PM Surya Ghar Subsidy in Tamil Nadu: How to Claim It

You can claim if

• You have a valid domestic electricity connection with TANGEDCO
• The connection is in your own name
• You own the roof, or hold documented rights to use it
• The system is grid-connected with net metering
• The panels are DCR-compliant, built from cells on ALMM List-II
• You have not already claimed a subsidy for solar at that connection

You cannot claim if

• The property is billed under a commercial or industrial tariff
• The system is off-grid
• You are an individual flat owner applying against a shared society address. The association applies instead
• The connection is in someone else's name and has not been transferred

The connection name problem, which stops more applications than anything else

Many Chennai homes still have the electricity connection in a parent's, grandparent's or previous owner's name long after the property changed hands. The subsidy application and the net metering application are both tied to that service connection, and the applicant's name must match.

Fix it before you apply. A name transfer at your local section office is inexpensive and usually takes a week or two. Discovering the mismatch midway through is what turns a straightforward project into a frustrating one. We check this at the site survey for exactly this reason.

At pmsuryaghar.gov.in, selecting Tamil Nadu as the state and TANGEDCO as the DISCOM, with your electricity consumer number, mobile number and email address. The consumer number is on your electricity bill.

Using your consumer number and mobile, complete the application form with the proposed system capacity and your details.

TANGEDCO assesses whether the connection and the local network can support the proposed system. Nothing should be installed before this approval arrives. Applications commonly stall here when the proposed capacity exceeds the sanctioned load.

Once feasibility is approved, the system is installed by a vendor registered with the DISCOM, using DCR-compliant, ALMM-listed panels. This is where the choice of installer determines whether the claim clears later.

After installation, the plant details are submitted through the portal and the net metering application is made. In Tamil Nadu this includes both the bi-directional meter and a separate solar generation meter.

TANGEDCO inspects the installation and installs the meters. This is usually the longest stage, and the one no installer controls.

Once inspection and metering are complete, the commissioning certificate is generated through the portal. This is the document that unlocks the subsidy.

Bank account details and a cancelled cheque are submitted through the portal, and the subsidy is transferred directly to that account.

What this means in practice

Your role is to sign, provide access and supply bank details. Everything else can be handled by the installer, and with a competent one it is.

If an installer tells you the paperwork is your responsibility, that is a choice they are making rather than a requirement of the scheme.

The single biggest determinant of your timeline

Whether connection work such as load enhancement or three-phase conversion was identified at the survey and filed alongside the net metering application, or discovered later and filed afterwards. Filed together, they run in parallel. Filed sequentially, a six-week project becomes twelve.

Rural and outlying circles generally take longer than urban Chennai. Plan accordingly rather than assuming metro timelines apply everywhere in Tamil Nadu.

How to check your application status

Log in to the national portal with your consumer number and registered mobile. The application status is visible there at every stage, from feasibility through to subsidy disbursal.

What holds disbursal up

• Bank details not submitted, or submitted with an error. The most common cause, and entirely avoidable
• Name mismatch between the bank account, the electricity connection and the application
• Commissioning certificate not generated, usually because inspection or metering is incomplete
• Documentation queries raised on the portal and not noticed, since notifications are easy to miss
• DCR compliance questions on the installed hardware

If disbursal is delayed: check the portal status, then confirm the commissioning certificate has been generated, then verify the bank details as submitted. Most delays resolve at one of those three points. We track this for our customers through to the money arriving, rather than treating handover as the end of the job.

01

Two meters, not one

A bi-directional net meter records import and export, and a separate solar generation meter records total output. Quotations accounting for only one meter are incomplete.

02

Sanctioned load limits your system size

Capacity cannot exceed sanctioned load. Many Chennai domestic connections are sanctioned well below what the household actually uses, so enhancement is often required.

03

Above 4,000 watts, TANGEDCO supplies three-phase

Systems of 5 kW and above therefore usually involve a phase conversion, which is a separate application and should be filed in parallel.

04

The section office is where connection matters are settled

Name transfers, load enhancement and phase conversion all go through your local section office, and getting these done before or alongside the application is what keeps the project on schedule.

What this means for timing, stated without exaggeration

The scheme is running against a target and an allocation rather than continuing indefinitely, and rooftop prices have been rising through 2026 as the ALMM List-II domestic cell mandate feeds through into module costs. Neither fact means the subsidy disappears next month.

Anyone telling you the subsidy disappears next month is applying pressure rather than information.