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How to Read Your TSSPDCL Solar Net Metering Bill — Hyderabad 2026 Guide
Import units, export units, credit carryforward — explained simply with a real example.
Updated May 2026 | By Sri Ishaan Solar Team
You installed solar, the system is running, and then your first TSSPDCL net metering bill arrives — and it looks nothing like what you expected. There are two sets of meter readings, references to "import" and "export" units, numbers that seem to contradict each other, and a final payable amount that is confusingly different from what your installer promised.
You are not alone. The TSSPDCL net metering bill format is genuinely opaque for first-time solar customers. This guide breaks it down from scratch — what each line means, how credits work, and how to verify that your bill is correct.
What Is a TSSPDCL Net Metering Bill?
Before solar, you had one meter and one bill: how many units did you draw from the grid, and what is the tariff for those units? Net metering changes this with two measurements:
- Import meter (grid → your home): Counts every unit of electricity you draw from the TSSPDCL grid — at night, on cloudy days, when your solar isn't generating enough to cover your load.
- Export meter (your solar → grid): Counts every surplus unit your solar system pushes back into the TSSPDCL grid when your generation exceeds your real-time household consumption.
A bidirectional net meter (the grey or white box TSSPDCL installs) records both import and export readings. Your bill is calculated on the net position: Import units minus Export units. You pay for (or carry credit from) only the difference.
Key Terms on Your Bill
| Bill Term | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Gross Consumption / Units Consumed | Total units your household used during the billing period — from both solar and grid combined. This is what your old single-meter bill showed. |
| Solar Generation | Total units generated by your solar system during the billing period. This figure comes from your inverter's energy meter, not the TSSPDCL meter. |
| Units Exported (Export Reading) | Units your solar system pushed into the TSSPDCL grid — surplus generation above your real-time household load. This is measured by the export register of the net meter. |
| Units Imported (Import Reading) | Units you drew from the TSSPDCL grid. Measured by the import register of the net meter. |
| Net Units Payable | Import units minus export units. If positive, you owe TSSPDCL for these units at the applicable domestic tariff. If negative, you have a credit to carry forward. |
| Fixed Charges / Customer Charges | A monthly fixed amount TSSPDCL charges all consumers regardless of how many units are used. This charge is NOT eliminated by solar — it appears on every bill even if your net units are zero. |
| Credit Carried Forward | If your export units exceed your import units, the surplus is expressed as a credit in rupees or units, to be adjusted in the next billing month. |
Example Bill Walkthrough
Let us walk through a typical April 2026 bill for a 5kW system in Kukatpally:
Household: Kukatpally, 5kW on-grid system, April 2026
| Total Household Consumption | 500 units |
| Solar Generation (inverter reading) | 400 units |
| Units Exported to Grid | 120 units |
| Units Imported from Grid | 220 units |
| Net Units Payable (Import − Export) | 100 units |
| Energy charge (LT-1 domestic, ≤100 units slab) | ₹ 172 (approx) |
| Fixed charges | ₹ 40 |
| Total Bill Payable | ~₹ 212 (vs ~₹ 980 pre-solar) |
In this example, the household used 500 units but the solar system generated 400 units. Of those 400 units, 280 were consumed directly in the home (self-consumption) and 120 were exported to the grid. The household still needed 220 units from the grid. Net units = 220 imported − 120 exported = 100 units to pay for.
This household saves roughly ₹768 per month (from ₹980 to ₹212) — which is about 78% bill reduction. Their pre-solar consumption of 500 units at TSSPDCL LT-1 tariffs would have cost approximately ₹980; with solar they pay only for 100 net units at the lowest slab rate.
What If You Export MORE Than You Import?
This happens most often in summer (Hyderabad's peak solar month is April–May) when generation is highest and, in some households, consumption is lower due to office absences or energy-efficient appliances.
Example: You generate 600 units, consume 450 units. You export 200 units and import only 50 units. Net = 50 − 200 = negative 150 units.
Under Telangana's current net metering policy:
- TSSPDCL does not pay you cash for the surplus in the same month.
- The 150-unit surplus is expressed as a monetary credit (at the import tariff rate) and carried forward to your next bill.
- In the next billing month, that credit offsets what you owe.
- At the end of the financial year (March 31), any remaining credit is settled at the applicable Feed-in Tariff (FiT) — typically lower than the retail import rate. For FY2026, the FiT for rooftop solar in Telangana has been approximately ₹2.50–₹3.00/unit.
Practical implication: Do not over-size your solar system with the expectation of earning significant revenue from exports. In Telangana, the best financial outcome is to self-consume as much of your solar generation as possible and export only the unavoidable surplus. An installer who promises "TSSPDCL will pay you for excess units each month" is not accurately describing the current policy.
How Monthly Credits Accumulate
Net metering credits accumulate and offset on a month-by-month basis within the financial year. Here is an illustrative annual cycle for a 5kW system in Hyderabad:
| Month | Generation (units) | Consumption (units) | Net (units) | Bill / Credit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April | 620 | 450 | −90 (credit) | ₹0 + ₹225 credit |
| May | 600 | 520 | −10 (credit) | ₹0 + ₹250 credit |
| June (monsoon) | 350 | 480 | +130 (pay) | ₹0 after credit use |
| July (monsoon) | 280 | 460 | +180 (pay) | Small bill |
Even in monsoon months with reduced generation, accumulated summer credits help offset grid import costs — often reducing the monsoon bill to near zero.
Why Your First 2–3 Bills Look Confusing
Several factors make the first few billing cycles after solar commissioning harder to interpret:
- Mid-cycle commissioning: If your net meter is activated on the 12th of the month and TSSPDCL's billing cycle runs from the 1st, your first bill covers only part of a month's generation — making it look like your system is under-performing.
- Billing cycle alignment: TSSPDCL bills on fixed dates (not from your commissioning date). The first full billing cycle — covering a complete calendar month — will be your second or third bill.
- Tariff code errors: On rare occasions, the consumer account isn't updated to the net metering tariff code in the first cycle. The bill may show standard tariff rates without the net credit. Raise this with your TSSPDCL AE office immediately if it persists beyond the second cycle.
- Seasonal variation: If commissioned in October, your first few months are the lower-irradiance winter period. Generation will step up significantly once summer arrives — this is normal, not a system fault.
Cross-Checking Your Bill Against Your Inverter App
Every solar system installed in Hyderabad comes with inverter monitoring — either the Sungrow iSolarCloud app (for Sungrow inverters) or the Growatt ShinePhone app (for Growatt inverters). Use these apps to cross-check your TSSPDCL bill:
- Open the app and note the monthly generation in kWh for the billing period in question.
- Compare this with (Import units − Export units + Solar generation) shown on your bill. The arithmetic should roughly balance.
- If the inverter app shows significantly more generation than the net meter accounts for, there may be a metering discrepancy worth investigating with TSSPDCL.
- Note that a 5–10% difference between inverter and net meter readings is normal due to cable losses and measurement tolerances — only larger discrepancies need attention.
Common Bill Issues and How to Resolve Them
- Bill shows no export credit despite solar running: Possible causes — net meter not registered for bidirectional billing, tarrif code not updated, or inverter AC output not connected through the net meter. Contact your installer and TSSPDCL AE office with your net meter serial number and commissioning certificate.
- Bill amount higher than expected: Check whether fixed charges, late payment surcharges, or arrears from a previous period have been added to the bill. These are not reduced by solar generation.
- Export units seem too low: Your system may be consuming more power internally than expected (perhaps an inverter set to prioritise battery or self-consumption mode, or a load connected before the meter). Check inverter settings and string configurations with your installer.
Get Your Solar System and Net Metering Set Up Correctly
Sri Ishaan Solar handles the complete net metering process with TSSPDCL — from application to bidirectional meter installation to the first billing cycle review. We are TGREDCO-registered (TSRE260936) and have commissioned net metering systems across Hyderabad since 2017.
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Last updated: May 2026