On-Grid Solar Calculator India 2026
Size a grid-tied (on-grid) rooftop system with net metering — the most common and cheapest residential setup, with no battery. Includes the PM Surya Ghar subsidy, bill offset, net cost and payback.
1 Your electricity
2 Net metering
Most Indian states offer net metering for residential rooftop up to a cap (often 1 MW or per-sanctioned-load). Some have shifted smaller consumers to net billing. Check your DISCOM.
On-grid homes with daytime usage self-consume ~40–60%; the rest is exported. Under full net metering this distinction barely matters; under net billing it matters a lot.
3 Cost, subsidy & generation
₹30,000/kW up to 2 kW, +₹18,000 for the 3rd kW, capped at ₹78,000 for 3 kW+ (residential, up to 10 kW). As of May 2026 (per MNRE) — verify at pmsuryaghar.gov.in.
Indicative estimates only. Net-metering rules, caps, subsidy slabs and tariffs vary by state/DISCOM and change by notification. On-grid systems do not provide backup during a grid outage. Confirm current terms before purchasing.
How on-grid solar works in India
Under net metering, exported units are credited at your retail tariff, so you effectively bank daytime surplus against night-time use. Under net billing, exports are credited at a lower rate, so self-consuming more is worth more.
Savings = self-consumed units × tariff + exported units × export rate. The PM Surya Ghar subsidy reduces the upfront cost (₹30,000/kW to 2 kW, +₹18,000 for the 3rd, capped ₹78,000 for 3 kW+). Source: MNRE — verify current values.
On-grid solar in India: the most popular setup
An on-grid (grid-tied) solar system is by far the most common and cost-effective choice for Indian homes, and it's the configuration the PM Surya Ghar scheme is built around. It connects your panels to the grid through a net meter, with no battery — you use solar power as it's generated, export the surplus, and draw from the grid when the sun isn't shining. Because there's no expensive battery, on-grid systems have the lowest upfront cost and the fastest payback of any solar setup, which is why most subsidised residential installations in India are on-grid.
If you’re weighing your first rooftop system in India, on-grid is almost certainly the configuration your installer will quote, and for good reason: it extracts the most value from the subsidy for the least money, because you’re not paying for storage you may not need. The grid itself does the job a battery would, soaking up your daytime surplus and giving it back at night through your meter. Understanding how that exchange works — and where its one real limitation, backup during outages, bites — lets you judge whether the cheapest option is also the right one for your home, or whether the extra cost of a hybrid system is justified by your local supply reliability.
This calculator estimates your on-grid savings using the PM Surya Ghar subsidy and net metering, with all 2026 scheme figures re-verified and presented as dated references you can confirm officially.
How net metering makes it work
The grid effectively acts as your battery. During the day, your panels often generate more than you use, and that surplus flows to the grid, earning you credits on your bill. At night, you draw from the grid and those credits are netted off. For a well-sized system, daytime surplus can offset most or all of your night-time and cloudy-day consumption over the billing cycle — which is how on-grid solar can nearly zero out an average household's bill without any storage. The precise value of exported units depends on your state's net-metering policy, so the calculator lets you set your own tariff.
Why no battery keeps it cheap
Batteries typically add a large fraction to a system's cost and need replacing during its life. By relying on the grid instead of storage, an on-grid system avoids that expense entirely, which is why its payback is the quickest. The trade-off is that an on-grid system normally shuts down during a grid outage (for safety, to protect line workers), so it doesn't provide backup power. If outages are frequent where you live and backup matters, a hybrid system with some battery is the alternative — at higher cost. For most urban and semi-urban Indian homes with reasonably reliable supply, on-grid is the sensible default.
On-grid and the subsidy
The PM Surya Ghar subsidy (₹30,000/kW to 2 kW, ₹18,000 for the third kW, capped at ₹78,000 for 3 kW+) applies to these grid-connected systems, and net metering is a requirement of the scheme. So the cheapest configuration is also the subsidised one — a happy alignment that makes on-grid solar remarkably affordable for Indian homeowners once the subsidy is applied. The subsidy is credited after commissioning and net-meter installation, as with all PM Surya Ghar systems.
Sizing an on-grid system to your bill
The art of sizing an on-grid system is matching annual generation to annual consumption, so that over a billing cycle your exports and imports roughly cancel. Oversize it and you export a lot of surplus that your state’s net-metering policy may credit at less than the retail rate; undersize it and you keep buying grid power you could have generated. Because the PM Surya Ghar central subsidy caps at 3 kW, many homes settle on a 2–3 kW system that covers most of their usage while capturing the full subsidy — a sweet spot of cost, coverage and incentive. If your consumption is much higher, a larger system still makes sense, just with the subsidy fixed at the cap. Enter your bill above and the calculator suggests a size that balances these factors.
Frequently asked questions
A grid-connected system with no battery that uses net metering — you consume solar directly, export surplus to the grid for credits, and draw from the grid when needed. It's the cheapest configuration and the one the PM Surya Ghar subsidy is designed for.
Generally no — for safety, grid-tied inverters shut down during an outage so they don't feed power into lines being worked on. If you need backup during frequent outages, a hybrid system with a battery is required, at higher cost.
For most homes with reasonable grid supply, on-grid is better: far cheaper, faster payback, and subsidy-eligible. Off-grid or hybrid suits places with unreliable supply or no grid access, where backup or independence justifies the extra battery cost.
Often yes, by choosing a hybrid-capable inverter at installation, which lets you add storage later without replacing the inverter. If backup may matter in future, mention this to your installer so the system is designed to accept a battery down the line.