DGVCL Net Metering in Gujarat, How Your Solar Bill Is Calculated

DGVCL net metering lets your rooftop solar run the house first, send the extra to the grid, and bill you only for the net units you draw. If you export more than you import in a billing period, you pay no energy charge and the surplus is credited at about ₹2.25 per unit. The example below shows a 4.4 kWp home in a sunny May and a cloudy July, with every number worked out.

How the bi-directional meter works

DGVCL is the distribution company for all seven districts of South Gujarat, so these rules apply the same way in Bharuch, Surat, Navsari or Valsad. When your solar system is commissioned, DGVCL replaces your old meter with a bi-directional net meter. It counts electricity in both directions and keeps two separate readings.

The import reading counts units you take from the grid. This happens at night, early morning, and on cloudy days when the panels make less than the house uses.

The export reading counts units your panels send out to the grid. This happens around midday when the panels make more than the house needs.

Solar power always goes to your own load first. If your panels are making 3 kW and the house is using 1 kW, the 1 kW is used directly and 2 kW flows out through the meter. That directly used power never touches the meter, so it does not show up in either reading. It is a straight saving.

At the end of the billing period, DGVCL subtracts the export reading from the import reading. You pay for what is left at your normal tariff. The example uses one month to keep numbers simple. Netting works the same way over your actual billing period.

A worked bill example for a 4.4 kWp home

Take a family in Bharuch with a 4.4 kWp system, eight 550 W panels on a 4 kW inverter. Across the year it averages 4.2 units per kWp per day, about 562 units a month. That average hides a big swing between seasons.

March to May is peak generation in south Gujarat. Clear skies and long days push output above the average. June to September is the monsoon, and in July and August there are whole weeks of cloud and rain when output drops well below it. The figures below use 5.2 units per kWp per day for May and 3.0 for July, which are reasonable for a clean, shade-free roof in Bharuch.

We use ₹8 per unit as the all-in tariff, which is close to what DGVCL residential consumers pay on the higher slabs once fuel charge and duty are added. Homes on lower slabs pay less per unit.

	May (summer)	July (monsoon)
Solar generation	709 units	409 units
Household consumption	620 units	480 units
Used directly from solar	280 units	190 units
Exported to grid (meter)	429 units	219 units
Imported from grid (meter)	340 units	290 units
Net result	89 units surplus	71 units net import
Energy charge	₹0	about ₹568
Surplus credit at ₹2.25	about ₹200	₹0
Bill without solar at ₹8	about ₹4,960	about ₹3,840

May, a summer month

Generation is 4.4 × 5.2 × 31 days, which is 709 units. The family runs two ACs in the evening and at night, so consumption is high at 620 units.

During the day the house uses 280 units straight from the panels. The other 429 units flow out through the meter. At night, when the ACs run, the house imports 340 units from DGVCL.

Import of 340 minus export of 429 leaves 89 units exported in excess. The family pays no energy charge for the month. The 89 surplus units are credited at about ₹2.25, which is roughly ₹200. Without solar, 620 units at ₹8 would have cost about ₹4,960.

July, a monsoon month

Generation falls to 4.4 × 3.0 × 31 days, which is 409 units. The ACs run less, and consumption drops to 480 units.

The house uses 190 units directly, exports 219 and imports 290 at night and on the darkest days. Import of 290 minus export of 219 leaves 71 units to pay for. At ₹8 that is about ₹568. At lower slab rates it would be a little less. Without solar the month would have cost about ₹3,840.

Fixed charges and any meter rent on the bill stay the same in both months. Solar removes the energy charge, not the fixed part of the bill.

What the year looks like

The system produces about 562 units a month on average, enough to cover a bill of roughly ₹4,490 at ₹8 a unit. Summer and winter months tend to leave a small surplus. Monsoon months leave a small bill. Surplus is settled in each billing period, so a sunny month does not carry units forward to pay for a cloudy one. Even so, the family’s energy charges across the year are a small fraction of what they were.

Real bills follow this pattern. Imran Sheikh in Huseniya Society, Bharuch, had a ₹3,200 bill that fell to ₹120 after we installed a 4 kW system. You can try your own numbers on the savings calculator, and our post on what size solar system your home needs explains how to match size to your bill.

Why surplus units are worth less

A unit you use directly, or a unit that cancels one of your imports, saves you the full tariff, about ₹8 on higher slabs. A unit left over after all imports are cancelled earns only about ₹2.25, the rate set by GERC. That rate can change.

So there is no reward for a system far bigger than your use. The right size roughly matches your use. A little surplus in summer earns ₹2.25 a unit, and a little import in the monsoon is billed at your tariff. A system far larger than your use piles up surplus every month, and each of those units earns only ₹2.25. This is also why we size from your bill rather than from the size of your roof.

Sanctioned load and load enhancement

Every DGVCL connection has a sanctioned load, printed on the bill in kW. It is the load your connection is approved to carry. DGVCL usually caps rooftop solar capacity relative to this sanctioned load.

Some homes in Bharuch were connected years ago with a small sanctioned load. Since then they have added ACs, a fridge, a geyser and a washing machine, but the load on paper never changed. When such a home applies for a 3 kW or 4 kW system, DGVCL may ask for load enhancement first.

Load enhancement is a separate application to DGVCL. There is a fee paid to DGVCL, and sometimes the service cable or meter needs an upgrade. It is worth doing properly, because running more load than sanctioned can bring penalties anyway. We check the sanctioned load on your bill at the site visit and tell you if an enhancement is needed before the solar application goes in.

What happens in a power cut

An on-grid system shuts down straight away when DGVCL supply fails. This is called anti-islanding. It stops your panels from pushing power into lines that a lineman may be working on. When supply returns, the inverter checks the grid and restarts on its own.

This surprises some people, since the sun is still shining. It is a safety rule, and every approved on-grid inverter follows it.

If you need power during cuts, you need a hybrid inverter with batteries. It keeps selected loads running from the battery and the panels while the grid is down. It costs more, and the batteries need replacing during the system’s life. Our post on on-grid vs hybrid vs off-grid solar in Gujarat compares the options.

Getting a net meter from DGVCL

The net meter application is part of the rooftop solar process on the PM Surya Ghar portal. After installation, DGVCL inspects the system, fits the net meter and the commissioning certificate is generated. For homes, the subsidy follows. The full sequence is in our guide to the PM Surya Ghar subsidy in Bharuch.

We file the DGVCL net metering paperwork for every system we install. Yusuf Memon, a shop owner in Ankleshwar, told us that other installers could not explain net metering. We explained it in Gujarati, and the system has run for three years with zero issues. For a full view of costs by size, see solar panel price in Bharuch.

Talk to us

Send your DGVCL bill on WhatsApp at 98241 95027 and we will show you what your bill would look like with net metering. Run your own figures on the calculator, or visit our shop at Mehfuz Complex, opposite Patel Welfare Hospital, Bharuch.