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Ontario Raised Its Solar Connection Threshold and Here's What That Changes
For years, 10 kW was the number Ontario residential solar installers designed around. The Ontario Energy Board changed that on May 1, 2026, raising the micro-embedded generation threshold to 12 kW. For installers working with customers who are electrifying their homes, the shift is worth knowing about.
What the 10 kW Limit Actually Controlled
The micro-embedded generation category in Ontario's Distribution System Code has always carried a simpler connection process than projects above the threshold. Under the old rules, anything above 10 kW moved into a more involved connection impact assessment, which adds time, cost, and complexity to a residential project. The practical result was to size systems that stayed under the cap.
The OEB's own rationale for the change is telling. The amendment was intended to support customer choice, maintain the streamlined connection process, and reduce the need for customers to derate systems sitting just above the old ceiling. The threshold was increasingly out of step with how homes actually use electricity today.
Why Modern Homes Were Already Pushing Against It
A standard Ontario home without major electrical loads uses roughly 8,000 to 10,000 kWh per year, which typically sizes out to a 7 to 8.5 kW system. Add one electric vehicle and annual consumption climbs by 2,500 to 4,000 kWh. Add a cold-climate heat pump and it can rise by another 2,000 to 6,000 kWh depending on the home and climate. Those numbers push system sizing well above where a conservative design under the old threshold would have landed.
That electrification reality is not speculative. Heat pump adoption is rising across Ontario, and EV uptake continues to grow. Homes that are partway through electrification today will often want to add more capacity later, and adding panels after initial installation costs more per watt due to permitting, inspection, and potential racking changes. The case for sizing to actual and anticipated load, rather than to a regulatory boundary, is straightforward.
One Path Where This Matters Less
The 12 kW threshold is most relevant for customers on the net metering path. Ontario's Home Renovation Savings Program offers up to $10,000 in rebates for solar and battery installs, but requires systems to be sized for load displacement only, with zero grid export. As covered in a previous Solar Story, HRSP and net metering are mutually exclusive. Customers on the HRSP path typically size smaller by design, because surplus generation has nowhere to go under load displacement. For those customers, the threshold change is less of a factor in the design conversation.
What It Means Going Forward
The change does not eliminate all friction above 12 kW. Projects above the threshold still require a connection impact assessment, and local hosting capacity and feeder limits can still apply even for systems under 12 kW depending on the location and utility. But for the share of Ontario residential projects that land between 10 and 12 kW, or that simply need more room to reflect how a household actually uses electricity, the path to connection just got more straightforward.
If you want to talk through how this affects system design in your market, let's chat!