Since April, Quebec homeowners have been able to get $1,000 back for every kW of solar they install. Hydro-Québec set the grant up to put panels on a lot more roofs, in a province where residential power starts at 7.065¢ a kWh and the payback on a system has been about 25 to 30 years.
Hydro-Québec expects the grant to bring that down to roughly 10 to 12 years. A solar system lasts something like 20 to 30 years, so that takes a Quebec install from one that might never pay for itself to one that saves the homeowner money for 8 to 20 years after it has.
What's the Grant Covers
The grant pays $1,000 per installed kW up to 40% of eligible costs, so a 5 kW home system can get up to $5,000 back. The 40% limit only starts to apply once a system costs less than $2.50 per watt, since that's the point where $1,000 per kW equals 40%. According to Mon Abitibi, eligible costs cover the system and the labour to install it, with batteries left out.
The grant is open to owners of houses, four-season cottages and buildings with up to 19 units. Tenants and condo owners can't apply, and businesses go through a separate program.
For installers, a master electrician has to file the connection request with Hydro-Québec before any equipment is bought. The aid can be refused if that request wasn't approved first. The installing company also needs the right Régie du bâtiment du Québec (RBQ) licences, and the panels have to be new and bought from a Québec retailer.
Why the Rate Still Decides the Payback
Hydro-Québec's 10 to 12 year figure is for a typical home, and the real number for any one house depends on how much power it uses. The 2026 tariff book shows the standard residential rate charging about 7¢ per kWh for the first 40 kWh used each day and about 11¢ for everything above that.
Solar takes the most expensive power off the bill first. A home that uses more than 40 kWh a day is offsetting the 11¢ power with its panels and pays the system back faster. A smaller home that stays under 40 kWh a day only offsets the 7¢ power, so the same system takes longer to pay off.
What Hydro-Québec is Aiming For
Hydro-Québec's goal is 125,000 homes with panels. The Canadian Renewable Energy Association (CanREA) had the whole province at only 17 MW of solar in May 2025, so the grant has a lot of ground to cover. It's built to do that by getting payback down to around 10 to 12 years, though how close a particular house gets to that comes down to how much power it uses.