How To Make Your Roof Pay You
Solar panels turn your roof into a power plant
The electricity from the solar panels on your roof first meets the power needs in your building.
When the solar panels on your roof generate more electricity than your building needs, the excess power is exported to your local utility network. This power outflow is recorded by your meter and ends up as a credit on your utility bill.
After the sun sets, your building still needs power. The electricity you use at these times comes from the grid. This electricity flows through your meter and appears as a charge on your bill as usual.
Most Canadian utilities use some variation of this “net metering” to calculate your bill.
Imagine baking cookies on a sunny day. Your oven is being heated with electricity produced by the solar panels on your roof. You are not using electricity from the local power utility grid to bake your cookies.
The flow of electricity from your roof to your oven happens “behind the meter”.
Therefore, the electricity used in this example of baking cookies never appears as a cost on your utility bill.
Solar panels reduce your electricity costs – sometimes substantially. This cost savings vary, depending on what you pay for your electricity.
Reducing your electricity costs depends on the price you pay for the electricity bill. You receive a credit for the power you send to the local utility grid at the same rate as you pay to bring that power into your building.