Solar Panel Savings Calculator
سولر پینل بچت کیلکولیٹرEstimate your real monthly savings and payback period — accounting for Pakistan's 2026 shift from net metering to net billing, where self-consumed and exported units are no longer worth the same.
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Almost every solar payback calculation you'll find online from before 2026 assumes the old net metering rule: export a unit during the day, consume a unit at night, and the two cancel out at the same rate — often pushing monthly bills toward zero. In February 2026, NEPRA replaced this with net billing for new solar connections, and the two systems are not financially equivalent.
Under net billing, you still pay full retail price for every unit you import from the grid, but the electricity you export now gets bought back at a separate, much lower rate — broadly in the Rs. 8-13 per unit range for new connections, compared to the Rs. 24-48 per unit you'd otherwise pay to import. That's roughly a 3-4x gap between what exporting earns you and what self-consuming saves you. Consumers who signed their net metering contract before the February 2026 change generally keep their original, higher export rate for the remaining life of that license — which is exactly why this calculator has a toggle for "Existing Net Metering Contract" versus "New Connection."
The practical effect: a solar system sized to dump most of its output onto the grid at midday, while the house sits empty, now performs financially worse than the same system feeding a household that runs its washing machine, water pump, and AC during sunlight hours. Self-consumption protects your savings; exporting surplus now only partially does.
پہلے نیٹ میٹرنگ کے تحت برآمد شدہ بجلی کی قیمت وہی ہوتی تھی جو درآمد شدہ بجلی کی — لیکن فروری 2026 سے نئے کنکشنز کے لیے نیٹ بلنگ نافذ ہو گئی ہے، جس میں برآمدی نرخ درآمدی نرخ سے کہیں کم ہے۔ اس لیے اب زیادہ سے زیادہ بجلی خود استعمال کرنا، برآمد کرنے سے زیادہ فائدہ مند ہے۔| Factor | Old Net Metering | New Net Billing (2026+) |
|---|---|---|
| Export Rate vs Import Rate | Same (1-for-1 credit) | Export rate much lower |
| Typical Export Rate | ~Rs. 25-26/unit | ~Rs. 8-13/unit (new connections) |
| Who It Applies To | Contracts signed before Feb 2026 | New applicants from Feb 2026 onward |
| Best Strategy | Size for total monthly bill | Size for daytime self-consumption |
Exact buyback rates are still being finalized in stages and may be adjusted further by NEPRA — treat the figures above as a planning range, and confirm the current notified rate with your installer or DISCO before finalizing a system size.
Under net metering, exported solar units were credited at the same rate you pay for imported electricity, often resulting in a near-zero bill if your export and import balanced out. Under net billing — introduced in February 2026 — exported units are bought back at a much lower rate (roughly Rs. 8-13 per unit for new connections) while imported units are still charged at the full retail tariff, making self-consumption far more financially valuable than exporting surplus power.
Generally no. Consumers who already had a net metering contract before the new regulations took effect in February 2026 continue to be paid at their original, higher export rate for the remaining duration of their license. The lower net billing rate applies to new applicants signing up after the change — use the "Existing Net Metering Contract" toggle above to model your specific situation.
Because exported units are now worth roughly a third to half of self-consumed units, a system sized larger than your actual daytime usage wastes value on cheap exports. Under net billing, it's more financially efficient to size your solar system closer to your real daytime consumption rather than your total monthly bill, and to consider adding battery storage to shift solar power into evening hours rather than exporting it cheaply.
For most households, yes — but the system design matters more than before. Because grid electricity prices have risen sharply over the past few years, even a system that only covers self-consumption (with little export value) can still deliver a reasonable payback period, typically still landing in the 3.5-5 year range for well-sized residential systems, simply because the cost of imported electricity it replaces is now so high. The calculator above lets you test your own self-consumption percentage to see your realistic outcome rather than relying on outdated net-metering assumptions.