# Is Rooftop Solar Still Worth It for Factories in Pakistan After the Net Metering Changes?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/climate-intelligence/rooftop-solar-net-metering-pakistan-factories

Published 2026-10-13.

For three years, rooftop solar was the easiest saving a Pakistani factory could make. Power prices kept rising, panels kept getting cheaper, and net metering let you export surplus power and offset it unit for unit against what you bought. Then the rules started to change.

This article explains what changed, what is still proposed, and how a factory owner should judge solar now.

## What has changed

- **March 2025:** the Economic Coordination Committee approved cutting the buyback rate for new net metering consumers from Rs27 to Rs10 per unit, and gave NEPRA the power to adjust it periodically. Existing consumers kept their terms.
- **December 2025:** NEPRA published draft Prosumer Regulations. New rooftop systems would be paid about Rs11.30 per exported unit under gross metering, against Rs22 under net metering at the time. Existing net metering consumers with valid seven-year agreements would keep their rate until their contracts expire. New contracts would run five years.
- **January 2026:** reporting described the direction as **net billing**: power you import is billed at the full tariff, and power you export is credited at a lower fixed rate, rather than offsetting one for one.

At the time of writing, check NEPRA's latest notification for the final rules. Most coverage focuses on domestic users, so confirm how they apply to your industrial connection.

## What it means for the numbers

The change does not touch the value of solar power you use yourself. Every unit generated and consumed on site still avoids a unit bought at the industrial tariff. What falls is the value of surplus exported to the grid.

So the question becomes: how much of your solar output can you use?

- **A factory running one or two shifts, mostly in daytime,** uses most of what the panels produce. Solar still pays well.
- **A factory with a small daytime load and big panels** exports a lot and now earns much less for it.

## How to size solar under the new rules

1. **Pull twelve months of bills** and, if you can, hourly or time-of-day demand.
2. **Size the system to your daytime base load,** not to the roof area or your annual units.
3. **Consider storage only where the numbers work;** batteries add cost and need replacement.
4. **Shift flexible loads to daytime,** such as compressors, pumps and some processes, to raise self-consumption.

## Paying for it

The State Bank's dedicated renewable energy refinancing scheme closed to new financing from 1 July 2024. Banks now judge solar projects against the Pakistan Green Taxonomy and lend through their normal credit process; see [how to get a green loan for a textile business in Karachi](https://senseible.earth/climate-intelligence/green-loan-textile-business-karachi).

Senseible reads your electricity bills for units and billing periods and shows how much grid power solar is replacing each month, the figure that now decides whether solar pays. For EU buyers, the same records feed the emissions data they ask for; see [exporting textiles to Europe from Karachi](https://senseible.earth/climate-intelligence/export-textiles-to-europe-from-karachi).

This is general guidance. Check NEPRA's current regulations and your distribution company's terms before investing.

## Related guides

- [rooftop solar finance for factories in Bangladesh](https://senseible.earth/climate-intelligence/rooftop-solar-loan-factory-bangladesh)
- [green loan for a textile business in Karachi](https://senseible.earth/climate-intelligence/green-loan-textile-business-karachi)
- [green loan for a cement plant in Pakistan](https://senseible.earth/climate-intelligence/green-loan-cement-plant-pakistan)
- [solar loan for an MSME in India](https://senseible.earth/climate-intelligence/solar-loan-for-msme-india)