Can You Sell a House With Solar Panels in Ontario?
Yes, you can sell a house with solar panels in Ontario, but if the system earns income under a microFIT contract, that contract does not move to the buyer on its own.
Start with the panels themselves. Whether they stay with the house is decided in the agreement of purchase and sale, the same way it is for appliances and light fittings, which is the question behind chattels versus fixtures. Sellers who own their panels outright usually name them as included, and buyers tend to price them in.
The contract is the part people miss. Ontario's microFIT program paid homeowners a guaranteed price for the power their panels produced, over a 20-year term. The IESO, which runs the program, closed it to new applications on December 1, 2017, so any microFIT contract attached to a house today is at least that old.
According to the IESO's page on contract assignments, the contract does not automatically transfer to the new owner. Moving it is a separate transaction from the sale of the property. The seller starts the request in the IESO's online Beacon tool, the buyer registers as a supplier, and both sign a novation and assignment agreement before the IESO gives its consent. For most contract versions the buyer must be the legal owner on the parcel register, which is why the steps for the incoming owner matter as much as the seller's. There is no fixed timeline, and a contract that is never assigned may end up terminated.
A leased or financed system is a different thing again. That agreement is between you and the solar company, with its own rules for transfer or buyout, so it is worth reading well before the house is listed. It resembles the rented hot water tank problem, only larger.
Because the arrangement affects what a buyer takes on, it belongs in the conversation early, along with your disclosure obligations as a seller. A real estate lawyer can read the contract and tell you what it requires.
Related reading: What Is a Material Fact in Ontario Real Estate?, What Is a Pre-Listing Home Inspection in Ontario? and Can You Sell a House With Unpermitted Renovations in Ontario?
