TANGEDCO Net Metering: Application, Meters and Billing
Net metering lets a rooftop solar system export surplus power to the TANGEDCO grid and receive credit against consumption. The application is made to TANGEDCO, which assesses feasibility, approves the connection and installs the metering. Every system needs a bi-directional net meter; a separate solar generation meter is mandatory above 10 kW and optional below it. Domestic consumers receive one-for-one credit up to their sanctioned load, settled on a bi-monthly billing cycle.
One thing worth knowing upfront: TNERC regulations require TANGEDCO to process a complete application within 30 days, and there is a formal escalation route if it does not. Almost nobody is told this.
What it does
Why your system needs a net meter
Without a net meter, an ordinary uni-directional meter can record exported solar power as though it were consumption, so a household can be billed for electricity it gave away. A bi-directional net meter records import and export separately, and TANGEDCO bills on the difference. This is the step that makes a rooftop system financially complete, and until it is done the system is generating without you receiving the benefit.
Without a net meter
One direction, counted once
Export can register as consumption. You are billed for units you gave away.
With a bi-directional meter
Import and export, counted separately
TANGEDCO bills the difference, so every exported unit is credited.
This page is about the TANGEDCO application itself, which is a separate process from the subsidy with its own approvals, timeline and escalation route. For how an on-grid system behaves through the day, see on-grid solar systems in Chennai. For the money, see solar subsidy in Tamil Nadu.
The PM Surya Ghar subsidyEligibility
Who is eligible, and how big
Any TANGEDCO consumer with a valid service connection and suitable shade-free roof area can apply for net metering, subject to one governing rule. Domestic consumers get net metering with one-for-one credit up to their sanctioned load; above 10 kW a home loses the subsidy and needs CEIG approval and a generation meter.
The one governing rule
System capacity ≤ sanctioned load
Everything else in the table below follows from this one line. Check it on your bill before you size anything.
Sanctioned load appears on your TANGEDCO bill in kilowatts. If you cannot find it, the section office will confirm it against your service number.
Two things to settle before you apply
The connection must be in the applicant's name
Many Chennai homes still have it in a parent's or previous owner's name. Fix this at the section office before applying.
Sanctioned load must support the system
If it does not, file the enhancement in parallel with the net metering application rather than afterwards.
One simplification in Tamil Nadu's favour: the state has a single distribution utility, so there is no question about which DISCOM serves your address, unlike states with multiple licensees.
The process
How to apply for TANGEDCO net metering
The net metering application is made to TANGEDCO through its rooftop portal, alongside the PM Surya Ghar application on the national portal where a subsidy is being claimed. TANGEDCO assesses feasibility, issues approval, and after installation carries out an inspection and installs the metering. Under the central consumer-rights rules of February 2024, applications up to 10 kW need no feasibility study, although TNPDCL's portal still says 3 kW; larger systems must be studied within 15 days. The Assistant Executive Engineer inspects plants up to 10 kW; above 10 kW the plant also needs CEIG approval before the meter is fitted.
Where applications typically stall: at feasibility, when the proposed capacity exceeds the sanctioned load, and at metering, when the connection work required was not filed in parallel. Both are avoidable at the survey stage. The documents you will need are listed separately.
The strongest thing on this page
What to do if TANGEDCO is slow
TNERC regulations require TANGEDCO to process a complete net metering application within 30 days of receiving it. A delay beyond that period is a regulatory breach rather than simply an inconvenience, and consumers have a formal escalation route through the Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum. Most consumers are unaware of this and simply wait.
Where does your application stand?
Your position
Past the regulatory period
At 35 days a complete application has exceeded the 30 days TNERC regulations allow. That is a regulatory breach rather than simply an inconvenience, and most consumers are never told there is a remedy.
Do this next. Follow up in writing if you have not, then escalate through the Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum. Escalation is not an aggressive act; it is the mechanism the regulations provide, and it is effective when supported by dated records.
What to do, in order
01
Confirm your application was complete
The 30-day clock runs from a complete application. A missing document restarts the practical delay and weakens any complaint. Check what was submitted before escalating.
02
Follow up at the section office in writing
Verbal follow-up leaves no record. A written follow-up, with the application reference and date, creates one and frequently resolves matters on its own.
03
Escalate through the consumer grievance channel
If the delay continues past the regulatory period, the Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum is the formal route. Escalation is not an aggressive act; it is the mechanism the regulations provide, and it is effective.
04
Keep documentation
Application date, acknowledgement, correspondence and the readiness report. A complaint supported by dated records moves considerably faster than one without.
What we do for our customers
We file the application, follow it at the section office, and escalate where the timeline is exceeded. Chasing a DISCOM is unfamiliar and uncomfortable for most homeowners, and it is exactly the part of the job an installer should be doing.
Metering
The net meter, and when you also need a generation meter
Every net-metered system in Tamil Nadu needs a bi-directional net meter, which replaces the existing meter and records import and export separately. Under TNERC Order 8 of 2021, a separate solar generation meter, which records total output from the array, is mandatory for systems above 10 kW and is fitted at the owner's cost. Up to 10 kW it is optional: TNPDCL assesses generation at 21% CUF or the inverter reading, whichever is lower, and either side may fit a generation meter if that figure is disputed.
Meter 1 of 2
Bi-directional net meter
Replaces the existing meter and records units imported from and exported to the grid.
Determines your bill.
Meter 2 of 2
Solar generation meter (mandatory above 10 kW)
Records total output from the array, consumed or exported.
Shows the system's true output, independently of your consumption.
Why the generation meter is useful to you, not just to TANGEDCO
Your net meter only shows the difference between import and export. If you consume most of what you generate, the net meter shows very little export even though the system is working perfectly. The generation meter is the authoritative record of what the system actually produced, and it is what you check if you suspect underperformance.
Above 10 kW, check that the generation meter is inside your quotation. Below 10 kW it is optional, but worth having.
Settlement
Bi-monthly billing, credits and annual settlement
TANGEDCO reads domestic meters on a bi-monthly cycle. Within each cycle, units exported are credited against units imported, and any surplus carries forward as credit to the next cycle. Under net metering, any surplus still unused on 31 March lapses. Homes that chose net feed-in are credited in money at TNERC's feed-in tariff, ₹3.61 a unit up to 10 kW, and can take the remaining credit as payment on 31 March.
How a credit travels
Within the cycle
Exports offset imports one-for-one on the bill.
At cycle end
Any surplus banks forward as credit to the next cycle.
At year end
Credit still unused on 31 March lapses unpaid.
A well-sized system
Typically produces surplus in the bright months and draws from banked credit through the northeast monsoon, so the credits balance out across the year.
Surplus left on 31 March is lost
Under net metering, units not offset within the year lapse at the settlement date.
This is the reason not to oversize
Capacity that consistently exports more than it offsets is being paid for at full price and compensated at a lower one.
The practical conclusion
Size the system against twelve months of your own consumption. That is the sizing rule that runs through every page on this site, and net metering settlement is the reason for it.
After commissioning
What your electricity bill looks like once solar is live
After net metering is commissioned, your TANGEDCO bill shows units imported and units exported separately, with the charge calculated on the net difference and any surplus carried forward as credit. Homes pay no fixed charge, but the network charge on solar generation appears every cycle, because it is levied on units generated, not units imported.
Solar reduces this
Energy charge on net units
Billed on import minus export, so a good cycle can cut this to almost nothing.
Solar does not touch this
Network charge on generation
Homes pay no fixed charge, but the network charge on what your system generates, about ₹0.32 a unit up to 10 kW, continues every cycle.
Three things that surprise people on the first bill
01
The bill is not zero, even in a good month
The network charge on generation remains, and any consumption beyond what solar offset is still billed. A large reduction is the realistic expectation, not elimination.
02
Exported units are not a cash payment
They are credit against consumption within the settlement framework, not money paid to you each cycle.
03
The first bill after commissioning can look odd
It often covers a partial period, spanning before and after the meter change. The second full cycle is the one to judge the system by.
Compare against your inverter or generation meter. If the numbers do not make sense, the inverter or generation meter tells you what the system produced, independently of what the net meter says about import and export. That is the starting point for any query.
Specific to Tamil Nadu
How solar interacts with Tamil Nadu's free unit allowance
Tamil Nadu provides a free-unit allowance to domestic consumers, and the way that allowance interacts with net metering credits is a reasonable question for any household considering rooftop solar. Consumers currently receiving free units should confirm with TANGEDCO how the calculation applies to their connection once solar is commissioned, since the treatment can differ from that of a standard metered consumer.
Where solar pays hardest
By billed consumption per bi-monthly cycle, not total consumption.
Within the free allowance
Weak case
Above the allowance, modest use
Worth modelling
Above 500 units a cycle
Strongest case
Higher slabs are the units solar displaces first, which is why the same system pays back faster on a bigger bill.
Why this matters for sizing
A household consuming well within the free-unit allowance has relatively little billed consumption for solar to displace, which lengthens payback. A household consuming above the threshold, particularly above 500 units per bi-monthly cycle, is paying higher slab rates on a large volume of units, and those are exactly the units solar displaces first.
What we do
We check your consumption pattern and slab position against twelve months of bills at the survey, and we tell you plainly if your bill is low enough that solar will take a long time to pay back. Some households are better served waiting, and we would rather say so.
Avoidable
Five common causes of delay
All five are identifiable at a proper site survey, which is why the survey matters more than most people assume.
We file it, we chase it
Get the net metering filed and followed
Blues Renewables files the TANGEDCO net metering application, checks your connection name and sanctioned load at the survey, files any load enhancement or phase conversion in parallel rather than afterwards, attends the inspection, and follows the application at the section office through to the meter being installed. Where the regulatory timeline is exceeded, we escalate.
Common questions
TANGEDCO net metering, common questions
How long does TANGEDCO net metering approval take?
TNERC regulations require a complete application to be processed within 30 days. In practice, urban Chennai commonly takes four to eight weeks from application to meters installed, with delays usually caused by sanctioned load issues or connection work filed late. Where the regulatory period is exceeded, the Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum is the formal escalation route.
What can I do if my net meter is delayed?
First confirm the application was complete, since the regulatory period runs from a complete submission. Then follow up at the section office in writing rather than verbally, keeping the reference and dates. If the delay continues beyond the regulatory period, escalate through the consumer grievance channel. Documented, dated records make a complaint move considerably faster.
Is a feasibility study required for a small system?
Under the central Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Amendment Rules of February 2024, rooftop systems up to 10 kW are deemed technically feasible, with no feasibility study. TNPDCL's portal FAQ still says the waiver applies up to 3 kW, so for 4 to 10 kW homes expect TNPDCL to check the connection, sanctioned load and local transformer in practice. Above 10 kW the study must be completed within 15 days.
Do I need two meters for solar in Tamil Nadu?
Every system needs a bi-directional net meter, which records import and export and determines your bill. A separate solar generation meter is mandatory only above 10 kW, at the owner's cost. Up to 10 kW, TNPDCL assesses generation at 21% CUF or the inverter reading, whichever is lower, so a generation meter is optional.
Can my solar system be bigger than my sanctioned load?
No. System capacity cannot exceed the sanctioned load on the connection, and this is the most common reason applications stall. If your sanctioned load is lower than the system you want, the enhancement should be filed alongside the net metering application rather than after it is rejected.
How are net metering credits settled?
On a bi-monthly billing cycle, units exported are credited against units imported and any surplus carries forward. Under net metering, surplus units still unused on 31 March lapse. This is why oversizing a system does not pay.
Will my electricity bill be zero after solar?
Usually not, even in a good month. The network charge on generation continues, and any consumption beyond what solar offset is still billed. A substantial reduction is the realistic expectation. Solar reduces the units you are billed for, not the standing charges on the connection.
Do I get paid for the electricity I export?
Within the cycle, exported units are credited against imported units rather than paid as cash. Surplus carries forward as credit. Under net metering, surplus units left on 31 March lapse. Under net feed-in, exports are credited at ₹3.61 a unit up to 10 kW and the balance can be paid out on 31 March.
I receive free units from TANGEDCO. How does solar affect that?
Confirm the treatment with TANGEDCO for your specific connection, since the calculation can differ from that of a standard metered consumer. As a general point, a household consuming well inside the free-unit allowance has less billed consumption for solar to displace, which lengthens payback, while a household consuming above the threshold sees faster returns.
Do commercial consumers get net metering in Tamil Nadu?
Non-domestic categories are generally on net feed-in rather than one-for-one net metering, meaning exports are compensated at a feed-in rate below the retail tariff. This is why commercial systems should be sized to daytime self-consumption rather than to available roof area.
How do I apply for a TNEB net meter?
Online, with TNPDCL, the TNEB distribution company formerly called TANGEDCO. A home claiming the PM Surya Ghar subsidy registers first on pmsuryaghar.gov.in, then uses that National Portal reference number to generate a TNPDCL reference number and apply on the Unified Solar Rooftop Portal (USRP), paying the application charge on TNPDCL's payment portal. Anyone not claiming the subsidy applies directly on the USRP with their consumer number and an OTP to the registered mobile. After installation the vendor files a readiness report, the AEE inspects up to 10 kW (CEIG above), and the bi-directional meter is fitted.