• By Best Solar Company PK
  • 18 Aug, 2026
  • Energy Savings
  • 8 min read

If you run a TOU meter in Pakistan, the clock is quietly emptying your wallet every evening. Between 7pm and 11pm, each unit now costs **Rs46.85**, while the same unit off-peak is just **Rs34.53** — a brutal **Rs12.32 penalty per unit** for using power when the whole country switches on its lights, ACs and TVs. The fix is simple to say and increasingly affordable to do: use **solar plus a battery to beat the peak-hour TOU meter** and shift your evening load off the grid entirely.

This guide breaks down exactly how the peak-hour trap works in 2026, the real PKR maths, and how a hybrid solar-plus-storage setup pays for itself faster than most homeowners expect.

What a TOU meter actually charges you

A Time-of-Use (TOU) meter doesn't bill every unit at one flat rate. It splits your day into **peak** and **off-peak** windows and charges accordingly:

  • **Peak (7pm–11pm):** Rs46.85 per unit
  • **Off-peak (11pm–7am):** Rs34.53 per unit

Those are **base energy charges** — your final bill still stacks on GST, fuel cost adjustment (FCA), quarterly tariff adjustments and fixed charges, so the effective peak-hour cost is often even higher.

Crucially, this only bites if you actually have a TOU meter. Under current rules, **TOU billing is compulsory for sanctioned loads of 5kW and above** — typically three-phase connections powering multiple ACs, tube wells, shops, and small industry. If that's you, those four evening hours are your single most expensive stretch of the day.

Four hours a day at a Rs12-plus premium is a tax on timing, not on how much power you actually use. Solar plus storage lets you opt out of that tax.

The real cost of the 7–11pm window

Let's put numbers on it. Say your home or shop draws **4 units per hour** during the evening peak — two inverter ACs, lights, fans, a fridge and some electronics. Over the 7–11pm window that's **16 units a day**.

| Scenario | Units (7–11pm) | Rate | Daily cost | Monthly cost | |---|---|---|---|---| | Grid at peak rate | 16 | Rs46.85 | Rs749.60 | ~Rs22,488 | | Same load off-peak | 16 | Rs34.53 | Rs552.48 | ~Rs16,574 | | **Solar + battery (self-supply)** | **0 from grid** | **—** | **~Rs0** | **~Rs0** |

The gap between peak and off-peak alone is nearly **Rs6,000 a month**. But the real prize is the third row: if a battery covers your entire evening peak, you avoid the **full Rs22,488** of peak-rate grid power, not just the premium.

Over a year, sidestepping that peak window can save a mid-sized household or small business **Rs2–2.7 lakh** — before you even count daytime solar savings.

How solar + battery beats the peak-hour trap

The strategy is called **load-shifting**, and a hybrid solar system does it automatically:

1. **Daytime:** Your solar panels power the house and charge the battery while the sun is up — the cheapest energy you'll ever use. 2. **7–11pm peak:** Instead of pulling Rs46.85 units from the grid, your hybrid inverter runs the house off the **stored battery power**. The meter effectively stops spinning during its most expensive window. 3. **After 11pm:** If the battery is low, the inverter can top up at the **Rs34.53 off-peak rate** — never at peak.

A good hybrid inverter lets you set a **"time-of-use" or "peak-shaving" schedule** so it discharges the battery only during those four costly hours and refills off-peak or from solar. Set it once and it protects you every single evening.

What it costs to build in 2026

You don't need a giant system to kill the evening peak — you need enough storage to carry roughly 4 hours of load.

  • **Battery (5kWh LiFePO4):** around **Rs185,000–370,000** depending on brand (Dyness, Pylontech, Crown, GoodWe) and warranty. A 5kWh pack comfortably runs 1–2 inverter ACs plus lights and fans for the peak window.
  • **Battery (10kWh):** roughly **Rs420,000–780,000** for heavier evening loads or longer autonomy.
  • **Hybrid inverter + solar panels:** already worth installing for daytime savings; the same inverter manages the battery schedule.

For most homes, a **5kWh lithium battery paired with an existing or new hybrid solar array** is the sweet spot. Against Rs2 lakh-plus in annual peak-hour savings, a single 5kWh battery can pay back in **well under two years** — and LiFePO4 packs are typically rated for **6,000+ cycles**, meaning a decade or more of nightly use.

Why the 2026 net-billing change makes storage smarter

There's a second, timely reason to store your solar rather than sell it. On **9 February 2026**, NEPRA replaced the old one-for-one net metering with a **net-billing model**. New solar consumers now export surplus power at a sharply reduced **buyback rate — around Rs8.13 per unit** — while every unit they import is charged at full tariff.

Think about that gap: you'd export a daytime unit for roughly Rs8 but buy back an evening unit at **Rs46.85**. That lopsided maths makes **self-consumption via a battery far more valuable than exporting**. Storing your own solar to use at peak is now, in most cases, worth **5–6× more** than selling it to the grid.

(Existing net-metering consumers with agreements signed before 9 February 2026 keep their older, higher buyback rates until their contract expires — but new installs should plan around storage-first economics.) You can read more in our guide to the 2026 NEPRA net-billing rules and how to size a hybrid solar system.

A practical rollout plan

  • **Audit your evening load.** Add up what actually runs 7–11pm — usually ACs and lighting dominate.
  • **Size the battery to those four hours**, not your whole day. Storage is the expensive part; buy only what the peak needs.
  • **Choose a hybrid inverter with a TOU/peak-shave scheduler** so discharge is automatic.
  • **Charge from solar first, off-peak grid second** — never let the battery pull at peak rate.
  • **Track one month of bills** before and after to confirm your peak-hour units drop toward zero.

For authoritative tariff details, cross-check the official schedules published by NEPRA and your DISCO's TOU notification before finalising your system.

Frequently Asked Questions

**What are the current TOU peak hours and rates in Pakistan?** For residential TOU consumers, peak hours run **7pm to 11pm at Rs46.85 per unit**, while off-peak (11pm–7am) is **Rs34.53 per unit** as base energy charges in 2026. GST, FCA and fixed charges are added on top, so the effective peak cost is higher.

**Do I have a TOU meter?** TOU billing is compulsory for **sanctioned loads of 5kW and above** — mostly three-phase homes with several ACs, shops, tube wells and small industry. Standard single-phase homes on the flat A-1 tariff aren't affected by peak timing, but they still benefit hugely from solar.

**How big a battery do I need to beat the peak?** Enough to carry your 7–11pm load. A **5kWh LiFePO4 battery** covers most homes running 1–2 inverter ACs plus lights and fans; heavier loads may need **10kWh**. Size storage to those four hours, not your entire daily usage.

**Is it better to store solar or sell it under net billing?** Store it. Since the **9 February 2026** shift to net billing, new consumers export at roughly **Rs8.13/unit** but buy peak power at **Rs46.85/unit** — so using your own stored solar in the evening is worth several times more than exporting.

The bottom line

The peak-hour TOU meter is designed to catch you at your busiest, priciest moment of the day. With the evening penalty now above **Rs12 per unit** and net-billing buyback rates gutted in 2026, the smartest rupee you can spend is on **solar plus a battery that shifts your 7–11pm load off the grid**. Audit your evening usage, size a battery to those four hours, and let a hybrid inverter do the rest.

Ready to stop paying Rs46.85 for evening power? Talk to Best Solar Company PK for a hybrid solar-plus-storage design sized to your TOU bill.

Best Solar Company PK designs and installs reliable solar systems in Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Lahore, Multan, Taunsa Sharif and Karachi. Contact us for a free survey and the best advice for your home or business.