• By Best Solar Company PK
  • 20 Aug, 2026
  • Net Metering
  • 8 min read

For nearly a decade, rooftop solar in Pakistan ran on one simple promise: every unit you exported to the grid during the day was banked and swapped, one-for-one, against a unit you pulled at night. That promise is over. With the **net metering unit banking abolished** under NEPRA's Prosumer Regulations 2026 — notified on 9 February 2026 — the old 1:1 carry-forward system has been replaced by a "net billing" model. This is the single biggest change to solar economics in Pakistan since net metering launched in 2015, and it directly reshapes your real savings.

If you already run a system or are about to invest, you need to understand exactly what you lost, what it costs in rupees, and how to adapt. Let's break it down with concrete numbers.

What "unit banking" actually meant

Under the old net metering framework, your bidirectional meter tracked imports and exports separately, then netted them off. Export 400 units in a sunny month, import 400 units at night, and your net energy bill was effectively zero. Any surplus was **banked** — carried forward to the next billing cycle so winter shortfalls could draw on summer credits.

That 1:1 exchange treated every exported unit as worth the full retail tariff — Rs 55 to Rs 65+ per unit for most residential slabs. It was, in effect, a battery made of paperwork. And it is precisely what the Prosumer Regulations 2026 removed.

What changed under the Prosumer Regulations 2026

Net billing separates the value of what you sell from what you buy. The two prices are no longer equal.

  • **You export** surplus at the **national average energy purchase price** — currently around **Rs 11 per unit**, down from the roughly Rs 27 buyback rate applied earlier.
  • **You import** at your normal consumer tariff — typically **Rs 55–65+ per unit** once taxes, surcharges and fuel adjustments are stacked on.
  • **Settlement is monetary, not unit-for-unit.** Billing adjustments are made monthly; any surplus credit rolls to the next cycle or is paid out quarterly.
  • **The one-for-one adjustment of imported against exported units is gone** — the cornerstone of net metering and its biggest financial incentive.

The grid now buys your daytime power at wholesale and sells it back at retail. That spread — roughly Rs 11 out versus Rs 60 in — is exactly where your old savings leaked away.

The real PKR impact on your savings

Here is a like-for-like example for a typical 10 kW home system in Punjab that exports 500 surplus units in a strong summer month.

| Item | Old net metering (1:1) | New net billing (2026) | |---|---|---| | Value per exported unit | ~Rs 60 (retail offset) | ~Rs 11 (buyback) | | 500 surplus units credited | ~Rs 30,000 | ~Rs 5,500 | | Effective loss on surplus | — | ~Rs 24,500/month | | Winter unit "bank" available | Yes | No |

The lesson is blunt: **exported units are now worth barely a sixth of what you save by consuming them yourself.** Under the old rules it didn't matter whether you used a unit or exported it — both were worth ~Rs 60. Now, self-consumed units save ~Rs 60 each, while exported units earn only ~Rs 11.

That single shift can stretch a payback period that once sat around 2.5–3 years out to roughly 4–6 years, depending on how much of your generation you actually consume on-site versus dump to the grid.

Are existing net metering users affected?

Not immediately — and this matters. NEPRA has **grandfathered** existing prosumers:

  • Consumers holding a valid net metering agreement **as of 9 February 2026** keep their old terms until that agreement expires.
  • Around **5,165 applications** (about 250.822 MW of capacity) submitted before 8 February 2026 are being processed under the **old** net metering policy.
  • New agreements under net billing run for a **five-year** term, renewable by mutual consent.

So if you are already connected, breathe easy for now. If you have applied and are in the queue, confirm your application date with your DISCO. If you are still planning, you are building for the net billing world — design accordingly.

How to protect your solar savings now

Because self-consumption is now worth 5–6× more than export, the whole design philosophy flips from "oversize and export" to "right-size and consume."

1. **Right-size the system to your load, not your roof.** A giant array that exports half its output no longer pays. Match capacity to daytime consumption. 2. **Shift heavy loads into daylight hours.** Run washing machines, water pumps, ironing and EV charging between roughly 9 am and 4 pm to soak up your own generation. 3. **Seriously model batteries.** With export at Rs 11 and evening import at Rs 60, storing a unit to use at night now makes financial sense in a way it never did under 1:1 banking. Even a modest lithium bank changes the math. 4. **Consider a hybrid inverter** so you can add storage later without replacing core hardware. 5. **Audit your bill monthly.** Track your import tariff, export rate and any carried credit so you can catch metering or settlement errors early.

For a deeper cost breakdown, see our guide on solar payback periods in Pakistan and current solar system prices.

Why NEPRA made the change

The regulator's stated logic is grid fairness. As rooftop solar boomed past several thousand megawatts, the cost of the 1:1 subsidy — the gap between wholesale and retail — was being shifted onto non-solar consumers through higher tariffs. According to NEPRA and reporting by Dawn, net billing is intended to keep rooftop solar viable while easing that cross-subsidy burden. Whether the Rs 11 rate strikes the right balance is fiercely debated across the industry.

Frequently Asked Questions

**Is net metering completely banned in Pakistan now?** No. The term "net metering" is being retired in favour of "net billing," but you can still install rooftop solar and export surplus power. What changed is the value: exports now earn a wholesale rate (~Rs 11/unit) instead of the retail-equivalent 1:1 credit, and monthly unit banking has been abolished.

**Will I lose my existing 1:1 net metering agreement?** No, if it was valid on 9 February 2026. Grandfathered agreements continue on the old terms until they expire. New connections fall under the net billing regime for a five-year term.

**Does losing unit banking mean solar is no longer worth it?** Solar remains highly worthwhile — but the savings now come from self-consumption, not export. Because every unit you use yourself avoids a ~Rs 55–65 grid charge, a well-sized system that you consume during the day still delivers strong returns, often paying back in 4–6 years.

**Should I add a battery under the new rules?** Very likely yes. With the huge gap between the Rs 11 export rate and your Rs 55–65 evening import tariff, storing daytime surplus for night use is far more attractive than it was under 1:1 banking. Model it with an installer using your actual load profile.

The bottom line

The net metering unit banking abolished under the Prosumer Regulations 2026 doesn't kill rooftop solar in Pakistan — but it does end the era of treating the grid as a free battery. In 2026, the winners are homeowners and businesses who size systems to their real load, shift usage into daylight, and store what they can. Do that, and solar still slashes your bill.

Want a system designed for the net billing era? Talk to Best Solar Company PK for a load audit and a right-sized quote built around maximum self-consumption.

**Sources:** The Express Tribune, Dawn, Business Recorder

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.