Net metering is the single most important concept to understand before going solar, because your entire bill savings mechanism depends on it — and it's also the concept most vendors gloss over with a one-line explanation.
When you install solar, your existing single-direction meter is replaced with a bi-directional net meter, a device capable of separately tracking electricity flowing in both directions: what you draw from the grid (import) and what you send back to the grid (export). This isn't optional hardware — it's a mandatory part of any subsidized PM Suryaghar installation, and your DISCOM (PVVNL or NPCL, depending on your exact location) installs and certifies it as part of the commissioning process.
Here's how the actual billing math works. Over a billing cycle (typically monthly or bi-monthly, depending on your DISCOM), the net meter records your total import and total export separately. At billing time, the DISCOM doesn't charge you for your import alone — it calculates the net figure: total import minus total export. If your export happens to exceed your import in a given cycle (common in bright summer months when you're away at work during peak generation hours), the surplus typically carries forward as a credit against future bills, rather than being paid out in cash, though the exact carry-forward rules can vary slightly by DISCOM policy.
This is also why timing of consumption matters, not just total consumption. A household that uses most of its electricity in the evening (lights, TV, AC after work hours) benefits less from direct self-consumption than one that runs washing machines, water pumps, or work-from-home equipment during the day when panels are actively generating — even if both households use the same total number of units per month. Understanding this nuance is part of why a proper site assessment asks about your usage pattern, not just your bill amount.
One more detail worth knowing: net-metering export is typically credited at a "buyback rate" that DISCOMs set, and in this region that rate tends to be lower than what you'd pay to import the same unit of power. This is precisely why correctly sizing your system — covered in detail in topic 8 — matters more here than in some other states.
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