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Commercial rooftop solar ROI in AP and Telangana depends on a handful of specific mechanics that generic solar content usually skips over. Here's what actually moves the numbers.
With net metering, the DISCOM meter nets what the site draws from the grid against what the rooftop system exports back, so the bill reflects net consumption rather than gross usage. This is different from gross metering, where all generation is sold separately and all consumption is billed in full — which arrangement applies depends on the DISCOM and the consumer category, and it's worth confirming before sizing a system around assumed savings.
Systems up to 100kW are typically processed as LT (low-tension) net metering. Above that, the installation moves into HT net metering, with a different metering setup and a separate technical feasibility process — often with a longer approval timeline. Knowing which side of that line a project sits on matters at the design stage, not just at application time.
Net metering applications go through whichever DISCOM the site falls under — APEPDCL, APSPDCL, or APCPDCL in Andhra Pradesh, and TGSPDCL or TGNPDCL in Telangana. Each DISCOM runs its own feasibility check and agreement process, so timelines for an identical system can differ purely based on which utility territory it sits in.
Source: APSPDCLRCC, metal sheet, and trapezoidal roofs carry load and resist wind uplift differently, so the mounting structure has to be engineered per roof type — ballasted versus penetrative fixing, rail spacing, wind-load calculations. This is a real line item in system cost, not a minor technical footnote.
PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana is the central government's rooftop solar subsidy scheme, but it's scoped to residential households. Commercial and industrial rooftop solar — the segment most ROI questions from businesses are actually about — goes through standard net metering approval instead, without this particular subsidy.
Source: PM Surya Ghar — Government of IndiaA pre-construction yield simulation (commonly run in PVsyst) predicts an expected performance ratio — the ratio of actual output to theoretical ideal output, after accounting for real-world losses. Tracking actual PR against that prediction after commissioning is what separates a contractually checkable ROI from a one-time sales projection.
