From Leduc No. 1 to your rooftop.
The 1947 oil strike just outside town lit up modern Alberta. Seventy-five years on, Stellar Upgrades brings the next chapter home — LONGi 500W panels and APsystems DS3 microinverters on Leduc roofs, with the City's CEIP financing and FortisAlberta net metering handled end to end.
The whole story, top to bottom.
Few Canadian towns understand energy like Leduc. The story that started underground in 1947 is now playing out on the rooftops above it — so we built this page as a single timeline. Follow it down: the heritage, the economics, the deal, the fine print, and how to start.
The oil strike that built modern Alberta
In February 1947, Leduc No. 1 blew in on a farm just outside town and changed the province overnight — the discovery that launched modern Alberta's oil and gas era. The 1947 strike is still marked today by the Leduc #1 Energy Discovery Centre on Highway 2.
Energy isn't a side industry here. It's the founding story — and it left Leduc with something rare: homeowners who actually read a payback table.
decades
Leduc & Nisku grow up around the oil patch
What started underground spread above it. Leduc grew into a town of roughly 34,000 on the QEII, wedged between the Edmonton International Airport (YEG) and the sprawling Leduc–Nisku Business Park — one of the largest energy and industrial parks in the country.
Generations cycled through the rigs at Leduc No. 1 and the trucks running out of Nisku every morning. The result is an unusually energy-literate town — one that treats a power bill like a problem to be engineered, not just paid.
Solar comes to the region
In 2018 we started fitting solar across the Edmonton region with our own master-electrician-supervised crews — no subcontractors, ever. Leduc, with its wide new rooflines and clear prairie exposure, quickly became one of our core service areas.
More than 500 installs later, from Southfork to Telford, the next energy chapter is the one on the roof.
What a Leduc roof actually produces
On the open prairie beside the airport, most Leduc homes get clear, unobstructed southern exposure — no high-rises, no canopy. Across the year Leduc banks 2,300+ hours of sunshine, and a right-sized array exports its long-summer surplus to FortisAlberta as net-metering credits that carry the short December days.
The cold actually helps — panels are semiconductors that run more efficiently in crisp winter air than in summer heat. More on solar through an Alberta winter
cost
What solar costs in Leduc
Our typical cash rate is $2.80 per watt on a straightforward 7–8 kW install. Most Leduc homes land right in that band; the wide rooflines in newer subdivisions often support larger arrays.
Smaller 3–6 kW systems carry a slightly higher per-watt cost because fixed install costs spread over fewer panels. Every quote includes critter guards and a lifetime leak-proof roof guarantee. Use the savings calculator
deal
The best clean-energy deal in the region
Most cities offer property-tax-based solar financing — the City of Leduc's Clean Energy Improvement Program (CEIP) goes further. The first 73% is financed at 0% interest, with only the remainder at the BMO prime rate, so the blended effective rate lands around 1–1.5% in practice.
CEIP runs in intake rounds and can pause on a waitlist at capacity, so confirm current availability. Prefer not to use it? Financeit $0-down, a 10% cash discount, or a mortgage roll-in all work in Leduc too. Verify on the City of Leduc website
Your wires, your rate, your permit
Leduc sits in FortisAlberta wires territory — not EPCOR, which serves the City of Edmonton. Since January 2025 the province's Rate of Last Resort replaced the old RRO as the default, but Alberta is deregulated so you can pick any retailer.
Surplus solar exports to the FortisAlberta grid for retail-rate net-metering credits that bank through summer. We file the City of Leduc electrical permit and the FortisAlberta micro-generation application start to finish.
street
Solar, subdivision by subdivision
Roof size and orientation change across Leduc, so the design does too — every one starts with a free on-site roof and shading assessment.
Your free Leduc assessment
A quick visit, then a fixed quote with your CEIP and Financeit numbers side by side — a rooftop and shading check, an electrical-panel review, and a system sized from your actual FortisAlberta usage. If your roof isn't right for solar, we'll say so.
I highly recommend Stellar Upgrades to anyone considering going solar. Their commitment to quality, customer service, and transparency truly sets them apart.
Free assessment for Leduc homeowners
A quick visit, then a fixed quote with your CEIP and Financeit numbers side by side.
No spam. PJ responds personally within 24 hours.
✓ We're on it.
Someone from our Edmonton office will reach out within 24 hours with your custom assessment.
Solar in Leduc — answered.
Official Leduc solar resources.
We'd rather you trust the source than take our word for it. Every CEIP, permit and utility detail on this page traces back to these official City of Leduc, FortisAlberta and Government of Alberta pages.
Energy efficiency & CEIP
The City's Clean Energy Improvement Program — 0% on the first 73% of project cost.
Permits & licences
Where the electrical permit for your solar install is filed.
Micro-generation & interconnection
The application and process for grid-connected solar in Leduc.
Micro-Generation Regulation
The provincial rule that makes retail-rate net metering work.
Rate of Last Resort
Alberta's regulated default rate that replaced the RRO in 2025.
Financing comparison
CEIP, Financeit $0-down, cash discount and mortgage roll-in, side by side.
Leduc's next
energy chapter.
A quick assessment from a master-electrician crew that knows this town — the airport corridor, the Nisku schedules, and the CEIP paperwork. We'll show you the real Leduc numbers, and if your roof isn't right for solar, we'll say so.
Your visit includes a rooftop and shading check, an electrical-panel review, a system sized from your actual FortisAlberta usage, and a written CEIP-vs-Financeit comparison — all with no obligation.