The cost of solar panels has plunged in the past decade, so it seems like rooftop solar could be a good opportunity for homeowners to save on electricity bills and cut carbon emissions.
That’s what Ashley Reid thought when she installed solar panels on her home in the Kitchener-Waterloo area of Ontario a year and a half ago.
“I’m an accountant,” she said, “and when you do the math … financially it makes sense to have solar on your house.”
A Radio-Canada analysis earlier this year found that’s the case in most major Canadian cities.
But not everyone agrees. “I would not be recommending people install it for economic reasons,” said Heather McDiarmid, a climate and energy consultant who released a report earlier in August on the climate and financial benefits of residential rooftop solar for the Ontario Clean Air Alliance.
Environmentally, the case for solar is clearer, and a recent study found rooftop solar is even better for the climate than large-scale solar farms.
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