Frequently Asked Questions

Rooftop Solar Power Systems

Rooftop Solar Power System is a power generation system installed on building rooftops, to generate electricity directly from sunlight. It is typically made up of Solar Panels or Photo Voltaic (PV) Panels that convert the energy from sunlight into electricity (Direct Current or DC). An inverter then converts DC into Alternating Current or AC (the form of electricity that you get from your electricity boards) which can then be used to power all electrical appliances – both residential and commercial.

Solar Rooftop System can be installed on roofs on which you have ownership rights. Unfortunately, in apartments, since that is not the case, Solar Rooftop Power Systems cannot be installed on individual rooftops. However, the Apartment Society or Association can decide to have a common system installed. In some rare cases, where an individual flat has a private terrace, Solar Rooftop System can be installed, subject to feasibility study.

You need to continue with existing connection from your electricity board or Distribution Company (DisCom) for On Grid Installations (which we recommend unless you live in a remote place with no access to electricity or facing very frequent power cuts). Once you install the Rooftop Solar Power System, you have to sign a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) which allows you to generate electricity using your Solar Power System to cater to your home’s power load and sell the excess electricity back to the grid on a real time basis. You’ll have to use a Bidirectional Meter (Netmeter) provided by the DisCom to measure the amount of energy you consume vs. the energy you supply back to the grid. The DisCom would generate a bill at the end of the month based on the difference between energy consumed vs. energy supplied. The idea is to have a Solar Power System with enough capacity to make this difference zero at the end of every month. Rest Assured, Synergize Solar would take care of the entire process without any extra cost!

For systems of size 3kW or lesser, the cost is typically around Rs. 1.1L per kW. For bigger systems, cost reduces considerably. Note that this is for a system based on Microinverters and Mono PERC panels with an elevated structure. The price varies depending on the requirement and customizations sought. At Synergize Solar, we take care of all these aspects before providing a detailed proposal with cost breakdown, so make sure that you book a site visit before getting a cost estimation.

If your monthly electricity bill is Rs. 2500, and you go ahead with a 3KW system by investing INR 3L; you’ll typically break-even in the 8th year.

The typical life span of a Solar Power System is 25 years; which means that you are not paying anything for your energy needs for the remaining 17 years! In other words, the total amount you can save, would be close to INR 12.5 Lakhs which is equivalent to an ROI of 3.5x

Depends on the type of Solar Power System you install. On Grid Systems don’t provide an option to store; i.e. there are no batteries to store the electricity generated. However, the On Grid system can be used to power your existing Power Backup system that provides a few hours of backup electricity to help you during load-shedding or power outages. This would be more than enough for all metros and tier-1 cities where outages are not that common. However, if you are living in a remote place with no access to electricity or where outages are very frequent, we recommend going ahead with Off Grid or Hybrid Systems which come with a battery-based backup solution that can help you remain independent of the grid. 

If the capacity of the proposed Solar Power System is 3KWh or lesser, you can get a subsidy equivalent to 40% of the cost as determined by the benchmark prices set by the Ministry of Renewable Energies (MNRE). If it is more than 3KWh, then 20% subsidy is available. The government is trying to simplify this system, however, the current process makes it cumbersome to avail. The biggest drawback is that if you avail a subsidy, the rate at which you export your power, reduces significantly (for eg. it drops from Rs. 4.02 to Rs. 2.67 in Bengaluru), impacting the overall financial viability of the project.   

The capacity required depends on your monthly electricity consumption. A typical 2BHK home which gets an electricity bill of Rs. 2500 typically consumes somewhere between 320 to 330 units a month which requires a 3KW system. A 1KWh system can produce 4kWh (units) per day on an average day with ~6 hours of sunlight in India. Use our solar calculator to get a rough estimate. Schedule a site visit today for a detailed estimation.

Once you plan to install the Rooftop Solar Power System, you have to get its feasibility assessed by the relevant DisCom. If it is feasible, you can go ahead and setup the system and sign a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) which is a 25-year agreement that is carried out on an e-stamp paper. You’ll purchase a Bidirectional Meter (Netmeter) approved by the DisCom and get it tested, calibrated and installed. Once it is installed, the meter is synchronized before the DisCom gives a final go ahead for commissioning. It typically takes 4-6 weeks to get this process completed. Synergize Solar will take care of the entire process (included in the proposal) and save you the hassles of running around to get the paper-work done.

Although cloudy or rainy weather does impact the amount of energy produced on a given day, on an average, a 1KWh system can produce 4kWh (units) per day with about ~6 hours of sunlight. There are days or months where the production is higher than the average and there are days or months when the production is lower than the average. In Bengaluru, for example, production in the months of Jan to April will be over 100% while in the months of July, August, September and October it drops to around 75% of the average.

Yes. Since these Solar Power Systems generate Alternating Current (AC) it can power all the appliances that are powered by the regular power supply connection from your DisCom / Electricity board.

Yes. Depending on the capacity of the Solar Power System installed and based on the sunlight available at the time of usage of these appliances, the power is either supplied entirely from the Solar Power System or drawn from the grid (whatever is the difference in load). It is therefore recommended to account for usage of these appliances while designing the system.

The existing power connection should be in the owner’s name to create a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) and therefore, it is not possible to go ahead with an On Grid or Hybrid system. However, you can go ahead with smaller off grid systems or usage-based solar kits which are smaller, plug & play systems which can move with you when you change homes.

Depends on the type of Solar Power System you install. On Grid and Hybrid Systems require an active Grid-based connection alongside the Solar Power System. However, an Off-Grid system does not need an active connection from a DisCom or Electricity Board.

The short answer is No – you won’t be paying for both. Here’s the longer answer :

Once you install the Rooftop Solar Power System, you have to sign a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) which allows you to generate electricity using your Solar Power System to cater to your home’s power load and sell the excess electricity back to the grid on a real time basis. you’ll need to use a Bidirectional Meter (Netmeter) provided by the DisCom to measure the amount of energy you consume vs. the energy you supply back to the grid. The DisCom would generate a bill at the end of the month based on the difference between energy consumed vs. energy supplied. The idea is to have a Solar Power System with enough capacity to make this difference zero at the end of every month. Which means that you don’t have to pay anything back to the grid in most cases. 

Yes. It’s not just a practical decision to go with a Solar Power System for your farmhouse, but also a very sustainable one. A step in the right direction, helping the world switch to Clean Energy, faster! It makes sense to consider an Off-Grid system if the farmhouse is in a remote village or in the lap of nature, like it typically is. Else, you could even consider a Hybrid or an On-Grid system. Get in touch with us to discuss this in detail.

All Solar Power Systems used today come with an inverter that helps convert DC into AC; which makes the electricity usable and safe. AC is much safer and has lesser transmission losses. Moreover, most of the modern-day appliances are designed to work with AC. 

In the latest Solar PV Systems that come with Microinverters like Enphase, the DC from panel is converted to AC at the panel level itself, that eliminates the need for any DC wiring and therefore, much safer and loss-less. 

DC maybe required only if you have some specific use cases, and appliances that run on DC (like DC pumps or certain EV chargers, for eg.). These also require you to make provisions for separate conduits connecting DC source to the appliance.

Consult us for a detailed discussion on this before taking a call on what’s right for you.

Solar Power Systems these days are extremely reliable and are released to the market after hours and hours of rigorous testing. Most components come with warranty of over 10 years. In fact, the ones we recommend: PV Panels from REC paired with Inverters from Enphase , come with a comprehensive warranty of 25 years covering product, performance and labour. 

Synergize Solar also provides 5 years of AMC free of cost, with every installation – which includes ongoing monitoring via remote monitoring devices and on-site visits as and when required, to fix minor niggles.

Synergize Solar also provides 5 years of AMC free of cost, with every installation – which includes ongoing monitoring via remote monitoring devices and on-site visits as and when required, to fix minor niggles.

We are actively working with our partners to launch an exclusive Solar Insurance cover for all our installations. Watch this space as we work up the details and launch it soon!

Absolutely. Any Solar Power System which is below 500kW is currently eligible to sell power back to the grid at retail rates via Netmetering policy. For systems beyond 500kW, Gross Metering would be applicable and rates are typically hovering between Rs. 1.7 to Rs. 3. 

Solar Panels

Photo Voltaic (PV) Panels or Solar Panels are sets of interconnected Photo Voltaic Cells that convert sunlight into Direct Current of Electricity via a phenomenon known as Photo Voltaic Effect. The modules are made up of layers of crystalline Silicon Cells – either Mono Crystalline or Poly Crystalline.

Well, let the truth be told – China has pioneered large scale manufacture of Solar Panels and therefore, commands the number one position globally in terms of supply of panels. However, the problem is that there is a wide degree of variance when it comes to quality. You have some really good ones and some really poor ones, priced unbelievably low. Since the low-price ones are usually favoured, the market was flooded with cheap quality panels from China. However, things have changed with the new regulations passed by the Government of India. There is an additional Import Duty levied on international brands in order to promote domestic manufacturing. It does take some time before you get mostly India-manufactured panels in the market. 

At Synergize Solar, we keep it simple – we provide the best of the International Brands like REC that bring in new technologies like HJT and panels with higher efficiencies and the highest product and performance warranties in the industry. 

We also provide a locally manufactured brands like Panasonic, Waree, Novergy, etc. which are of exceptional quality.

In short, REC or Panasonic, you can count on Synergize Solar to bring you the best! 

The panels that brought Solar Power System much closer home thanks to lower cost of manufacturing, were the Polycrystalline Panels. These converted Solar Power to electricity at about 15% – 17% efficiency approximately and are out of fashion currently since there are more efficient ones available at comparable prices.

The panels currently in vogue are the Monocrystalline PERC Panels which operate at an efficieny level of ~18%. There are Half-Cut variants of these that push efficiencies up to around 21%.

And then there are panels with new technologies like Heterojunction (HJT) cells or BiFacial panels, that push the efficiencies further to 24% and beyond.

The ones we recommend are Monocrystalline Half-Cut cells by both REC and Anchor by Panasonic.

You can read up all about these technologies in our exclusive blogpost here or download datasheet

The size (dimensions) of Solar Panels are directly proportional to their Wp value (Peak power they can produce). Some of them are small – like REC 370Wp Panels which are approximately 5′ 6″ in length and 3′ 6″ in width. Some high Wp panels like the Panasonic 540Wp are 7′ 6″ in length and 3′ 9″ in width

Most buildings should handle the weight of Solar Panels, however, it is recommended to consult a Structural Engineer for old buildings which don’t have pillars. At Synergize Solar, we have Structural Engineering Consultant who will study the site in detail before recommending the plan. Most of the modern panels are also light weight (each panel weighs anywhere between 20 to 30kgs) and come with higher efficiencies which means that you’ll have to install lesser number of panels for a given capacity.

The only maintenance that would be required is to ensure that the panels are cleaned periodically. We ensure that the panels are accessible so that they can cleaned as and when required. 

Typical modern day Solar Panels are designed to last at least 25 years. Their warranties are typically broken down to Product Warranty (or Manufacturing Warranty) and Performance Warranty. Product Warranty is typically in the range of 10 to 12 years while Performance Warranty is typically between 25 to 27 years. Most reputed manufacturers, also give a performance curve which clearly states what is the degradation in first year and the degradation expected in subsequent years running up to the 25th year. They also suggest what is the performance expected at the end of 25h year. (Typically it is between 84% to 86% for most reputed panels).

In exceptional cases, like in REC, there is a comprehensive warranty of 25 years when the project is executed via REC Certified Professionals like Synergize Solar.

Synergize Solar recommends going ahead with HJT panels or BiFacial panels that come with higher efficiency and therefore, consume less space for a given kW of size.

Depends on what inverters you are using. If the system is based on microinverters, even if one or a few panels are not producing any electricity, the rest of them continue to work and continue generating electricity. However, for string inverters, the entire system connected to that string, would stop working.

You do not have to switch off or switch on manually. It happens automatically. If the Solar Power System is not working, the entire electricity load would be met by drawing power from the grid.

The most popular Indian brands are Anchor by Panasonic, Waaree, Vikram, Adani, Tata, Novergy, EmmVee etc. 

The popular Chinese brands include Canadian Solar, Trina, Jinko etc. 

REC & Sunpower are popular, Non-Chinese International brands.

Not Yet. With the Indian Government promoting manufacturing of panels in India as part of its Atma Nirbhar initiative, we’ll definitely keep the options open.