Everybody asks the price first, and nobody likes the answer they get on the phone, because a real number depends on your roof. What I can do is show you the ranges we actually quote in Mayurbhanj, what the subsidy takes off, and how to work out payback against your own bill instead of a brochure.
What a system costs before subsidy
For a normal grid-tied residential system with decent components, here is the range we quote in north Odisha. These are full turnkey numbers: panels, inverter, mounting structure, cabling, protection, earthing, labour and paperwork.
| System size | Typical installed cost | Cost per kW |
|---|---|---|
| 2 kW | ₹1,30,000 to ₹1,50,000 | ₹65,000 to ₹75,000 |
| 3 kW | ₹1,80,000 to ₹2,10,000 | ₹60,000 to ₹70,000 |
| 5 kW | ₹2,75,000 to ₹3,25,000 | ₹55,000 to ₹65,000 |
Notice the cost per kW drops as the system grows. The inverter, the paperwork, the scaffolding and the day of labour do not double when the panel count doubles. This is why a 1 kW system is poor value per rupee and I usually talk people out of one.
If someone quotes you well below these numbers, they are saving money somewhere. Usually it is the mounting structure or the cable. I wrote about what that costs you later in what separates a good rooftop installation from a bad one.
What you actually pay after subsidy
The central subsidy under PM Surya Ghar is ₹30,000 per kW for the first 2 kW and ₹18,000 for the third, capped at ₹78,000. Applied to the middle of each range above:
| System | Cost | Subsidy | Net to you |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 kW | ₹1,40,000 | ₹60,000 | ₹80,000 |
| 3 kW | ₹1,95,000 | ₹78,000 | ₹1,17,000 |
| 5 kW | ₹3,00,000 | ₹78,000 | ₹2,22,000 |
Remember you pay the full amount first and the subsidy comes back to your bank account after the DISCOM inspection. Budget for the gross figure, not the net one. The full claim process is in the post on how much subsidy you get and how to claim it.
For reference, MNRE’s own benchmark works out to roughly ₹50,000 per kW for the first 2 kW, because ₹30,000 is 60% of the benchmark cost. Real market prices sit above that. The subsidy was never designed to cover 60% of what you will actually be quoted.
What a 2 kW and a 3 kW system actually cover
Odisha gets roughly 4.5 to 5 peak sun hours a day. After inverter losses, dust, wiring and cloudy days, I plan on about 4 units per kW per day averaged across the year. Some months you beat it comfortably, some months you do not.
- 2 kW: about 240 units a month, roughly 2,900 units a year
- 3 kW: about 360 units a month, roughly 4,300 units a year
- 5 kW: about 600 units a month, roughly 7,200 units a year
In real terms, a 3 kW system runs a house with a fridge, a couple of ACs used sensibly in summer, fans, lights, a TV, a washing machine and a pump. A 2 kW system covers a house without heavy AC use.
Working out payback on a real bill
Take a household paying ₹2,500 a month. At an effective ₹5.50 a unit, that is about 450 units. Use your own bill for this, because domestic tariffs are slabbed and your effective rate may be higher or lower.
A 3 kW system generates about 360 units a month, so it covers around 80% of that consumption.
- Net cost after subsidy: ₹1,17,000
- Monthly saving: 360 units × ₹5.50 = about ₹1,980
- Yearly saving: about ₹23,750
- Payback: about 5 years
Now a smaller household paying ₹1,500 a month, about 270 units. A 2 kW system generates about 240 units.
- Net cost after subsidy: ₹80,000
- Monthly saving: about ₹1,320
- Yearly saving: about ₹15,840
- Payback: about 5 years
Five years is the honest answer for most homes in our area. Anyone telling you three years is either assuming a tariff you do not pay or generation your roof will not produce. Anyone saying ten is quoting a system that is too small for the bill.
Why going bigger than 3 kW changes the maths
The subsidy stops at ₹78,000. A 5 kW system costs about ₹1,05,000 more than a 3 kW system and gets not one rupee more in support. That extra capacity is paid entirely by you.
It can still be worth it. If your bill is ₹6,000 or ₹8,000 a month, 3 kW leaves a lot uncovered and the extra 2 kW pays for itself on its own merits. But it is a different decision, made on your consumption rather than on the subsidy. Do not stretch to 5 kW thinking the government is helping with the difference.
There is also the sanctioned load limit to respect. Your system has to fit within what the DISCOM has sanctioned for your connection, and going over it holds up your net metering.
What the 25 year picture looks like
Panels carry a performance warranty of around 25 years, typically guaranteeing roughly 80% output at the end of it. Take the 3 kW example. About 4,300 units a year, allowing for gradual degradation, comes to somewhere near 97,000 units over 25 years.
At today’s ₹5.50 a unit that is about ₹5.3 lakh of electricity from a net outlay of ₹1,17,000. And that assumes the tariff never rises, which it will. That is the real argument for rooftop solar: you are fixing a large part of your electricity cost at today’s price for two decades.
If you cannot pay the whole amount upfront
This is the part that stops most people, and it is a fair objection. You have to pay the installer in full and wait for the subsidy afterwards, so on a 3 kW system you need roughly ₹1,95,000 available before ₹78,000 comes back to you weeks later.
There is a loan route through the national portal, linked to the JanSamarth platform. Worth knowing before you take it: for applications redeeming on or after 14 August 2026, the subsidy is credited to the loan account rather than to you. If the loan details do not reach the portal within 15 days of inspection approval, you can submit a savings account instead.
So the subsidy still reduces what you owe, it just reduces the loan rather than landing in your hand. Run the numbers with that in mind. On a five year payback, a loan at a normal rate still leaves you ahead, because the monthly saving on the bill is doing the repaying.
Costs people forget
- Inverter replacement. Expect one at some point between year 10 and 12. Budget ₹25,000 to ₹40,000 for a 3 kW unit. Panels last far longer than inverters.
- Cleaning. Small, but real. Dust in the dry months and pollen matter more than people expect.
- Net meter and application charges. Modest, but they exist.
- Roof work. If your roof needs waterproofing, do it before the panels go on, not after.
Even with all of that, the numbers hold. I include them because a quote that hides them is not doing you a favour.
Working it out for your own roof
Take your last three electricity bills, add up the units, and divide by three. That number decides your system size, and your system size decides everything else on this page. If you want to go a step further, the post on how to size a rooftop solar system walks through reading your bill properly and the roof area you need.
If you would rather not do the arithmetic, send us your average monthly units through the Get a Free Quote page and we will come back with a size, a price and a payback figure for your actual consumption. No obligation, and we will tell you if solar is a poor fit for your roof.