Mumbai
Mumbai is the most technically demanding rooftop market in Maharashtra: high-rise terraces shadowed by neighbouring towers, salt-laden coastal…
- Yield
- ~118 units/kW/mo
- Licensee
- Adani Electricity, Tata Power, BEST and MSEDCL
Maharashtra
Solar panel installation in Maharashtra
Four distribution licensees, the country's steepest residential tariffs and yields that vary by 10% between Mumbai and Nashik. Here is how rooftop solar actually works in this state.
Why Maharashtra is a strong solar market
Maharashtra is not India's sunniest state. It is one of its most expensive for electricity, and that is what actually drives the return. Every unit you generate and consume yourself is a unit you avoid buying at the top of your slab.
- High tariffs. The upper residential slabs in Mumbai are among the costliest in the country, so payback here beats sunnier but cheaper states.
- Commercial and institutional tariffs are steeper still. Shops, factories, schools and places of worship pay more per unit than households and consume during daylight, which is the combination that pays back fastest.
- Net metering carries the monsoon. Generation drops 25–40% from June to September. Surplus banked in the dry months offsets that shortfall on your bill.
Four licensees, four processes
This is the part that catches people out. Mumbai alone has four distribution licensees, and each runs its own portal, empanelment rules and approval timeline:
- Adani Electricity — much of the western suburbs
- Tata Power — parts of central and south Mumbai
- BEST — the island city
- MSEDCL — Thane, Navi Mumbai, Pune, Nashik and the rest of the state
You do not choose your licensee — your address decides it. Look at the name printed on your bill. We file with all four.
Yield varies more than people expect
A system in Nashik produces meaningfully more per kilowatt than the same system in Mumbai, because inland Maharashtra is drier, cooler at panel level and has a shorter monsoon. The hardware is identical; the payback is not. Each city page below carries its own yield figure rather than a single state-wide average.
A quote without a shadow study is a guess. We survey first, then quote — especially in Mumbai, where the tower next door decides your generation for the next twenty-five years.
Bill to solar, in numbers
Indicative- System size
- 5.0 kW
- Generates
- 590 units
- Installed cost
- ₹2,83,000
- You save
- ₹3,725/mo
- Payback
- 4.8 years
- Roof area needed
- 430 sq ft
Indicative and deliberately conservative. Based on Maharashtra yields, current the full installed cost, with no capital grant assumed, surplus exported at APPC and ₹2,000 a year for cleaning. We value a displaced unit below the top slab rate, because fixed charges stay on your bill and remaining consumption falls into cheaper slabs. Real figures go in writing after the survey.
Cities we cover
Solar panel installation across Maharashtra
Each city page covers the local yield, the distribution licensee, the building stock and the specific things that go wrong on roofs in that area.
Thane
Thane offers what Mumbai often cannot: larger, less shadowed terraces on mid-rise buildings, a single distribution licensee, and a substantial…
- Yield
- ~120 units/kW/mo
- Licensee
- MSEDCL
Navi Mumbai
Navi Mumbai is a planned city, and it shows on the roofs: CIDCO-era layouts produce regular building footprints, generous terraces and far less…
- Yield
- ~120 units/kW/mo
- Licensee
- MSEDCL
Pune
Pune generates meaningfully more per kilowatt than Mumbai. It sits inland at elevation, so the air is drier, the ambient temperature is kinder…
- Yield
- ~126 units/kW/mo
- Licensee
- MSEDCL
Nashik
Nashik has the strongest irradiation of the Maharashtra cities we cover, a large stock of independent houses with clear terraces, and an…
- Yield
- ~129 units/kW/mo
- Licensee
- MSEDCL
How it works
From your first call to a live net meter
The order matters. Start work before feasibility approval and your net metering application can be rejected.
Free roof survey and shadow study
Usable shadow-free area, structural feasibility and your last six bills. In Mumbai, shadow from the neighbouring tower decides the design more than roof size.
Design, quote and sanctioned load check
System size must stay within your sanctioned load. You get a single-line diagram, panel layout, generation estimate and a fixed written price.
Application and DISCOM feasibility
Net metering application plus technical feasibility with Adani, Tata Power, BEST or MSEDCL. Typically 8–20 days.
Installation and commissioning
Hot-dip galvanised structure, ALMM-listed modules, BIS-certified inverter, earthing and lightning arrestor. Two to four days on a residential roof.
Inspection and net meter
We coordinate the inspection, submit the commissioning report and follow the bidirectional meter until your export registers.
Handover and monitoring
Monitoring app login, commissioning certificate and warranty papers handed over, and the first cleaning visit scheduled.
Straight answers
Solar in Maharashtra: common questions
How much do solar panels for home in Mumbai cost?
A 3 kW rooftop system typically lands between ₹1,80,000 and ₹2,10,000 installed, depending on roof type, structure height and cable runs.
High-rise terraces cost more than independent houses — elevated structures, longer DC runs and crane access all add to it. That is why we survey before quoting.
How much roof area do I need?
Plan for roughly 86 sq ft of shadow-free area per kW. A 3 kW system needs about 258 sq ft, a 10 kW system about 860 sq ft.
In dense cities the constraint is almost never total area — it is how much of that area stays clear of shadow through the middle of the day. That is what the survey measures.
Which DISCOM handles net metering where I live?
Look at the name on your electricity bill. Adani Electricity serves much of the Mumbai western suburbs, Tata Power parts of central and south Mumbai, BEST the island city, and MSEDCL everywhere else in the state including Thane, Navi Mumbai, Pune and Nashik.
Can a flat owner in a housing society install solar?
The terrace is common property, so you need a society resolution or NOC first. Most societies start with a common-area system that offsets lift, pump and lobby bills, because it needs no individual meter changes and shows a result on the very next society bill. Individual flats can follow through group net metering.
What happens during the monsoon?
Generation drops roughly 25–40% from June to September. That is already priced into our estimates — we size on an annual average, not a summer peak. Net metering carries you through: surplus banked in the dry months offsets the monsoon shortfall.
How long does the whole process take?
Two to four days of physical work on a residential roof. Application to a working net meter is usually 45 to 90 days, because DISCOM feasibility takes 8 to 20 days and inspection plus meter replacement another 10 to 18 days.