A basic 800-watt plug-in solar kit — the configuration this campaign asks Quebec to legalize — typically sells for €279–529 in Germany (median roughly €369, or $502 CAD pre-tax after stripping VAT and converting at Bank of Canada monthly average). On a south-facing Montreal balcony it would generate about 793 kWh per year.
At Quebec's typical variable residential rate (6 ¢/kWh including energy, transmission, and distribution charges that scale with usage), that's roughly $24.36 a year in avoided charges. A median-priced kit pays for itself in 21 years 10 months — then keeps producing for another 4+ years of its 25-year lifetime. Over the panel's full life, that's roughly $68.86 of cumulative savings that Quebec households are currently being denied.
Assumptions skew deliberately conservative: vertical (90°) panel mounting (pure vertical is optimal only at the poles; any realistic installed tilt produces more), 60% self-consumption rate (typical households hit 70%+), 15% shading derate, and no allowance for rising electricity prices. We publish the floor, not the ceiling.
Monthly kWh production — Montreal, 800W vertical south
Raw PVWatts output; the payback math above applies shading + self-consumption derates on top.
Sources: NREL PVWatts v8 (monthly production, NSRDB satellite dataset, south orientation, 90° tilt). Quebec Utilities Commission Rate of Last Resort (energy charge, authoritative) plus conservative T&D estimates pending bill verification. Product prices: EU retailer listings, VAT-stripped, converted at Bank of Canada monthly average. Full methodology → · Try your own numbers →
Of Montrealers rent. Plug-in solar is the only way most Quebecers can generate their own power.
More sun than Germany — yet Quebec has zero balcony solar installations while Germany has millions.
Quebec created the droit à la recharge for EV chargers. The same Civil Code template works for a droit au solaire.
Per kWh — Canada’s cheapest rates. The case here is energy democracy, not savings.
Quebec applies Hydro-Québec’s mesurage net interconnection process to a 400W balcony panel the same way it applies it to a multi-kilowatt commercial rooftop array. Engineering review, interconnection agreement, bi-directional meter — the entire process scales down only to the point where small-scale stops being economically viable, not to the point where it stops being administratively crushing. Quebec’s low hydro rates make the financial case weaker than in Alberta or Saskatchewan; the answer isn’t a better interconnection process, it’s eliminating the interconnection process entirely for systems small enough to be appliances.
Here are the regulatory changes needed and who has the authority to make them.
Amend the Civil Code of Quebec co-ownership provisions so that syndicats de copropriété cannot categorically prohibit certified plug-in solar installations. Reasonable siting and aesthetic conditions remain available; outright prohibition does not. Unlocks participation for renters and co-owners.
Create a plug-in generation class in Chapitre V of the Code de construction for certified systems under 1200W. Certified equipment meets the installation safety requirements without a licensed maître électricien for cord-and-outlet connection only.
Direct Hydro-Québec to create a plug-in mesurage net category for certified systems under 1200W. On-site use only, anti-islanding required. Exempt from the engineering review, interconnection agreement, and bi-directional meter upgrade that currently apply to all distributed generation.
Many Quebec residents live in multi-unit buildings where rooftop solar isn’t feasible. Start the conversation with your board about balcony solar — it’s the one change that unlocks renewable electricity for renters and condo owners.
Your MNA can raise this issue in the legislature and push for regulatory modernization.
Find your MNA →A campaign is taking shape in Quebec. We’re looking for more organizations and individuals to join or anchor it. If you’re interested, get in touch.