Which meters come with a rooftop solar plant, who installs them, and is a generation meter compulsory?

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) specification names a net or smart meter to record import and export, installed by the distribution company, plus a generation meter only if the state regulations require one. My reading: where none is fitted, the inverter's own data link is the record of generation.

What the specification lists

These are clauses from the technical specification in Annexure 3 of MNRE's guidelines for its residential rooftop solar scheme, Pradhan Mantri Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana. A factory is not bound by them, but they are a published checklist to hold a quotation against.

• Annexure 3 clause 4.2: a rooftop solar system shall consist of a net meter or smart meter, to record import and export units, and a generation meter (if required as per the state regulations) to keep a record of total generation of the plant.
• Clause 4.3: installation of meters, including current and potential transformers wherever applicable, shall be carried out by the respective distribution companies (discoms) as per the terms and conditions of the state regulator.
• The net metering agreement (Annexure 4, clause 8.3): the existing metering system, if not in accordance with the Net Metering Regulations, shall be replaced by a bi-directional meter or a pair of meters, and a separate generation meter may be provided to measure solar power generation.
• The meters are fixed in separate meter boxes in the same proximity (clause 8.4), and the consumer bears the cost of the plant and of the net meters (clause 9).
• Who does what: the vendor supplies or procures the net meter and gets the approvals (vendor agreement, Annexure 2, clause 10), while the discom installs the meters and signs the metering agreement. The consumer may also buy the meter from enlisted vendors.

Smart meters

• Where smart metering works are already awarded under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme, discoms should mandatorily get smart meters installed through the Advance Metering Infrastructure Service Provider.
• Elsewhere the net meters should be installed, preferably smart meters with a 4G cellular card, from the manufacturers' empanelled list and the technical specifications published by the Central Electricity Authority.
• The net meter is provided by the discom, or the consumer may procure it from enlisted meter vendors.

If no generation meter is fitted

The specification asks the inverter to communicate system data through a SIM (subscriber identity module) or dongle, so generation can be read from the inverter's own record. My reading: that figure is your generation record where the state does not require a meter, so export the monthly total from the inverter portal and keep it with the net meter bill. The bill alone cannot show generation, only import and export.

One month from the three readings (example numbers)

• Inverter generation: 18,500 kilowatt hours (kWh)
• Export register: 6,200 kWh. Solar used on site: 18,500 minus 6,200 = 12,300 kWh
• Import register: 27,400 kWh. Total use: 27,400 + 12,300 = 39,700 kWh
• Location-based Scope 2: 27,400 x 0.675 = 18,495 kilograms of carbon dioxide (CO2)

Readings are example numbers. 0.675 kilograms of CO2 per kWh is the Central Electricity Authority grid factor for financial year 2025-26. Exports are not netted off imports.

What Senseible does here

Senseible reads fuel invoices and electricity bills into monthly records, so your monthly grid units are on file. Self-serve does not read inverter data; a custom meter integration is available on request.

• Solar inverter reading or net meter for Scope 2
• Count rooftop solar with net metering in Scope 2
• Solar records a verifier will ask for
• Group and virtual net metering
• Rooftop solar contract checklist

Sources: Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Guidelines for PM-Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana, Central Financial Assistance to Residential Consumers, with Annexures 2 to 4, Central Electricity Authority (CEA), CO2 Baseline Database, India grid factor for financial year 2025-26

Last reviewed 2026-11-06. Re-check clause numbers and figures against the current version of the guidelines before you rely on them. Meter rules are set by each state commission, so confirm what your discom installs and who pays.