Solar panel myths: cost, batteries, monsoon

What stops a Delhi or Noida homeowner going solar is usually a belief that was once true, or never was. A 3 kW rooftop system is ₹1,99,000 to ₹2,10,000 on Verde Solaire's published July 2025 list and ₹91,000 to ₹1,02,000 after the central and state subsidy; GST is 5% (since 22 September 2025, down from 12%); an on-grid system needs no battery; and panels keep generating through the monsoon at reduced output. Eight myths follow, each with the fact and its source.

Verde Solaire published a first version of this page in May 2025. Since then GST has been cut, Delhi has raised its subsidy and new myths have grown up around the subsidy itself, so every figure was re-checked on 16 September 2026 against the sources page.

Myth: solar panels are too expensive

Fact. The published price of a 3 kW on-grid system is ₹1,99,000 to ₹2,10,000, including panels, inverter, structure, net metering, installation and warranty. The PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana pays ₹78,000 on a 3 kW home system, and the state adds ₹30,000 per consumer, on top of the central subsidy in Uttar Pradesh or ₹78,000 (3 kW) in Delhi. The net payable is ₹91,000 to ₹1,02,000 in Noida, Ghaziabad or Varanasi and ₹43,000 to ₹54,000 in Delhi.

The subsidy goes to an Indian citizen who owns a house with a suitable roof, has a valid electricity connection and has not taken an earlier solar subsidy. If that is still too much at once, the scheme's loan is collateral-free, from nationalised banks, at 5.75% on 28 July 2026, over 10 years. The 2025 page put payback at three to five years; the calculator below works it out for your own roof.

Two caveats. The prices are July 2025 ranges; the written quote is the price. And you pay the installer in full; the subsidy reaches your bank account after commissioning, "within 30 days" of the claim; about 15 days on average. Every size and city is on the pricing pages.

Solar calculatorGross price, subsidy, net payable, monthly units and payback for your city and size, with every assumption shown.Open the tool

Myth: the subsidy is paid per kW, whatever the size

Fact. The central subsidy is ₹30,000 per kW for the first 2 kW and ₹18,000 for the third, and nothing beyond that. So ₹78,000 is a cap, not a rate: a 5 kW or 10 kW home receives the same as a 3 kW one. The state top-ups are per kW but capped too. Uttar Pradesh pays ₹15,000 per kW, capped at ₹30,000 per consumer, on top of the central subsidy; Delhi pays ₹26,000 per kW, capped at ₹78,000 (3 kW).

This is why the net cost per kW climbs above 3 kW, and why the scheme's sizing guide reads 0–150 units a month: 1–2 kW · 150–300 units: 2–3 kW · above 300 units: above 3 kW. The subsidy guide has the full ladder; the 3 kW versus 5 kW guide does the comparison.

Myth: PM Surya Ghar gives 300 free units a month

Fact. There is no free-units allowance. The 300 units in the scheme's publicity is what the Centre expects a roughly 3 kW system to generate in a month; the electricity is yours because your roof made it. On the published planning yield a 3 kW system in Noida generates about 338 units a month.

The confusion comes from Delhi, where a separate state subsidy gives 0–200 units a month free; 201–400 units at 50% off, capped at ₹800 a month; you must opt in. It exists whether or not you have solar, and once you do, it is worked out on net units, that is import minus export. Neither scheme is "300 free units".

Not yet official. Trade and news reports; no DERC or GNCTD order was cited.

Myth: GST on solar panels is 12%

Fact. GST on solar cells, modules and solar power devices is 5% (since 22 September 2025, down from 12%). A quote dated after 22 September 2025 that shows an older or blended rate should be reissued before you compare it with anyone else's.

Myth: solar does not work in cloudy weather, the monsoon or winter

Fact. Panels generate from daylight, not heat, so an overcast day still produces, just less. Output is lower in the monsoon and on short winter days, higher in the clear months before the rains, and net metering carries the surplus forward, so the annual total is what your bill sees. 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. 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.

The planning figures on this site already allow for the weather. Verde Solaire's published yield is 1,450 units per kW a year in Delhi and 1,500 in Noida, and every calculator here takes a further 10% off for dust and the monsoon, a planning assumption printed under every result. The monsoon and dust guide goes month by month.

Myth: you need a battery

Fact. An on-grid system, which is what the subsidy is built around, uses the grid as its store: surplus goes out through the net meter by day, you draw from the grid at night, and the meter nets the two. The 2025 page said the same: batteries are for off-grid sites without a reliable supply.

What a battery gives you is backup during a power cut. An on-grid inverter switches off when the grid fails, by design, so it never feeds a line someone is repairing. For lights and a fan through an outage you need a hybrid system with a battery, at a higher price, and the battery will not last as long as the panels. Rooftop solar or an inverter battery compares the two; the off-grid and hybrid page covers sites where the grid itself is the problem.

Myth: maintenance is a headache

Fact. A rooftop system has no moving parts. The routine is cleaning the panels and glancing at the inverter display or app. The 2025 page put cleaning at once or twice a month, more often in the dusty months and less in the monsoon. The company's July 2025 price lists carried 25-year performance warranties on all three panel types.

One New Delhi customer, Mr. S. C. Garg, whose system went in when the company traded as Sirius Electric, wrote that "the solar system has been working continuously without a single day breakdown since 2017". That is one roof, not a guarantee. A system needs a little attention, not none: dust, bird droppings and a tripped breaker are not warranty matters. The maintenance and cleaning guide lists what after-sales cover to ask for in the quote.

Myth: the savings are small

Fact. Verde Solaire's published claim is that homeowners typically reduce their power bills by 60–90%, A 3 kW system generates about 338 units a month, and the energy charge on every unit it covers leaves the bill. In Delhi a home up to 3 kW also earns a generation-based incentive (GBI) of ₹3 per unit, paid for 5 years from commissioning, paid monthly against the bill; any excess to the bank account, which is ₹11,745 a year on the same planning yield.

The opposite myth is "zero bill". The fixed charge stays, ₹110 per kW per month in Uttar Pradesh and a per-kW charge on the sanctioned load in Delhi, plus whatever the system did not cover. The 2025 page carried a worked bill example; this one does not, because the answer depends on your slab, board and sanctioned load, which the bill calculator applies for you.

Not yet official. From a secondary summary of the UPERC order.

The real disadvantages

A page that only busts myths is a sales page. These are true.

• Roof. About 300 to 350 square feet of shadow-free roof for 3 kW, as published, and the right to use it; see the shared-roof guide for builder floors.
• Power cuts. An on-grid system switches off with the grid. Backup costs extra.
• Cash flow. You pay the installer first; the subsidy follows, "within 30 days" of the claim; about 15 days on average.
• The board's timeline. The net meter is the electricity board's job. Arun Sibal wrote that "The only issue was the time taken in installing the net meter from BSES". Delhi's deadline is now 10 days up to 10 kW.
• Equipment rules. For a subsidised system, both the modules and the cells must be made in India, and from 1 June 2026 the cells must be on the ALMM List-II.
• The clock. The scheme runs until 31 March 2027.

Why the myths persist

The rules moved: GST in September 2025, Delhi's subsidy in July 2025 and again on 1 September 2026, ALMM List-II in June 2026, and the loan rate in July 2026. Check the date and source behind any figure before you use it. Our sources page lists the current policy documents.