Fault-finding
The system is generating but the bill has not fallen
Check four things in order: whether the bidirectional meter is actually registering export, whether generation is being consumed or exported at a lower settlement rate, whether household consumption rose after installation, and whether the system is producing what it should. The meter is where to start.
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Confirm the meter registers both directions
After a bidirectional meter is fitted, check that import and export are both incrementing on the display, and read your first billed statement line by line. Errors in the first cycle are common and much easier to correct while the installation is recent. A meter recording import only will make a perfectly good system look useless.
Understand which units you are actually saving
Units consumed at the moment they are generated displace units you would have bought at your marginal tariff — the biggest saving available. Units exported are credited at the approved settlement rate, which is not the same figure. A household empty all day exports most of its generation and therefore saves less per unit than one that consumes it live.
Check whether consumption rose
This happens more than people admit. A household that installs solar often starts running the AC longer or adding appliances, on the reasonable feeling that the energy is now free. The bill then stays flat while consumption has risen substantially — the system is working, it is just being outrun. Compare units consumed, not rupees billed.
Only then question the system
With the meter verified, the tariff understood and consumption compared like for like, check generation against the commissioning figures. If the array is genuinely underproducing, that is a fault-finding job — and one worth starting from the inverter logs rather than the roof.
Why has my electricity bill not dropped after installing solar?
How do I check the meter is working correctly?
Watch the display through a sunny midday with heavy generation and light household load — export should be incrementing. Then read the billed statement and confirm both import and export appear as separate figures. If export is absent or reads zero across a full cycle, that is a metering issue to raise with the distribution company, not a solar fault.
Do exported units earn the same as the units I buy?
No. Exports are credited at the approved settlement rate, which differs from your consumption tariff, and domestic tariffs are banded so the units you buy cost different amounts depending on your band. This is exactly why consuming generation live saves more than exporting it, and why daytime usage patterns matter so much to payback.
Should the bill go to zero?
Almost never, and a supplier who suggested it would was overselling. Fixed charges, taxes and night-time consumption remain, and no rooftop system covers a full evening's usage without a large battery. A materially reduced bill is the realistic outcome; a zero bill is a sales line.
Rather have it done?
Net metering lets your meter run backwards when you export, crediting units against what you draw at night. Getting it approved means a licensed application to IESCO with the right drawings and a bidirectional meter installed. The service runs PKR 35,000 to 60,000, separate from the DISCO's own charges.
Net metering application and paperwork in Islamabad — prices and scope