Net metering
Topic: Infrastructure: Transport, Communications and Energy · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Net metering is a billing system for homes and buildings with rooftop solar panels. When the panels make more power than the house needs, the extra power flows into the grid, which is the public electricity network. The owner gets credit for this exported power, and the credit is set against the power they take from the grid. The owner pays only for the "net" amount. This makes rooftop solar cheaper for households and adds clean power to the grid.
Example
In one month a house takes 250 units from the grid and exports 150 units of surplus solar power. Under net metering it is billed for only 100 units. The PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana (2024) aims to put rooftop solar on 1 crore homes, with up to 300 free units a month.
Don't confuse with
- Feed-in tariff: here the generator is paid a guaranteed, often premium, price for every unit it supplies. Net metering does not pay a price per unit. It only offsets exported units against the owner's own use.
Related concepts
- Energy infrastructure
- Energy security
- Plant load factor
- Aggregate technical and commercial losses
- Power purchase agreement
- Cross-subsidy
- Open access (electricity)
- Time-of-day tariff
- Feed-in tariff
- Levelised cost of electricity