Solar Panels & Battery Backup in Brockville, ON

Solar and home backup for the City of the 1000 Islands — designed and installed personally by an ESA-licensed Master Electrician.

Brockville sits on the St. Lawrence at the edge of Leeds and Grenville, with an older downtown core of century homes, post-war subdivisions north of the 401, and rural properties stretching out toward Elizabethtown-Kitley. That range of housing means no two solar jobs here look quite the same.

Older homes near the river often have smaller roofs, mature trees and 100-amp electrical services that need a careful look before panels go up. Newer homes north of the highway tend to have simpler roofs and bigger panels, and rural properties outside the city often have room for a ground-mount array when the roof isn't ideal.

We travel to Brockville regularly from our Ottawa east end base. The person who visits your home, designs your system and pulls your permits is the same Master Electrician who installs it.

Your utility and the rebate: Hydro One

Most homes in Brockville are served by Hydro One. That matters, because Hydro One customers can use the Ontario Home Renovation Savings Program (HRSP): up to $5,000 toward solar, and up to $5,000 toward a battery installed together with new solar.

The trade-off is real and worth understanding before you decide: a system that uses the rebate can't be net metered. Instead of sending surplus power to the grid for bill credits, the system is set up for load displacement — your solar and battery power the house first, and you buy less from Hydro One. With a battery, daytime surplus is stored and used in the evening rather than exported.

For many homeowners the rebate is the better deal, especially when backup power is part of the goal. For others with large daytime surpluses, net metering without the rebate can make more sense. We run both scenarios with your actual Hydro One usage data and show you the numbers side by side, so you can choose with the full picture.

If your property is just outside the city and your bill comes from a different utility, tell us when you reach out — eligibility rules follow the utility, not the town line, and we confirm it from your bill before quoting.

Backup power for Brockville and Leeds-Grenville

Storms coming up the St. Lawrence corridor hit this area hard. Ice storms and summer wind events have knocked power out across Leeds and Grenville for days at a time, and rural homes outside the city are usually restored after the urban core.

Inside the city, most homes are on municipal water, but finished basements with sump pumps are common — and a sump pump that stops during a spring storm outage is how basements flood. Outside the city, many homes are on private wells, so an outage means no water at all.

A home battery handles both situations automatically. When the grid drops, the battery takes over in a fraction of a second — no generator to start, no fuel to store, no noise. Paired with solar, it recharges during the day and can carry essentials like the sump pump, well pump, fridge, furnace blower, lights and internet through multi-day outages.

Why a Master Electrician

Brockville's older housing stock is where electrical experience matters most. Knob-and-tube remnants, undersized services and panels that predate the current code all need to be assessed before solar and a battery are added — and fixing them properly is licensed electrical work, not an add-on a sales company can subcontract away.

True Beacon Solar is owner-operated. The owner is a Master Electrician licensed in Ontario and personally does the installs, so the person who designs your system is the person on your roof and in your electrical panel.

We work under ESA Licensed Electrical Contractor #7016796. Every system gets the permits and Electrical Safety Authority inspection it needs, and we handle that paperwork for you.

Built by our in-house crew — the same four-person team on every install, led on site by Master Electrician Nicholas Piche. You have one point of accountability from the first site visit to the day the system is switched on, and after that if you ever need service.

Frequently asked questions

Are Brockville homes eligible for the solar rebate?

Most are, because they're served by Hydro One. The HRSP offers up to $5,000 for solar and up to $5,000 for a battery installed with new solar. Systems using the rebate can't be net metered.

Do you really come to Brockville from Ottawa?

Yes. Brockville is within our regular service area, and the same Master Electrician handles your job from the first site visit to switch-on.

My house is over 100 years old. Can it still take solar?

Usually. The bigger questions are roof condition and the electrical service. If the roof isn't suitable, a ground-mount array is often the better choice on larger lots.

Will a battery keep my sump pump or well pump running in an outage?

Yes, if it's on a backed-up circuit and the system is sized for it. Well pumps draw a large surge when they start, so we choose the battery and inverter with that in mind.

How long does the whole process take?

From signed quote to switch-on usually takes several weeks, mainly for permits, ESA inspection and utility paperwork. The on-site work itself is typically a few days.

Which batteries do you install?

Tesla Powerwall 3, Sigenergy SigenStor and FranklinWH aPower S. The right one depends on how much of your home you want backed up and what solar you have or plan to add.