Solar for Housing Society Gujarat 2026, Subsidy and Sizing

A housing society in Gujarat can get ₹18,000 per kW of central subsidy for solar on its common meter, up to 500 kW, which covers lifts, water pumps, corridor lights and EV charging. Individual flat owners in an apartment building usually cannot put up panels for their own flat. Row house and bungalow societies are different, because each house with its own roof and DGVCL connection can apply under the normal ₹78,000 slab.

This post covers both routes, how to size a plant for a common meter and what the committee needs to settle before anyone climbs onto the terrace.

Two routes, depending on the kind of society

The first question is who owns the roof and whose meter the solar will feed.

Society type	Who applies	Subsidy under PM Surya Ghar	Meter it feeds
Apartment building or towers	The society or RWA	₹18,000 per kW, up to 500 kW	Common meter
Row houses, each with own roof	Each house owner	₹30,000 per kW for 2 kW, ₹18,000 for 3rd kW, max ₹78,000	That house’s meter
Bungalow society	Each house owner, and the society for its common meter	Both of the above, separately	House meters and common meter

A mixed society can use both routes at once. The houses apply one by one, and the society puts a small plant on the clubhouse or pump room roof for its own common meter.

Route one, solar on the common meter

What the common meter runs

In a typical apartment society, the common meter carries the lifts, the water pumps that lift water to the overhead tanks, corridor and staircase lights, compound and street lights, gate and security points, and sometimes a clubhouse, gym or EV charging point. The bill is paid from the maintenance fund, so every flat carries a share of it.

A lot of that load runs in daylight. Pumps usually fill the tanks in the morning. Lifts are busy through the day. Lights run at night, but under net metering the units the plant sends to the grid during the day are set against the units the society takes at night, within the same billing period.

Sizing from the common bill

The sizing uses the same model as our savings calculator. One kWp of panels makes about 4.2 units a day in the Bharuch area, or about 128 units a month averaged over the year. Divide the monthly units on the common meter bill by 128 and round up to whole 550 W panels. Take the average of twelve months of bills, not one summer bill, because pump and lift use rises in the hot months.

A worked example

Here are three society sizes, priced at our quote-level average of ₹50,000 per kWp and the ₹18,000 per kW society subsidy.

Society	Common units per month	Array	Panels (550 W)	Cost	Subsidy	Society pays	Solar units per month
Small, one block, pumps and lights, no lift	400	3.3 kWp	6	₹1,65,000	₹59,400	₹1,05,600	about 421
Mid-size, two lifts, pumps, lights	1,500	12.1 kWp	22	₹6,05,000	₹2,17,800	₹3,87,200	about 1,546
Large, several towers with lifts	4,000	31.35 kWp	57	₹15,67,500	₹5,64,300	₹10,03,200	about 4,005

Actual prices depend on the roof, the structure height needed to clear water tanks and the length of cable to the meter room. The subsidy is worked out on the capacity approved on the portal, which we confirm at filing.

The tariff on your common meter decides the payback

Common meters do not all pay the same rate per unit. It depends on the connection category, the load and the slab the society falls into. So look at your own bill. Add the energy charge, fuel charge and duty, and divide by the units billed. That is what each solar unit saves.

For the mid-size society above, here is how the rate changes the answer. This is a simple first-year payback, before tariff increases and panel ageing.

Rate per unit on the common bill	Saving per month	Saving per year	Simple payback
₹6	₹9,276	₹1,11,312	about 3.5 years
₹7	₹10,822	₹1,29,864	about 3.0 years
₹8	₹12,368	₹1,48,416	about 2.6 years

Spread across 60 or 80 flats, a saving of ₹10,000 to ₹12,000 a month is a real cut in the maintenance charge. Fixed charges on the bill stay, so the bill does not go to zero.

Do not oversize

Under current GERC rules, units the plant exports beyond what the society uses in the billing period are credited at only about ₹2.25 each. That rate can change. A plant bigger than the common load earns little on the extra units. Size to the common consumption, and if the society plans EV charging points, add their expected use before sizing. Our DGVCL net metering guide explains how the meter and the credit work.

Route two, individual owners

Flats in an apartment building

A flat owner in a multi-storey building usually cannot install rooftop solar alone. The terrace is common property. There is rarely enough space to give every flat its own panels, and each flat would need its own cable run down the building to its own meter. Top-floor owners sometimes have terrace rights written into their deed, and in that case a small system for that flat may be possible with the society’s consent. For everyone else, the common-area plant is the way to benefit, through a lower maintenance charge.

Row houses and bungalow societies

In a row house or bungalow society, each house has its own roof and its own DGVCL connection. Each owner can apply under the normal residential slab, up to ₹78,000 for 3 kW and above. Plan around the central amount. Our post on the solar subsidy in Gujarat covers the slabs, and the PM Surya Ghar subsidy guide has the step-by-step DGVCL process. When several neighbours apply together, the site visits and paperwork can run in one batch, which saves everyone time.

Roof rights and the committee resolution

Before any plant goes on a common terrace, the society needs to settle who has the right to use it. Check the society’s bye-laws and any deed that gives terrace rights to top-floor flats. Look for existing leases, such as a mobile tower, that already use part of the roof. Make sure the water tanks, access door and drainage stay clear.

Then the managing committee, or the general body where the bye-laws require it, passes a resolution. It should name the plant size, the budget, how it will be paid for and who will maintain it.

Documents a society usually needs

• Society registration certificate
• Committee or general body resolution approving the plant
• Latest common meter bill with the DGVCL consumer number
• Society PAN and a bank account in the society’s name for the subsidy
• NOC from any flat owners with terrace rights, if applicable
• Roof photos and a rough sketch of the terrace

The exact list can differ on the portal at the time of filing. We check it before we start.

Who looks after the plant

The society owns the plant, so the society is responsible for it. Settle three things in the resolution. Who arranges cleaning and how often. Who keeps the warranty papers and the installer’s contact. Who reads the monthly generation figures and raises the alarm if they drop.

Panels on a society terrace need cleaning about once a month in town, and more often near industrial estates. Use soft water and a soft brush, early in the morning. Our cleaning and maintenance guide has the full routine. The cleaning cost and a small reserve for future repairs should come from the maintenance fund. Committees change every few years, and a plant nobody is responsible for slowly loses output.

Rules that may change

Everything in this post reflects the PM Surya Ghar scheme as we understand it in September 2026. The ₹18,000 per kW society rate, the 500 kW limit, the inclusion of EV charging and the ₹2.25 export credit are all set by the government or GERC and can be revised. Gujarat also routes applications through its own state system alongside the national portal. We confirm the current terms before your society commits any money. For how the rules fit together across the region, see our guide to rooftop solar in South Gujarat.

Talk to us

Send twelve months of your society’s common meter bills and a few terrace photos on WhatsApp at 98241 95027, and we will send a sized proposal your committee can discuss. You can check rough numbers on the savings calculator or visit the shop at Mehfuz Complex, opposite Patel Welfare Hospital, Bharuch.