How to Work Out Your Solar Economics, Step by Step
- Start with cost: the solar panel cost calculator converts your bill or a chosen kW into a realistic 2026 price range.
- Deduct the subsidy: the subsidy calculator shows the central benefit and any state top-up for your location.
- Check the return: the savings and payback calculator turns generation into monthly rupees saved and a break even year.
- Decide how to pay: if financing, the solar EMI calculator tells you whether the EMI stays below the savings, making the system self-funding.
- Sanity-check the bill: the bill calculator previews what your DISCOM bill becomes after net metering.
These five tools share the same India-specific engine: city-level sun data, DISCOM planning tariffs and 2026 pricing, so the numbers agree with each other. If you are in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra or Uttar Pradesh, the TNEB, KSEB, MSEDCL and UPPCL bill calculators apply your DISCOM's exact domestic tariff instead, using the same rates as the main calculator. For sizing questions first, visit the sizing and design calculators.
On-Grid, Hybrid or Off-Grid: The Money Decision in Three Questions
Every cost tool on this page asks for a system type, and three questions settle it. Does your grid fail more than a few hours a month? If no, on-grid at ~₹58,000/kW wins on every financial metric. When it fails, does it hurt? Home office, medical equipment or study hours justify hybrid's extra ~₹14,000/kW plus battery; annoyance alone usually does not. Is there a grid connection at all? Only a genuine "no" justifies off-grid, which doubles cost and forfeits the subsidy. Answer the three questions once, then run every calculator here in that mode for numbers that reflect your real situation.