Are you planning to install solar power at home? Did you know now you can not only produce but sell the extra units? Sounds astonishing and interesting, right? In this blog, we will explain you what is net metering and how it it useful especially if you have home solar.
Net metering is a billing system in which customers are given credit for the electricity they contribute to the grid. The most common and convenient energy production is through solar for home. So net metering solar has gained popularity due to its benefits especially for residentials. Assume you install a solar panel system that is net metered.
When your solar panels produce more electricity than you consume during the day, the excess is routed back to the grid, effectively running your electric metre backwards. When you use more electricity than your solar panels produce, whether it’s at night or on cloudy days, you pull power from the grid, which moves your metre forward. You are billed for the difference between what you put on the grid and what you take off the grid at the end of the month or year, thus, net metering system.
You can produce enough electricity to match your home’s electricity demand for the full year with the right size solar energy system. However, the amount of power generated by your solar panels will fluctuate throughout the year: more in the summer months when the sun is higher in the sky and sets early, and less in the winter when the sun is lower in the sky and sets sooner.
However, in Pakistan, it is not a problem because summers stay for longer. So net metering Pakistan compensates for these seasonal variations in solar production by crediting you for any excess electricity your panels generate and allowing you to use it at a later period.
In Pakistan, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority’s (NEPRA), the government and the Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) are pushing the development of net-metering based solar energy installations. The organizations have been promoting net-metering awareness among their customers through promotional materials distributed via websites and electricity bills that shows the net metering rates in Pakistan to encourage the customers.
Is Net metering cost-effective?
The net metering is cost-effective method and saves electricity units too. When drawing power from the grid, you can use the credits you earned when feeding excess power to the grid to avoid paying or little according to policies for net metering in Pakistan for that energy directly, lowering your utility bill. In winter months, when electricity bills are high due to higher heating costs and the need to keep lights on for extended periods of time. If you generated excess electricity in the summer and transmitted it to the grid, you won’t have to worry about running out of power in the winter because you’ll have built up net metering credits, which will surely save you money.
According to data given by Jeremy Higgs, director of operations for Islamabad-based EcoEnergy, this year has seen the highest growth in net energy metering for residential purposes (NEM) since Pakistan adopted its first NEM legislation in 2015, major spike was seen in net metering Lahore. In Pakistan, solar PV with a capacity of less than 1 MW are permitted to sell produced electricity back to the national grid. As for the net metering price in Pakistan, the payment for power purchased from distributed units must be the same as the off-peak electricity rate charged by utilities for electricity sold to distributed solar and wind generation units. The scheme is open to owners of qualifying generators on a residential, commercial, or industrial scale.
If you are looking to switch to home solar, visit goforsolar.pk and get the trusted vendors and installers for solar. With home solar you can enjoy net metering benefits like reduced electricity bills but there are other advantages too, like:
Virtual Battery Storage
Your utility company allows you to use the grid as a “virtual battery” to “store” excess power for later consumption through net metering in Pakistan. Consider it a hidden battery that comes to your assistance when you require additional power. The only option to receive value from any surplus electricity your solar panels produce without net metering is to install a solar battery to store your own electricity for later use, which involves a bigger upfront expenditure.
Less Pressure on National Grid
Solar energy, both residential and commercial, is extremely beneficial to utilities since it relieves strain on the system. Solar homes can generate their own electricity instead of pulling power from the grid, which means the utility doesn’t have to push as much electricity through their distribution network because fewer people are drawing power from the grid directly. Furthermore, thanks to solar net metering, solar-powered households can actually sell their extra electricity to non-solar-powered homes in their neighborhood, allowing them to fulfil their own energy needs.
Still thinking about solar solutions and net metering? Contact goforsolar.pk and get the solar power installed and enjoy perks of net metering system.
