100 kW AC and 25,000 kWh thresholds easily. The first question is how BC Hydro classes your business.
Landlords apply with a declaration form, and the owner claims the rebate on a separate landlord form. The tenant who holds the BC Hydro account has to agree, because the rate changes and the credits land on the tenant’s bill.
Barns, workshops and storage buildings billed on a residential rate fall under BC Hydro’s residential rebate, capped at $5,000. We check the account type before sizing the system.
Process
Four stages, with the BC Hydro or FortisBC applications built in.
Your bills and interval data, the meter’s readings through the day, set the savings, the rate class and the system size, at no cost to you. Lighting, HVAC or controls savings found in an energy audit lower the load the array has to serve.
Up to 100 kW AC, we prepare the self-generation application with you and you submit it from your MyHydro account. A load displacement project goes through your BC Hydro Key Account Manager or Regional Energy Manager and an energy expert registered with the Alliance of Energy Professionals. Its incentive application takes about four to six weeks, and the interconnection study takes two to four months for projects of 1 MW or less.
Structural and electrical engineering, building and electrical permits and the installation are planned around your operations. Your utility approves the connection once the final inspection documents are in.
Measurement and verification reports at 6 and 12 months show how the system performs against the model, solar maintenance protects its output, and the engineer who started your project stays on it through year 25.
FAQs
Not covered here? A 20-minute call with an engineer usually answers it.
Yes, where the rate or the funding supports it. BC power is inexpensive, so the case is strongest on Small and Medium General Service, where the energy charge is higher, and on sites that qualify for load displacement funding. On Large General Service, that funding and any demand saving carry more of the return.
Yes. We offer flexible financing options that let you fund your project through the savings it generates, and your financial model shows the incentives and financing together.
No. BC Hydro does not allow both on one project.
Plan for about 1,000 to 1,100 kWh a year for each kW DC installed. Our article on solar potential by province puts BC at 1,004 kWh per kW, and BC Hydro’s residential example works out to about 1,100, so 100 kW DC makes roughly 100,000 to 110,000 kWh. Your roof’s orientation, tilt and shading decide the final number.
Yes. Output drops in the darkest months and climbs through the long days of summer, and annual production figures include that swing. Summer surplus no longer carries into winter as kWh, only as a dollar credit.
A commercial system is modelled for 30 years, with panels typically warranted to year 30. String inverters last 12 to 15 years, and the financial model includes a replacement.
Allow 6 to 12 months from first assessment to commissioning. Permits, utility studies and incentive reviews take up most of it.
The construction plan is built around site access, roof safety and your production schedule. At Rabba Fine Foods in Mississauga, for example, the system was integrated without disruption to distribution operations, and at Ce De Candy in Newmarket, commissioning was completed without disrupting production.
Yes. BC Hydro’s commercial rebate covers a business property you own or lease. You will need the landlord’s agreement on the roof and a lease that runs past payback.
Only if the review points that way. We check structural capacity, membrane condition and remaining warranty life, and where a new roof is due soon, installing on the fresh membrane avoids lifting the array later.
Ask whether the savings use the 10 cent credit and which BC Hydro program the design qualifies for. Then ask who looks after the system once it is running. We answer the first two in your financial model, and one accountable team stays on your project through long-term operation.
Send us your BC Hydro or FortisBC bills. You get the system size, the program that fits and a projected payback built on your own load, at no cost.
