P.E.I. photo voltaic power rebate program paused resulting from excessive demand, province says

P.E.I.’s photo voltaic power rebate program has been paused resulting from excessive demand, the province stated in a information launch Friday.

The program has reached capability for the present fiscal 12 months. As a end result, efficiencyPEI will now not settle for purposes for photo voltaic electrical rebates after Friday.

“We have had great uptake on the solar program since it began. The program is now fully subscribed for the year,” Environment, Energy and Climate Action Minister Gilles Arsenault was quoted as saying within the launch.

“I fully support the solar rebate continuing in the next fiscal year, which begins in April 2026.”

Clients with an current pre-approval letter can proceed with their installations, and any purposes obtained by Friday will probably be processed usually.

This 12 months, the photo voltaic program served 561 residential and business purchasers, together with 19 agricultural purchasers, totaling $4 million in rebates.

Since 2019, the province has supplied 5,077 photo voltaic rebates.

“I’d like to remind everyone that rebates and incentives have increased for home insulation, new homes and for commercial buildings, so I encourage Islanders to look into these and other energy efficiency options to help reduce their energy use and costs,” Arsenault stated.

Not the primary pause

This not the primary time this system has needed to be paused — the identical factor occurred this previous January.

Derek Ellis, director of the sustainability division throughout the division, stated it was for the same purpose. “We were at the time approaching our program budget allocation and were asked to do a program re-evaluation at the time.” 

Elllis stated the recognition of this system amongst Islanders reveals a mixture of financial and environmental consciousness. 

“In a time where affordability is a concern, where there aren’t a lot of areas where you can either cut your costs or lock them in, you know, for the medium or long term, I think that’s a big part of it,” he stated.

“The other side of it is that there are a lot of folks on P.E.I. that are environmentally conscious people, just by nature [of] living, you know, close to the ocean and being at the mercy of Mother Nature,” he stated. “They’re aware of the impacts of climate change, for instance, and… the importance of our relationship with our environment.”

Time to re-evaluate

Ellis stated this pause in this system will give the division time to check out its parameters. 

“For me, it’s how can this program help not only provide benefits to the Islanders who are installing them, [whether] they’re residential, agricultural, or otherwise, but how can it also provide benefits to the grid?”

One space Ellis stated he desires to discover is pairing photo voltaic power, which is intermittent, with battery storage to feed the grid when there’s excessive demand.

“As you might guess, the sun isn’t always shining when the electricity is needed. So I think that’s one way we might be able to improve on the program.”

Smaller photo voltaic panels

Something else being checked out is smaller photo voltaic panels that might be positioned on patios and will energy smaller home equipment, lights and cellphone chargers. 

“We’re really interested in those kind of smaller installations. I think there’s some work to be done around, you know, electrical codes and safety with respect to that particular offering,” Ellis stated.

The division’s curiosity in smaller installations is linked to the potential for extending program advantages to Islanders past these at the moment eligible. 

“One of the areas that piques my interest, and my staff’s interest for that matter, is, you know, renters might be able to benefit from an installation like that.”

Information on present net-zero and power effectivity applications is accessible at PEINetZero.ca.