Battery Storage near you

Hydro-Québec lists batteries among self-generation equipment, both as storage for later use and as backup that takes over automatically in an outage to power essential appliances.

A battery and a generator both keep the lights on, in different ways. A battery switches over silently, needs no fuel, produces no exhaust and can go in a garage or utility room where the code and the manufacturer allow; its limit is the energy stored, and a long winter outage, when solar output is low, can drain it. A standby generator runs as long as it has fuel, which suits outages that last days and heavy loads such as electric heating, but it needs fuel, an outdoor location away from openings, regular maintenance and a transfer switch.

Some homeowners combine the two, with the battery covering short outages and the generator taking over for longer ones. Either way, the connection to your panel must prevent back-feeding the grid. Our generator installation page covers transfer switches and fuel options.

Where the battery goes is set by the electrical code, the manufacturer's installation manual and sometimes local fire and building rules. Common spots are a garage wall, a utility room or an exterior wall, with clearances around the unit, protection from vehicle impact and attention to temperature: many batteries have an operating range, and a cold garage or an exterior wall can fall outside it in midwinter. Bedrooms and other living spaces are not the place for one.

The equipment itself must be approved. ESA's bulletin on energy storage systems states that every system for use or sale in Ontario has to be approved, for example through certification by an accredited body to the ANSI/CAN/UL 9540 standard for energy storage systems, or through a field evaluation. Ask the contractor to show you the certification markings and to follow the manufacturer's instructions for mounting, ventilation, disconnects and labelling, since those are part of what the inspector checks.

In Ontario, installing an energy storage system requires a notification of work to ESA, filed by the Licensed Electrical Contractor, and ESA inspects the system once it is installed. ESA's bulletin adds that interconnection must follow the supply authority's requirements and that a connection authorization is required, so your local distribution utility is part of the process whenever the battery can operate in parallel with the grid. The utility needs to know about such systems because back-feeding a line during an outage can endanger its crews.

In Quebec, Hydro-Québec says never to connect self-generation equipment yourself. You hire an electrical contractor who is a member of the CMEQ, the contractor submits your application to Hydro-Québec, a master electrician carries out compliance tests after installation, and you must obtain Hydro-Québec's final authorization before connecting the equipment to the grid. In British Columbia, electrical installation permits come from Technical Safety BC.

In Ontario, the Home Renovation Savings program, offered through Save on Energy with support from the Ontario government, lists a rebate for battery storage. The battery must be paired with a new solar PV system, sized for that system and designed mainly to store the solar electricity rather than power from the grid, so a battery added on its own doesn't fit those conditions. The program's solar page sets the rebate at three hundred dollars per kilowatt-hour of storage, up to five thousand dollars and no more than half of the costs, for owners of single-family homes connected to the Ontario grid, and written pre-approval is required before buying or installing anything.

In Quebec, Hydro-Québec's financial aid for self-generation, announced in April 2026 and requested through LogisVert, is aimed at solar panels, and the announcement doesn't mention batteries. Program rules change, so confirm eligibility on the official page before you sign, and ask the contractor to handle any pre-approval.