Recently the state of Maharashtra was infamously in the news for its attempt to roll back the net-metering facility for large-scale consumers in the state. The dust had barely settled and now there is another proposal by the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) which seeks to levy additional grid support charges for net-metering on rooftop solar consumers with system size above 10 kW.

The Charges as Stated in the Proposal

For rooftop solar consumers, under net metering or net billing arrangement, MSEDCL has proposed to charge an additional of Rs 4.46/kWh to Rs 8.66/kWh for residential customers, Rs 5.06/kWh to Rs 8.76/kWh for commercial customers and Rs 3.60 to Rs 4.08/kWh for Industrial customers.

For rooftop solar consumers, not opting for net metering or net billing arrangement, the DISCOM has also petitioned to impose heavy additional fixed/demand charges.

The details can be found on https://www.merc.gov.in/

Reasons for the Proposed Charges - As per the DISCOM

The DISCOM has stated that the charges are to avert the adverse effect of the net-metering facility, which increases the infrastructure and operational costs as a result of the reduced demand for grid power.

1. As per the MSEDCL, the under-recovery of infrastructure cost that the DISCOM has to incur in order to sustain and support the net metering mechanism passes the burden on the remaining non-solar consumers. The cost should, therefore, be shared with the rooftop solar customers who are availing net-metering which is enabling them to profit from solar.
2. LT/HT Commercial & Industrial customers form a major chunk of MSEDCL revenue. With them adopting solar, the demand for power from these segments is at a considerable decline.
3. The self-sufficient nature of solar systems reduces power demands during the day but increases the demand considerably during the night. Hence, even though the DISCOM has to limit thermal generation for half a day they have to keep the network and generators ready to meet the demand in the night. This obligates the DISCOM to pay a fixed cost to generators, which is an unrecovered expense at DISCOM's end which they have petitioned to pass on to the solar customers.

MYSUN’s Take - What will be the Impact on Consumers if the Proposal is Accepted?

MERC, in its draft policy issued in December, proposed to withdraw net-metering from Commercial and Industrial consumers. This was followed by very strong criticism from MYSUN and other stakeholders of the industry and was later retracted in January when MERC issued the final policy.

We at MYSUN believe that the proposal presented by MSEDCL, just like the earlier MERC draft, is not in alignment with the country’s or the state’s solar vision. Maharashtra aims to achieve 12 GW of solar power capacity by the year 2022. Such proposals, if accepted & appreciated, will discourage SMEs/MSMEs, other Commercial, Industrial and even residential customers from considering solar, and will put a complete stop & ignorance to the state’s solar goals. Add unfavorable policies to a sector that is already grappling with several issues, not limited to GST and quickly changing global landscape including an Anti-Dumping duty, this surely is not a good news.

“Going solar is a viable investment opportunity, but currently, my business is not in a position to freeze a fraction from the Working Capital in a solar system”.

This is exactly how plenty of our conversations with business leaders would go, a couple of years ago. We have in fact, in the past been quite vocal about the need for strong financing in order to make a good business case for the C&I segment to go solar. This would eventually prove to be the launchpad of MYSUN Deferred Payment Agreement (DPA). Conceived with MYSUN’s core vision to make Solar financially viable and easy for every business and industry in India, MYSUN DPA allows Businesses to transition to solar with easy monthly instalments.

We have shared the details of the features and functions of DPA in our recent blog post, titled - MYSUN Pioneers Rooftop Solar Financing; Actively Helping Industries Go Solar. Post the release of the article, we received a lot of interest and queries from business leaders seeking to know how the Deferred Payment Agreement works? With this article, we will try and explain the working of the MYSUN Deferred Payment Agreement with the help of an illustration.

Instalments Your Business Pays with MYSUN Deferred Payment Agreement

The Deferred Payment Agreement from MYSUN distributes the total cost of the solar systems in “Easy Monthly Instalments”. But what good is an instalment if it disturbs your working capital by even the slightest? The MYSUN DPA (Deferred Payment Agreement), therefore, keeps these ‘easy instalments’ less than or equal to the savings that your business will make with solar every month; allowing your business to afford solar easily without disturbing your financial standing.

For example, you were to install a 560 kWp solar system worth crores in Haryana, which has the potential to save your business around INR 5.8 Lakhs on power bills every month.



With the MYSUN Deferred Payment Agreement, you can have the solar system installed and just pay INR 35-44 Lakh (20-25% of the solar system cost) as a down payment. The balance amount can be paid in monthly instalments, ranging between INR 5.8 Lakhs for a period of 2.2 to 2.5 years. As the instalments in MYSUN DPA will always be less than or equal the monthly savings from solar (which should be less than or equal to INR 5.8 Lakhs in this case), the solar system ends up paying for itself.

Get In Touch with MYSUN Solar Advisors Today & Avail the Benefits of DPA

As you can see, MYSUN Solar Financing brings solar systems within the budget of any small, medium or large enterprise. It allows businesses to pay just a fraction of the amount upfront and the solar system eventually pays for itself. With such a handy option on the table, you will agree that there is no right reason for your or any business for that matter to not go solar. Call our solar advisors now on +91 8448380218 or write to them on [email protected] to get your personalised solar proposal under the MYSUN Deferred Payment Agreement.

The Consumer Electronics Show or CES is an annual event held in Las Vegas, Nevada, the United States where the future of personal technology and automobile is on show. While the show in the recent few years has lost some of the novelty it carried, it is still a place to discover a couple of cool prototypes. One interesting tricycle we found out about makes to the list of our Interesting applications of Solar that we frequently feature on the MYSUN blog.



The tricycle manufactured by Wello is a cross between a bike and a car. The hybrid vehicle has an optional battery and solar panels on the rooftop. This way, not only can you pedal your way to your destination but you can use the power of the sun to take some load away and use the electric power of the vehicle. The solar-powered tricycle is aimed to navigate the streets of urban areas through the traffic and aims to encourage people to abandon cars. There is a nifty application that connects via Bluetooth and gives live updates. The tricycle is developed in Réunion Island and can go as much as 25 to 40 km per hour.



The vehicle brings the benefits of a car in the profile of a slightly bigger bike. It has space for one passenger in front and two children or another adult at the back. A lightweight solution, the Wello tricycle is a good solution for those who are looking to cover short distances in the day. Wello says that the tricycle has zero carbon dioxide emission making it a good addition to the road for daily short-distance commuters with consideration for the environment.



With 7.4 feet in length and 2.7 feet in width, the tricycle has enough room to carry small luggage and a hard outer shell to keep the riders safe. What’s most interesting is that the bike is already on pre-order for about 7,900 euros with solar panels.


MYSUN’s Take: The Wello Tricycle no doubt is a useful little concept vehicle. However, at the price it is marked, it may be a hard sell even in Europe. Having said that, innovative solutions like these are what will push the industry forward and while the Wello may not become a household name, we hope more people will integrate solar energy as their energy source in automobiles and bring us a truly commercial solution.

Image credit: wello.io