How PSPCL net metering actually works, step by step.
Most pages explaining this repeat figures that are years out of date or were never right. Every number below is sourced to a PSERC regulation, a PSPCL circular or the MNRE scheme guidelines, by number and date. Where something could not be verified, we say so instead of filling the gap.
Five things worth knowing before you start
- There is no feasibility study for a system up to 10 kW. A complete application is deemed approved. PSPCL Commercial Circular 09/2024 puts it plainly: for a rooftop system up to 10 kWp on the AC side, “no technical feasibility shall be carried out and same shall deemed to be approved.” Written into PSERC’s regulations by the Second Amendment of 20 February 2025.
- You can size up to 100% of your sanctioned load, not 80%. PSERC Regulation 4.2. The 80% figure that appears everywhere is a different rule entirely — see below.
- The application fee and meter testing charges are waived for domestic systems up to 10 kW under PM Surya Ghar, by PSERC order of 28 November 2025, until Punjab reaches 2.5 lakh installations.
- Subsidy applications go on the national portal, not PSPCL’s. PSPCL’s own portal says so: “Solar Applications with Subsidy can only be applied at PM - Surya Ghar National Portal.”
- Non-DCR panels void the subsidy. Modules must be domestically manufactured from domestically manufactured cells. MNRE: use of non-DCR modules “in any form” renders the installation ineligible.
The process, in order
- Check which portal applies to you. You need a residential PSPCL connection and its consumer account number from a recent bill. Subsidy applications go to pmsuryaghar.gov.in. Separately, PSPCL is migrating to a new UBS billing system, and consumers in a long list of subdivisions are routed to consumer.pspcl.in rather than the older solar portal. Check the list before you begin, because starting in the wrong place costs you the time twice.
- Size against your sanctioned load, not your roof. A domestic consumer may install up to 100% of sanctioned load in kW, minimum 1 kWp, measured as rated inverter capacity on the AC side rather than module DC rating. PSERC declined in April 2026 to move that basis to module rating. If your sanctioned load is too small for the system you want, extending it is a separate application with its own cost.
- Choose your installer before you apply, and check they are registered. This is not a formality you can settle later. MNRE’s guidelines state the scheme “shall be implemented only through the vendors registered on the National Portal.” An unregistered installer does not mean a slower subsidy. It means no subsidy.
- Apply, and upload one document. At this stage the only document required is an electricity bill from the last six months — MNRE has directed DISCOMs to ensure “no other documents are sought from the applicants.” The portal issues an application ID and an e-token. Up to 10 kW there is no feasibility wait.
- Install within 180 days, with DCR modules. The clock runs from approval. An extension must be applied for at least 15 days before the deadline, costs ₹25 per kW, and buys a maximum of two months. Miss it and the application is cancelled — you may re-apply only in the next financial year, at the back of the queue.
- Upload the completion documents from your own login. The installer issues the installation certificate with a single line diagram; the consumer updates system details and uploads them, including geo-tagged photographs. Your installer may help, but the filing happens through your login.
- PSPCL inspects, meters and commissions. Two meters are installed and sealed in your presence: a bi-directional net meter, and a separate unidirectional generation meter at the point of generation. By Regulation 11.13 this should take 15 days. In practice this is the step that slips.
- PSPCL approves on the portal, and the Centre releases the money. The subsidy is ₹30,000 per kWp for the first 2 kWp and ₹18,000 for the third, capped at ₹78,000. Once PSPCL approves after physical verification, your e-token is activated — and you must log in and redeem it. Nothing arrives automatically.
- Read your first bill carefully. It must show generation meter units, imported and exported units with opening and closing balances, net billed units and credit carried forward. PSPCL has itself circulated that field offices were wiring rooftop solar meters incorrectly, so this is worth checking rather than assuming.
What most websites get wrong
These are all in wide circulation, and all incorrect. If a company quotes one of them at you, it is reading someone else’s blog rather than the regulations.
| Frequently claimed | What the rule says |
|---|---|
| “Capacity is capped at 80% of your sanctioned load.” | 100% for domestic consumers (PSERC Reg 4.2). The 80% is the limit on cumulative solar on one distribution transformer or feeder (Reg 5.1), not on you. |
| “Feasibility takes 20 days, approval 22.” | Up to 10 kW there is no feasibility study at all (PSPCL CC 09/2024). |
| “The processing fee is ₹500.” | Waived for domestic systems up to 10 kW since 28 November 2025, along with meter testing charges. |
| “PM Surya Ghar is capped at 10 kW.” | No capacity cap appears in the MNRE guidelines. Subsidy simply stops accruing after 3 kWp. The 10 kW figure is the deemed-feasibility threshold, a different thing. |
| “Bring your Aadhaar.” | The word does not appear in MNRE’s scheme guidelines. What is required is a consumer account number and bank details. |
| “Punjab typically takes 6–8 weeks.” | No such figure is published by PSPCL, PSERC or MNRE. Every instance traces to marketing content with nothing behind it. |
How long it really takes
The regulation is generous. Read only the statutory clock and you would expect a subsidised system to go from complete application to money in the bank in roughly six weeks: no feasibility wait up to 10 kW, 15 days for PSPCL to commission after the installation certificate, 15 days for the Centre to pay after PSPCL approves.
What actually happens is not published. There is no official Punjab figure for median time from application to commissioning, to net meter installation, or to subsidy credit. We looked. We are not going to invent one, and we would rather you distrusted any company that quotes you a confident number without saying where it came from.
What can be said honestly is where it slips. The meter is the recurring failure, and it has a long record in Punjab. PSPCL’s own 2022 procedure does not treat meter unavailability as its own delay to absorb: if a meter is not available in the ME lab, the consumer may be asked to procure one and submit it for testing. When people describe a rooftop solar file sitting for months in Punjab, this is usually the step it is sitting on.
You can see the scale of the gap between applying and being commissioned on our live rooftop solar tracker — Punjab’s applications and installations side by side, district by district, updated daily.
Where we fit
Solentra is registered with PSPCL and based in Sector 74, Mohali. We prepare and file at each stage, supply BIS-certified inverters that will pass inspection, and follow the file through commissioning — the step that releases your subsidy.
What we will not do is promise you a date we cannot source, or tell you solar is worth buying when your consumption says otherwise. If your household sits under Punjab’s 300 free units a month, there is no bill for solar to offset, and we will say so. What a system actually costs in Punjab.
Frequently asked questions
Which portal do I apply on for rooftop solar in Punjab?
If you want the PM Surya Ghar subsidy, you apply at pmsuryaghar.gov.in. PSPCL’s own rooftop solar portal states it directly: solar applications with subsidy can only be applied at the PM Surya Ghar National Portal. Separately, PSPCL is migrating to a new UBS billing system, and consumers in a long list of subdivisions are routed to consumer.pspcl.in instead of the older portal.
Does PSPCL do a feasibility study?
Not for systems up to 10 kW. PSPCL Commercial Circular 09/2024 states that for a rooftop solar PV system up to 10 kWp on the AC side, no technical feasibility shall be carried out and it shall be deemed approved. The same position was written into the PSERC regulations by the Second Amendment of 20 February 2025. Above 10 kW a study is required and must be completed in 15 days.
How large a system can I install against my sanctioned load?
For a domestic consumer, up to 100 per cent of sanctioned load in kW, under PSERC Regulation 4.2. The commonly repeated 80 per cent figure is the limit on cumulative rooftop solar connected to one distribution transformer or feeder, not a limit on your own system. Minimum size is 1 kWp, and capacity is measured as rated inverter capacity on the AC side.
What does PSPCL charge?
For domestic systems up to 10 kW under PM Surya Ghar, PSERC waived both the application processing fee and meter testing charges by order dated 28 November 2025, until Punjab reaches 2.5 lakh installations under the scheme. The waiver covers the fee and the testing, not the cost of the meter itself.
How long does it take?
By regulation, quick: no feasibility wait up to 10 kW, 15 days to commission after the installation certificate, 15 days for the subsidy after approval. What actually happens is not published anywhere, and every “Punjab typically takes six to eight weeks” figure in circulation traces to marketing content with no source. We will not quote a timeline we cannot source.
Can I use any solar panels if I want the subsidy?
No. Modules must meet the Domestic Content Requirement — domestically manufactured modules made from domestically manufactured cells. MNRE’s guidelines state that use of non-DCR modules in any form renders the installation ineligible for central assistance. If you forgo the subsidy, you may use non-DCR modules.
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Sources. PSERC (Grid Interactive Rooftop Solar PV Systems) Regulations 2021, Notification PSERC/Secy./Regu.158 dated 18.08.2021, and the Second and Third Amendments (Notification 193 dated 20.02.2025; Order dated 07.04.2026). PSPCL Commercial Circular 09/2024 (Memo 366/70/SWS/S-4/Net Metering/19/Vol-2, 02.05.2024) and Commercial Circular 11/2022 (09.05.2022). PSERC Order in Petition No. 65 of 2025 dated 28.11.2025 on the fee waiver. MNRE, Guidelines for PM-Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana, Order No. 318/17/2024-Grid Connected Rooftop, and Office Memorandum dated 11.01.2024 on documentation. Rules change; check the current position before you rely on it, and tell us if you find something here out of date.