Solar Savings Calculator — System Size & Payback
Solar in Pakistan has crossed from lifestyle purchase to straightforward arithmetic: grid rates near Rs. 40 per unit against panel costs that have fallen for a decade make most urban rooftops cash-positive inside four years. This tool estimates the monthly saving and payback for a system size against your current bill, using Pakistani generation averages rather than vendor brochure figures.
How much does one kW of solar actually generate in Pakistan?
Around 110–130 kWh per month averaged across the year — this tool uses 120. Vendors quoting 150-plus are selling the June number; December generation in Punjab’s fog belt can halve the summer figure, and the annual average is what your payback math should use.
What does a complete solar system cost per kW in 2026?
Installed residential systems run roughly Rs. 140,000–180,000 per kW depending on inverter brand, structure type, and panel tier — this estimator assumes Rs. 160,000. Hybrid systems with batteries land substantially higher; the figure here is grid-tied without storage.
Does the saving estimate include net metering exports?
It caps savings at your current bill — the conservative case. Net metering credits for surplus exports improve the picture where the connection is approved, but policy churn around export rates makes bill-offset the dependable planning number and export income the upside.
Solar Savings Calculator
The payback arithmetic, stripped of sales gloss
Payback is system cost divided by annual savings, and both numbers reward scepticism. On the cost side, quotes vary 25 percent for identical hardware across installers — three quotes is the minimum diligence. On the savings side, generation assumptions and the slab structure interact: solar offsets your most expensive marginal units first, so a system that pulls you down two slabs saves more per kWh than the average rate suggests. The estimator’s flat-rate assumption is therefore mildly conservative for high-slab households.
Sizing decisions that age well
The recurring regret among Pakistani solar owners isn’t over-spending — it’s under-sizing the inverter and structure, which makes later expansion expensive. If your consumption is trending up (a growing family, a planned AC), buying an inverter one size above the panel array costs little now and saves a replacement later. Our solar panel size tool works the sizing from your unit history; this one works the money. Run both before signing anything.
Financing and the new payback math
Bank solar financing has matured: several Pakistani banks now run State Bank refinance-linked solar loans at concessional markup, which converts the capital hurdle into a monthly instalment frequently below the bill saving itself — cash-flow-positive from month one. The catch worth pricing is processing time and documentation; the loan route adds six to ten weeks against a cash purchase. Run this tool’s saving against the quoted instalment and the financing decision usually makes itself.
And on quote comparison: insist each quote itemises panels, inverter, structure, and wiring separately — bundled single-figure quotes are where the brand substitutions hide, and itemised ones let this tool’s payback math compare genuinely like for like.
A quote that resists itemisation is answering the comparison question for you.
More questions answered
Because the bill-offset rupees are the certain ones. Beyond self-consumption, returns depend on net-metering approval and the export rate policy of the moment — both of which have shifted repeatedly. Size to consumption first; expand once the export economics at your DISCO are locked in writing.
Roughly 60–80 square feet per kW with modern 550–600 W panels, including walkway spacing. A 5 kW system fits comfortably on a 10-marla house’s roof; shading from water tanks and neighbouring structures matters more than raw area.
Panel cleaning (dust costs 5–15 percent generation if neglected — budget a monthly wash), and an inverter replacement reserve, since inverters typically live 8–12 years against panels’ 25. Adding Rs. 1,500–2,000 monthly equivalent keeps the projection honest.
Almost never on pure economics — batteries add 40–80 percent to system cost and have their own replacement cycles. Batteries buy outage immunity, which has real value in load-shedding areas, but the financial payback case is grid-tied; the hybrid case is resilience.