DGVCL rooftop solar: how it works with Dakshin Gujarat Vij Company

Is DGVCL your power company?

DGVCL's company profile lists seven districts: Bharuch, Narmada, Surat (except part of Surat City), Tapi, Dangs, Navsari and Valsad. It took over the old southern zone of the Gujarat Electricity Board and has run as a separate company since April 2005. As of July 2026 it reports about 40 lakh consumers.

Surat is where people get confused. Torrent Power supplies part of the older central city and DGVCL covers the rest of Surat city and the whole district. In Bharuch, units inside the Dahej SEZ are also supplied by a different licensee. The boundary follows licence areas, not ward names, so the only safe check is the name at the top of your bill.

DGVCL is organised in four circles: Surat City, Surat Rural, Bharuch and Valsad. Below them sit 24 division offices and 162 sub-divisions. Your sub-division is printed on your bill, and that office is the one that handles your net meter.

DGVCL's solar page, portals and payment

DGVCL keeps its rooftop papers on one Solar Power page on dgvcl.com. It is the place to check before you sign anything, because it carries DGVCL's own versions of the forms rather than generic ones.

• The documents list for net metering under PM Surya Ghar, and DGVCL's interconnection agreement formats for homes, businesses and third-party owned systems.
• Bi-directional meter specifications for single phase, three phase whole current, three phase CT operated and HT connections, and a meter vendor list.
• The list of vendors empanelled for PM Surya Ghar, and the GERC net metering regulations with their amendments.
• A Solar Rooftop Payment link. The working payment page is epayment.guvnl.in/SRPayDG, where you search by the SR number on DGVCL's estimate or by consumer number, and pay online.

How a DGVCL net meter job runs

For homes, the application starts on the national PM Surya Ghar portal, where you pick Gujarat and DGVCL. In practice the registered vendor you choose files most of it. Businesses apply through the vendor as well, without the central subsidy.

Under GERC's rules, a system of up to 10 kW needs no technical feasibility study and DGVCL has to act within set timelines. Larger systems get a load check first. DGVCL then raises an estimate for the meter and connectivity work, a charge set under GERC rules, which carries the SR number you pay against.

Once the panels are up, DGVCL asks for these before it fits the meter: the completion report with panel and inverter serial numbers, a photo of the plant, the consumer and vendor agreement, the invoice, the payment receipt for meter and connectivity charges, your bank details, terrace rights or co-owner consent where it applies, and the interconnection agreement on stamp paper with your ID and two witnesses. That agreement goes in as a physical copy. Above 10 kW, the drawing approval and inspection report from the Chief Electrical Inspector are also needed.

After the meter is fitted and the system commissioned, your bill shows units imported and units exported. For homes, surplus is settled at the end of the billing cycle and is not carried forward. The installer confirms which step your file is at.

When the file gets stuck: who to call

DGVCL runs a 24x7 customer care centre in Surat on toll free 1800-233-3003. DGVCL's nodal officer list also gives 19123 alongside it. The same centre handles status queries on new connections, name change and load change.

For rooftop solar DGVCL publishes a nodal officer ladder: Level I at the division, Level II at the circle and Level III at the corporate office. Its circle-wise list also names separate contacts for IT problems and for subsidy payment. Start at your division and move up only if nothing happens.

Name or load changes are filed on the GUVNL consumer portal. DGVCL also has its own Android app, named DGVCL, on the Play Store.

Surat towers, looms, diamonds and chemical estates

In DGVCL's part of Surat, much new housing is in tall towers where the terrace belongs to the society. One flat owner usually can't use it alone. The workable route is a plant on the common meter that runs lifts, pumps and lights, approved by a society resolution, since group and virtual net metering are still only a GERC draft.

Power loom sheds, embroidery machines, processing houses and diamond units often run long shifts. On LTMD and HT connections, solar units count only against use between 7 am and 6 pm, so size the plant to daytime load.

The chemical estates at Ankleshwar, Jhagadia and Vapi add their own checks: corrosive air near some process blocks, factory safety rules and, on bigger plants, the CEI approval above. Check whether your shed is owned or leased before you begin. For depreciation questions, ask your CA.

Monsoon, salt air and cyclone wind

DGVCL's area gets the heaviest rain in Gujarat, above all in Valsad, Dang and Navsari. Ask for structures that leave terrace drains clear, sealed anchor points and junction boxes kept off low ground.

Along the coast from Hansot and Dahej down past Navsari and Valsad, salty air speeds up rust, so galvanising and stainless fasteners matter. The same coast sees cyclone warnings, so ask how the frame is rated for wind and fixed to the roof.