3 kW or 5 kW solar: which should you buy?
Buy 3 kW if the average of your last twelve bills is between 200 and 400 units a month, and 5 kW if it is between 400 and 600. On Verde Solaire's published July 2025 prices a 3 kW system costs ₹1,99,000 to ₹2,10,000 and nets to ₹91,000 to ₹1,02,000 after subsidy; a 5 kW system costs ₹3,25,000 to ₹3,50,000 and nets to ₹2,17,000 to ₹2,42,000. The subsidy is the same ₹1,08,000 on both, in Noida and in Delhi alike, so the two extra kilowatts are bought at full price and only pay off if you use what they generate.
That is the short answer. The rest of this guide puts the two systems side by side, explains why the subsidy stops at 3 kW, and works through the four things that decide between them: units, air conditioners, roof and sanctioned load. In Delhi there is a fifth, the per-unit incentive, and it favours 3 kW.
Side by side
| 3 kW | 5 kW | |
|---|---|---|
| Published price, July 2025 | ₹1,99,000 to ₹2,10,000 | ₹3,25,000 to ₹3,50,000 |
| Central subsidy | ₹78,000 | ₹78,000 |
| State subsidy, Delhi or Uttar Pradesh | ₹30,000 | ₹30,000 |
| Net payable in Noida | ₹91,000 to ₹1,02,000 | ₹2,17,000 to ₹2,42,000 |
| Net payable in Delhi | ₹43,000 to ₹54,000 | ₹1,69,000 to ₹1,94,000 |
| Generation in Noida | about 338 units a month | about 563 units a month |
| Generation in Delhi | about 326 units a month | about 544 units a month |
| Panels of 540 Wp | 6 | 10 |
| Shadow-free roof | 300 to 350 square feet | about 500 to 580 square feet |
| Delhi generation incentive | ₹3 per unit, ₹11,745 a year | ₹2 per unit, ₹13,050 a year |
Prices are Verde Solaire's published July 2025 ranges and include panels, inverter, mounting structure, net metering, installation and warranty; the written quote after a survey is the price. Generation is the published planning yield less a 10% derate for dust and monsoon, averaged over twelve months. The Noida and Delhi net figures are identical because both states cap their top-up at the same amount; what differs is what comes afterwards.
Why the subsidy is the same on both
The PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana pays ₹30,000 per kW for the first 2 kW and ₹18,000 for the third, and nothing after that, so the central subsidy stops at ₹78,000. Delhi's top-up of ₹26,000 per kW is capped at ₹78,000 (3 kW), and Uttar Pradesh's ₹15,000 per kW at ₹30,000 per consumer, on top of the central subsidy. Every cap is reached by 3 kW.
Not yet official. Confirmed by news reports in September 2026; UPNEDA's site did not load when we checked, so there is no official 2026 confirmation.
The arithmetic follows from that. The published price of 5 kW is ₹1,26,000 to ₹1,40,000 more than 3 kW, and none of the difference is subsidised. Per kilowatt, the first three cost about ₹30,000 to ₹34,000 each after subsidy; the fourth and fifth cost about ₹63,000 to ₹70,000 each. The subsidy covers roughly half the price of 3 kW and roughly a third of the price of 5 kW. That is why 3 kW is the size most homes in Delhi NCR settle on, and why 5 kW has to justify itself on consumption alone.
Who should buy 3 kW
- Units. A twelve-month average of 200 to 400 units. The scheme's own guide is 0–150 units a month: 1–2 kW · 150–300 units: 2–3 kW · above 300 units: above 3 kW. A 3 kW system generates about 338 units a month in Noida, so a 300-unit home is covered and a 400-unit home mostly so.
- Air conditioners. One or two, run at night through summer. On the estimate in the summer AC bill guide, 3 kW covers the base load and one air conditioner run through the night, or two run for fewer hours.
- Roof. 300 to 350 square feet without midday shade, the figure the company publishes for 3 kW: six panels of about 540 Wp, the module size on recent Noida and Delhi installations. A builder floor with a shared roof often has this much and no more.
- Sanctioned load. A 3 kW system sits inside a connection sanctioned at 3 kW or more, so nothing on the bill changes.
- Delhi. The generation-based incentive is ₹3 per unit for homes up to 3 kW, the higher of the two rates.
Who should buy 5 kW
- Units. A twelve-month average of 400 to 600 units. 5 kW generates about 563 units a month in Noida and about 544 units a month in Delhi; a 3 kW system on a 550-unit home would leave about 200 units a month on the bill, at the dearest slab.
- Air conditioners. Two or three run through the night from April to September, which is the usual reason a home crosses 400 units.
- Roof. About 500 to 580 square feet without shade, scaled from the published 3 kW figure, for ten panels of 540 Wp.
- Sanctioned load. A connection sanctioned below 5 kW is not a barrier, but the fixed charge rises with the load; see below.
- Budget. The extra ₹1,26,000 to ₹1,40,000 is unsubsidised. On the PM Surya Ghar loan at 5.75% over 10 years, the EMI calculator shows what it adds to the monthly instalment.
Do not size on June. A home that reads 250 units in winter and 800 in June averages perhaps 450, and the size calculator works from that average. A 5 kW system bought for the summer peak spends the winter exporting credit rather than saving money, and in Delhi credits roll over month to month, and any surplus left at the end of the financial year is paid at the DISCOM's average power purchase cost.
Delhi's per-unit incentive favours 3 kW
Delhi pays a generation-based incentive (GBI) on every unit a home system generates, for 5 years from commissioning, paid monthly against the bill; any excess to the bank account. The rate is ₹3 per unit for systems up to 3 kW and ₹2 per unit for systems above 3 kW and up to 10 kW. Crossing 3 kW lowers the rate on every unit, not only on the extra ones.
On this site's generation estimate a 3 kW system earns ₹11,745 a year and a 5 kW system ₹13,050: two-thirds more generation for about a tenth more incentive. Over the five years that is ₹58,725 against ₹65,250. It does not reverse the decision for a 550-unit home, whose bill saving is far larger than the incentive, but for a home on the 400-unit boundary it tips the balance towards 3 kW. The incentive and the state subsidy are claimed on solar.delhi.gov.in; the Delhi subsidy page explains how.
In Delhi, households that averaged 400 units a month or less in FY 2025-26 should also read about the Cabinet decision of 1 September 2026, which offers up to 3 kW at zero upfront cost, "subject to technical feasibility" and had not been notified when we checked. It covers 3 kW, not 5.
Not yet official. Cabinet-approved on 1 September 2026 and reported by the press; the notification and operating rules had not been published when we checked on 16 September 2026. The official Delhi portal still shows the July 2025 figures.
Sanctioned load and the fixed charge
Both sizes go through the electricity board's feasibility check, and the sanctioned load on your bill is what it checks against. In Delhi, under the DERC amendment of July 2024, no feasibility study is needed up to 10 kW on the same supply type, and the DISCOM handles any load increase or transformer upgrade, so a 5 kW system on a 3 kW connection is not refused. In Uttar Pradesh, under the UPERC rooftop solar regulations of 2019, residential users may choose net or gross metering, and the DISCOM allows capacity within transformer limits, which is where a 5 kW request on a crowded transformer may be trimmed.
What a higher load changes is the fixed charge, billed per kW of sanctioned load every month whatever the system generates. Delhi's schedule is ₹20 (up to 2 kW), ₹50 (2–5 kW), ₹100 (5–15 kW), ₹200 (15–25 kW) and ₹250 (above 25 kW) per kW per month: ₹150 a month for a 3 kW load and ₹250 for 5 kW, before the regulatory surcharge and the monthly fuel surcharge. Uttar Pradesh charges ₹110 per kW per month, so ₹330 against ₹550. Small beside the energy charge, but they are why no on-grid system brings a bill to zero.
Not yet official. From a secondary summary of the UPERC order.
Sizes in between, and above
Verde Solaire publishes prices for 1, 2, 3 and 5 kW. A 4 kW system can be installed and is quoted per site; it collects the same subsidy as 3 kW. Whatever the size, generation is an annual average: April to June run above it, and the monsoon and December fog below, as the seasonal generation guide shows. The 3 kW page and the 5 kW page carry each system's full figures.
Assumptions and limits
- Prices are Verde Solaire's published July 2025 ranges for Delhi and for Noida and Greater Noida; the written quote after a survey is the price.
- Central subsidy per PM Surya Ghar (PIB, 29 February 2024; BSES Rajdhani FAQ, September 2025). Delhi state subsidy and GBI per the Delhi Solar Portal; Uttar Pradesh per the UP Solar Energy Policy 2022, with continuation in 2026 confirmed only by news reports.
- Generation uses the published planning yield of 1,500 units per kW a year for Noida and 1,450 for Delhi, less a 10% derate for dust and monsoon. Panel count assumes 540 Wp modules; roof area scales the published 300 to 350 square feet per 3 kW.
- Fixed charges: DERC's FY 2021-22 schedule, the last published, and a secondary summary of the UPERC FY 2026-27 order.
- Air-conditioner figures are engineering estimates from the summer AC bill guide; the nameplate governs.
- Figures verified on 16 September 2026.
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