On a Tuesday afternoon near their home in Cooks Creek, Medric Comberbach and his dog Birdie enjoy the sun by tossing a frisbee around outside. This year, that same sun is also paying off. “In the last three months, I have not had to pay Manitoba Hydro; they’ve actually started to pay me,” Comberbach said with a smile. Comberbach had a large solar panel unit installed in 2022. When CTV News last spoke with him, he was initially disappointed with the return on his investment, but that changed this April with a big price boost. “It was over seven cents a kilowatt, so it almost doubled, which made a huge difference when you’re talking 1,000 kilowatts of excess power.” That excess power is sold back to Manitoba Hydro. The Crown corporation said there’s been an uptick in Manitobans going solar, about a 13 per cent increase over the last five years. “Right now we have about 2,100 customers who own their own solar array and are selling excess energy back to Manitoba Hydro,” said Peter Chura, media relations officer with Manitoba Hydro. The Crown corporation said the current excess energy price at nearly 7.2 cents is the highest it’s ever been. This time last year, that same price was 4.3 cents. “Now I have a credit of $9 for the last three months, but it’s nice when you don’t have to pay a hydro bill at the end of the month,” Comberbach said. That didn’t come cheap however - Comberbach paid $34,000 for the installation minus $10,000 received in grant money from Efficiency Manitoba and the federal government. It might take a decade for him to see the return on investment. Manitoba-based Powertec Solar installed his unit and said the business is expanding. “Our focus has now more so been on farms and businesses because where they’ve taken away on the residential side, they’ve certainly added in on the commercial and farm side,” said Tyler McPherson, solar sales consultant with Powertec Solar. McPherson said the number of farms using solar has tripled from last year. They have completed 1,000 installations across Manitoba since 2020, 150 of those came last year. Efficiency Manitoba said this is in part due to their rebate increases that came into effect in May 2025, helping farmers and business owners. “That increase from 50 cents per watt to 75 cents per watt has really driven business,” said Jana Brunel, strategic initiatives manager with Efficiency Manitoba.
