Winter Bijli Sahulat Rs26.07 Rate vs Solar: Does the Math Still Favour Panels?

• By Best Solar Company PK
• 11 Oct, 2026
• Energy Savings
• 8 min read

Every winter, Pakistani households watch their solar output drop just as the government dangles a tempting carrot: cheaper grid power. This year the **winter Bijli Sahulat package** charges a flat **Rs26.07 per unit** on electricity consumed *above* your historical benchmark for December, January and February. The obvious question for anyone weighing panels is simple: if the grid gets cheaper in winter, does solar-plus-battery still pay off?

The short answer is yes — but the reasons are not what most WhatsApp forwards claim. Let's run the actual numbers.

What the Bijli Sahulat Package Actually Offers

First, clear up a widespread misconception. The Rs26.07/unit rate is **not** a blanket winter discount on your whole bill. It applies only to *incremental* consumption — units you use above a benchmark, which NEPRA sets as the higher of either your usage in the corresponding month of FY2024 or your average over the past three years.

Key conditions worth memorising:

• It covers domestic consumers using **over 200 units**, plus commercial, industrial and general-service categories.
• The relief caps out at roughly **25% above your benchmark**; consume more than that and the extra units revert to normal slab tariffs.
• It runs for **three months only** (December–February) and is explicitly **subsidy-neutral** — the government isn't footing the bill.

So the package rewards you for burning *more* electricity than you historically did — think swapping a gas heater for an electric one. For a typical household that already runs lean in winter, most of your consumption still falls under your benchmark and is billed at the standard slab rate, which in 2026 climbs from around Rs22.44/unit on the first 100 units to over **Rs47/unit above 700 units**.

Why Winter Already Weakens Solar — Package or Not

Here's the part the tariff debate often ignores. Winter is solar's weakest season in Pakistan regardless of government packages:

• Days are shorter, so panels have fewer productive hours.
• Lahore, Faisalabad and much of Punjab sit under weeks of dense fog and smog, slashing irradiance.
• The lower sun angle means a system that produces 30 units a day in June may manage only 15–18 units in late December.

That means solar owners naturally pull **more** from the grid in winter. If anything, the Bijli Sahulat package softens that seasonal blow — the handful of extra units you draw to cover weak generation may qualify for the Rs26.07 rate instead of a Rs40+ slab. That's a small bonus for solar owners, not a threat to them.

The Payback Math: Does Rs26.07 Move the Needle?

Let's model a common setup — a **5kW system** for an un-protected household in Lahore.

| Factor | Summer (Apr–Sep) | Winter (Dec–Feb) | |---|---|---| | Avg daily solar output | ~28–30 units | ~15–18 units | | Effective grid tariff displaced | Rs40–47/unit | Rs33–40/unit (baseline) | | Bijli Sahulat rate (incremental only) | N/A | Rs26.07/unit | | Monthly saving from solar | ~Rs29,000–32,000 | ~Rs14,000–18,000 |

A 5kW system saving roughly **Rs29,700/month** in peak months delivers a payback of around **29 months to 3 years**. Now layer in the winter package. Even in a pessimistic case where every unit you'd have saved in winter is instead a cheap Rs26.07 incremental unit, you're talking about three months of modestly reduced savings — perhaps **Rs8,000–12,000 less across the entire winter**.

Against a system that saves Rs250,000–300,000 a year, that shaves only **weeks**, not years, off your payback. The package simply isn't large enough or long enough to rewrite the economics. Solar's heavy lifting happens in the long, blazing summer when both tariffs and sunshine peak — and nothing about the winter rate touches that.

The Change That *Does* Matter: Net Billing

If you're genuinely worried about solar economics in 2026, the Bijli Sahulat package is the wrong thing to watch. The real shift is NEPRA's move from **net metering to net billing**.

Under the 2026 prosumer regulations, new rooftop solar consumers now sell surplus units back to the grid at the **National Average Energy Purchase Price — roughly Rs10 to Rs13/unit** — down from the Rs22/unit that existing net-metering holders locked in. New installs are also capped at **100% of sanctioned load** (down from 150%), and contracts shortened to five years. Existing consumers with valid seven-year agreements are grandfathered at the old rate until their contracts expire. We break this down fully in our guide to the NEPRA net billing rules for 2026.

This matters because it changes how you should *design* a system. When export is worth only Rs11, the smart move is to **self-consume** as much as you generate — which is exactly where **battery storage** earns its keep.

Where Batteries Fit This Winter

A battery lets you store cheap or self-generated power and use it when you'd otherwise pay a premium slab rate. But the Bijli Sahulat package slightly complicates the battery case *in winter only*:

• If your extra winter grid units are priced at Rs26.07, the gap between grid power and stored solar narrows for those specific incremental units.
• A battery that pays back by avoiding Rs45/unit peak power is far more valuable than one offsetting Rs26 incremental units.

Our practical advice: size the battery for **year-round self-consumption and load-shedding resilience**, not for winter arbitrage. A lithium (LiFePO4) bank sized to cover your evening peak gives the strongest returns once you factor in the low Rs11–13 export rate. For most homes, pairing panels with a right-sized battery still beats exporting surplus at throwaway prices. See our breakdown of solar battery sizing for Pakistani homes before you commit.

Frequently Asked Questions

**Does the Bijli Sahulat package make solar a worse investment this winter?** No. The Rs26.07/unit rate applies only to incremental usage above your benchmark for three months, and solar's main savings come from high-tariff summer months. At most it trims a few weeks off a 2.5–3 year payback.

**Will my full winter bill be charged at Rs26.07?** No. Your baseline consumption stays on normal slab tariffs (Rs22–47/unit depending on your slab). Only units above your historical benchmark — up to about 25% more — get the Rs26.07 rate.

**Should I wait until after winter to install solar?** There's no tariff-based reason to wait. Summer generation is where the returns live, so installing before peak season maximises your first-year savings. Delaying just means more months of full-price grid bills.

**Is net billing a bigger concern than the winter package?** Yes, by far. The buyback rate falling to roughly Rs10–13/unit changes system design toward self-consumption and batteries. The winter package is a minor, temporary factor by comparison.

The Bottom Line

The winter Bijli Sahulat Rs26.07/unit rate is a welcome seasonal nudge, but it's a rounding error in your solar payback calculation. Weak winter generation and a three-month, incremental-only discount simply can't outweigh a full year of displacing Rs40+ grid power. Design your system for summer output, self-consumption and battery resilience — and let the winter package be a small bonus rather than a reason to hesitate. For a tailored estimate, talk to our team about a load audit before the next billing cycle.

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.