Alberta Commercial and Residential solar
Does your property have solar? Is it in Alberta?
Earn income from your carbon credits.
Residential and commercial solar generators in Alberta earn thousands of dollars from carbon credits. You can too.
You are eligible if:
Your solar site is in Alberta.
Your site is operational.
You have not received a provincial or city grant that took away your credits.
Your site is less than 5,000 kW capacity.
Do you have a utility-scale energy project instead? E-mail us about this program.
Gain returns of up to 26% on your solar investment over the term.
Regulated prices to increase $15 per tonne every year, from $50 in 2022 to $170 in 2030.
Take minutes to earn thousands. Complete an online application providing site details, ownership documents, and a data connection to your site.
One-time setup. No hassle to gather and send your energy bills. Eliminate human error.
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Specific Yield is how much energy (kWh) is produced for every kWp of module capacity over the course of a typical or actual year.
The estimate above is based on the following assumptions:
1. A full year of solar production.
2. You own 100% of the rights to the environmental credits from the solar system.
3. The credit price is either the target or expected discount to the Alberta TIER Carbon Price, which is expected to increase by $15 per year, reaching a maximum of $170 per tonne (Credit).
How many credits you can make depends on the amount of energy your site produces. And Alberta, the number of credits you are titled to create is calculated using a simple formula:
Number of credits, stated in metric tons of CO2 equivalent emissions (tCO2e) = Megawatt hours x Emissions Factor
So, let’s say your site produces 1000 megawatt hours in solar energy this year. With the current emissions factor set at 0.57, this would entitle you to create 570 credits.
Solar offsets in Alberta trade at a 15 – 30% discount to the price of carbon. As of January 31, 2022, the price of carbon in Alberta was $50/tCO2e. It is true that prices fluctuate, however environmental mandates and federal pressure have meant that carbon prices have risen over time.
What influences the discount amount? In general buyers are looking for newer projects and larger bulk purchases of credits. Older generation is typically discounted more heavily, as are smaller batches of credits. This is one reason it’s valuable to work with Rewatt: our larger pool of credits can attract larger buyers looking for more volume.
The credit offset period is the timeframe when your site is entitled to create solar offsets. For solar emissions offsets in Alberta this period is eight-years. In some cases renewal is possible and that provides an extension of another five years.
It’s important to understand that this period begins when your site is first attached to a project (a regulatory vehicle) NOT when your site is first operational.
We require an exclusive contract with sites over their offset period. In practice this means that if you onboard a site to Rewatt Market and begin to create credits with us, then this site will exclusively create credits through Rewatt for its eight year term.
Once the credit creation period is over, if you wish to remain on the platform, you can choose to either create and sell renewable energy certificates (RECs) or apply for a renewal – if granted, the renewal will entitle you to five more years of offset credit creation.
You own the right to your environmental credits, so long as you haven’t given or traded them away. This is usually not a problem unless you received grant funding or participate in other environmental programs.
It depends. Some grants require that you transfer the rights to the environmental credits produced from your solar project, while others do not. The answer will be in the terms and conditions you signed. Contact us if you have questions about eligibility.
Note: We look for a clause in your contract that “conveys environmental attributes” or “conveys environmental credits” to the government.
Funding that enables eligibility for carbon credits:
Canada Greener Homes Grant (NRCAN)
Growing Alberta
Green Inclusive Building Grant (GICB)
Pre-2019 Alberta Municipal Solar Program (MCCAC) (Please check your terms and conditions because a switch occurred halfway through 2019)
Growing Forward 2 (Alberta On-Farm Solar PV Program)
Clean Energy Improvement Program (CEIP)
Funding that restricts environmental attributes, making a system ineligible for carbon credits:
Residential and Commercial Solar Program (EEA) aka NDP Grant
Post-2019 Alberta Municipal Solar Program (MCCAC) (Please check your terms and conditions because a switch occurred halfway through 2019)
City of Edmonton Change Homes for Climate Solar Program (Solar Rebate Program)
City of Edmonton Building Energy Retrofit Accelerator program
Emissions Reduction Alberta Grant (ERA)
Energy Savings for Business (ESB): Comprehensive Energy Savings Program
Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs)
City of Medicine Hat’s HATSMART Program
Adding new sites or expanding the capabilities of existing solar sites can extend the offset period for an additional five years.
While both solar offset credits and RECs incentivize positive environmental impact, these instruments differ in some material ways:
the owner of one carbon offset has the right to claim responsibility for removing or preventing one tonne of CO2 from entering the atmosphere
the owner of one renewable energy credit (REC) has the right to claim responsibility for bringing 1 megawatt (MWh) of renewable energy onto the electrical grid.
Since the purpose of these instruments differs, demand for them differs too. For sellers it is important to appreciate that one solar offset credit tends to trade at a higher value than one REC on an energy equivalent basis.
Rewatt Power is a financial technology company that aggregates and brokers carbon credits between individuals, companies, and municipalities of any size.
