Solar panels in Burnaby, BC

Roofs in Burnaby get about 1,196 hours of usable sunlight a year — less than 84% of the cities we've measured. Here's what that means in cost, savings and payback, using real rooftop data rather than a national average.

Check your specific roof in Burnaby → City averages are a starting point; your own roof's size, pitch and shading change the answer a lot.

What a typical Burnaby solar system costs

A 27-panel system (10.8 kW) is about right for an average Burnaby home using 10,800 kWh a year. It would produce roughly 10,979 kWh annually and offset 100% of that usage.

How we worked this out for Burnaby

Every number on this page comes from these seven steps. Nothing is a national average — the sunlight figure is measured from Burnaby rooftops.

Step 6 matters more than it looks. Only 34% of what a system this size produces in Burnaby is used the moment it is generated; the other 7,199 kWh is exported and credited one-for-one under net metering. Because exports here are credited at or near retail, that split changes the payback very little — 22.6 years against the 22.9 we show. In places where exports pay a fraction of retail the same split moves payback by years, which is why we model it explicitly rather than assuming.

Assumptions: 400W panels, 15% system losses (inverter, wiring, heat, soiling), CA$2.85/W installed, 10,800 kWh typical annual household use, 12.4¢/kWh electricity. Change any of those and every figure above moves — which is exactly why a single national "solar costs X" number is misleading.

Notice that payback barely improves as systems get bigger, and eventually gets worse. That's because you can only save money on electricity you were going to buy anyway. Once a system covers your usage, extra panels mostly generate exports at a much lower rate.

Why Burnaby gets 1,196 sun hours

That figure comes from Google's analysis of real rooftops across Burnaby — it already accounts for shading from trees, chimneys and neighbouring buildings, which is why it's lower than the raw "hours of daylight" figures you'll see elsewhere. An unusually open, unshaded roof in Burnaby reaches about 1,269 hours, roughly 6% better than typical.

The numbers behind this page

When Burnaby actually produces

Annual totals hide the thing that catches people out: 41% of Burnaby's yearly sunlight arrives in May–July, and just 10% across November–January.

That is a severe seasonal swing — Burnaby produces roughly 5.1× as much in Jun as in Dec. A system sized to cover your annual usage will overproduce badly in summer and fall well short in winter, so how your utility credits exported power matters more here than in most places.

The annual total is measured from Google's rooftop imagery. Its split across months is calculated from solar geometry at Burnaby's latitude, not separately measured, so treat the monthly figures as the shape of a typical year rather than a forecast.

How Burnaby compares to the other 788 cities

What actually stands out about Burnaby:

• The case here is financial, not environmental. Burnaby's grid is already clean at 151 kg CO₂ per MWh, so the carbon saving from solar is modest. Judge this one on payback.
• Older imagery. Google's aerial capture of Burnaby dates from 2014. Tree growth and new construction since then are not reflected.

Cities with almost the same sunlight

These are the closest matches to Burnaby's 1,196 usable sun hours from other states and provinces. Same sunlight, different electricity prices — which is usually what decides whether solar is worth it.

Nearby cities

See all of British Columbia → statewide sunlight, rates, incentives and every city we've measured.

Burnaby solar questions

Worth reading before you buy

Estimates only, generated 2026-08-22 from Google Solar API rooftop samples and average British Columbia electricity rates. Not a quote and not financial advice. Your roof, usage, utility plan and local incentives will change these numbers — get real quotes before buying.