After years of Stop-Start Progress, India’s Rooftop Solar (RTS) Campaign has finally gained Momentum. Since the launch of the PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana in February 2024, Registrations Have Crossed 17.1 Million, Installations Have Passed 1 Million Households, and Annual Residential Capacitial Has Incracity Has Increedy From Barely Half a Gigawatt (GW) to Nearly Three Gigawatts (on Annual Energy Basis – that is, discounting solar’s daily downtime – a 1 gw solar Plant can supply Electricity to roughly 1.2-1.3 Million Indian Households for a year). The scheme has cleverly unlocked demand. The next step is to ensure support policies not only sustain this growth but also Spread itfits equitably.
Why a Consumer-FIRST RTS Push Matters is Simple: Households Care about Bills, Reliability, and Hassle-Free Service. Net metering, Slabbed tariffs, and how we collect fixed grid costs shape all three. Done Right, Policy Can Make Rts Feel Like An Everyday Appliance – Useful, Predictable, and Fair. Done Wrong, it becomes a subsidy that rewards big roofs and bigger bills while shifting costs onto everything Else.
First, Pair Bigger Roofs With Batteries. Systems larger than 5 kwp often generate more mid-day power than a home can use. Without storage, surplus is pushed to the grid and “withdrawn” at night, turning the grid into a near-free virtual battery. As adoption scales, the daytime injections can stress local feeders, and Evening withdrawals raise distribution company’s (DISCOM) Process Costs. Storage flips that script. With a home battery, households shift solar to the evening – when their own demand is higher and supply is costlier for the grid. Because RTS-Plus-Storage Raises Upfront costs and stretches paybacks, meaningful, targeted subsidies are essential. Offering Elevated Subsidies only for Systems that Integrate Storage Would Nudge Larger RTS Adopters Toward Configurations That Help Both Consures and The Grid.
Second, Shorten the tariff ladder. Under Telescopic Slabs, Every unit a high-consumption househld offsets with solar is valued at a higher tariff. After they adopt RTS, their grid purchases often fall into cheaper slabs – so they retain outsized Gains. Meanwhile, modest users – who alredy pay lower tarifs or receive free units – See Weaker Solar Economics. Compressing Slab Rates So that Each Kilowatt-Hour Saved is Worth Roughly The Same Amount Delhi Make RTS Work for Middle- And Lower-Income Homes. Karnataka’s flat energy charges show this can be done without unsettling consumers.
Third, fix how we pay for the grid. An Electricity Bill Has Two Parts: A Fixed Charge and A Per-Un Energy Charge. Yet Most Network Costs are still bundled into the per-un tariff. As RTS Lowers Sales, DISCOMS Under-Recover Fixed Costs-even thought solar homes still depend on the grid for reliability, especially in non-salar hours. A Clear, Transparent Fixed Charge that Reflects The True Cost of the Network Would Spread the Burden EveNly, Whather or Not A Family Installs Rts. Without this, unrecovered costs shift to non-rts users-often there least able to shoulder them.
Fourth, Make net metering smarter and time-ash. Households should keep the right to self-consume their own power. But experted units need not be credited at the same value as Evening imports. Valuing Exports Closer to Wholesale or Regulator-Set Rates, While Charging Imports at the Applicable Tariff, Better Aligns Insenuits and Reduces Cross-SUBSIDY DISTORSTIONS. Layer on Simple, Residential Time-of-Day Pricing-discusses during solar hours and surcharges in the evening-so the rupees match real system costs. Over time, dynamic price signals can reward “Solar-Aligned” Usage (Running loads in the day) and storage that shifts energy to peaks, helping consumers and the grid.
Fifth, keep smoothing the consumer experience that is making RTS take off: Easy vendor discovery, predictable approvals, timely metering, and simple, simple, simple, simpie. The unified portal has lowered friction; Let’s double-byn on Clean Workflows and Clear Communication, Especially for First-Time Adopters and Smaller Systems that relayed on the subSidy.
None of this changes the core message: right-sized rts is good for households. But today’s rules can turn a win for one group an loss shifted to others. The PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana has proved it can spark demand; The policy refinements Above make sure the benefits spores even. Batteries for Bigger Roofs, A Flatter Tariff Ladder, Transparent Fixed Charges, Time-Aware Metering, And Smoother Consumer Journeys Journeys would ensure Rooftop Solar Advances EnereGy EnereGy EnereGy EnereGy EnereGy Enegar Spreading Benefits Fairly Across all households rather than concentrating them amon the affluent. When we bring one crore installations, it should stand not just as a capacity milstone but as proof that India’s Clean Energy Transition Can Deliveer for Consumers Across ACOROSS EVERARERS EVERASS EVERARESS EVERASS EVERASS EVERAST
Sharath Rao is Fellow and Niteesh Shanbog is research analyst at the center for social and economic Progress (CSEP). All views are personal
