Net metering in Peshawar

What it changes about a system

Without an export arrangement, an array that generates more than the premises are using at that moment simply curtails — the extra is thrown away. On a quiet weekday in a shop, or a mild afternoon at home with everybody out, that can be a good deal of the day's generation.

Net metering turns that surplus into credit instead. It makes the most difference to premises whose consumption does not line up neatly with daylight, and to systems sized generously against a load that varies.

What it does not do

It is not a battery. When the grid goes down, a grid-tied inverter disconnects — it has to, because feeding a dead line would endanger anyone working on it. Net metering and backup are separate problems with separate answers, and anybody who tells you otherwise is selling something.

If what you want is power during load shedding, you want storage. If what you want is credit for the surplus you would otherwise waste, you want net metering. A hybrid system with an export arrangement does both, which is why it is the commonest choice where the budget allows.

How we handle it

We prepare the documentation and follow the application through to approval, so the paperwork is not left for you to chase between the supplier's offices.

It is quoted as its own line. You can see what it costs, and you can decline it — some customers prefer to start without an export arrangement and add one later, which is a reasonable choice if the system is sized tightly to the load.

The system has to be built to support it from the outset: the right inverter, the correct protection, and a design that will pass inspection. That is decided at the survey rather than discovered at the application.