UGVCL rooftop solar: how it works in north Gujarat

Where UGVCL supplies, and the suburbs where you must check

UGVCL describes its network as roughly 50,000 square kilometres across the northern districts, split into four circles (Mehsana, Palanpur, Himatnagar and Sabarmati) and 22 divisions under them. Each division has several sub-division offices, and the sub-division is the office that actually handles your connection. Its name is printed on your bill.

The Sabarmati circle is the one to watch. It covers the edge of the Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar cities, with divisions at Bopal, Bavla, Kalol, Sabarmati and Gandhinagar, and sub-divisions such as Bopal, Shilaj, Changodar, Sanand and Ognaj. The two cities themselves are mostly Torrent Power's licence area. New societies keep coming up right on that boundary, so two houses a short drive apart can have different power companies. Your bill decides, not your pin code. The installer applies to whichever company is printed on it.

A home application with UGVCL, step by step

Homes apply through the PM Surya Ghar national portal using the UGVCL consumer number. In practice the registered vendor you choose fills most of it in. Systems up to 10 kW don't need a technical feasibility study under GERC's 2024 amendment, so the application moves on fixed timelines.

GUVNL, the holding company for UGVCL and the other three state power companies, has issued circulars that UGVCL posts on its Solar Scheme page. They spell out a few rules that trip people up:

• If the connection is still in an earlier owner's or a late parent's name, the name change has to be done at the sub-division office before the rooftop application goes ahead. You can start it on e-Vidhyut Seva, GUVNL's common consumer portal.
• Where the roof is shared, you need a no objection certificate from all the owners.
• The capacity you register can't be changed later. What is installed must be within 5% of it, more or less.
• The vendor gives you a self-certificate for systems up to 10 kW. Above 10 kW, a certificate from the Chief Electrical Inspector is needed.
• Before the net meter is fitted, you sign the net metering interconnection agreement under GERC rules, and UGVCL may ask for a copy of the installer's invoice.

The net meter estimate and the SR number

Once the system is installed, UGVCL raises an estimate for the meter work. It covers the net meter, meter box, meter testing and connectivity. A GUVNL letter of February 2024 made these charges the same across all four GUVNL companies, in three bands by size: 1 to 6 kW, above 6 up to 25 kW, and above 25 up to 100 kW. The estimate carries an SR number. You pay it on UGVCL's Solar Rooftop Online Payment page by entering that SR number or your consumer number.

If the net meter seems stuck, check this payment first. Then ask the installer which stage the sub-division shows. After the meter is fitted, your bill shows the units you drew from the grid and the units you sent back. For homes, the two are settled over the billing cycle. Surplus doesn't carry over: UGVCL buys it at a rate linked to recent GUVNL solar tenders.

The central subsidy for homes comes through PM Surya Ghar. Gujarat's own top-up for homes up to 2.18 kW, under the GR of 22 October 2026, is paid by DBT through the power company, with GUVNL as the nodal agency. Our subsidy guide has the details.

Farm connections, SKY and PM-KUSUM

A large share of UGVCL's consumers are farms, and its website has a separate set of farm solar documents. The Surya Shakti Kisan Yojana (SKY) page carries the GR, the application form and an FAQ. The Solar Scheme page holds PM-KUSUM papers, including the Component A GR, the Component B guidelines for standalone off-grid solar pumps and the agencies empanelled for them. Whether a round is open right now is something your sub-division can tell you.

Keep the two connections apart. A PM Surya Ghar rooftop goes on the house's residential connection. The farm pump connection is handled under the farm schemes and is supplied on the AG schedule that UGVCL publishes. A rooftop subsidy application on a pump connection won't qualify.

Dairies, ginning units and housing societies

North Gujarat's businesses tend to run long hours: milk chilling and dairy processing, cotton ginning and oil mills around Kadi, and cold storage. For LTMD consumers, solar is set off only against power used between 7 am and 6 pm over the billing cycle. HT consumers are settled within the same day. A chilling plant that runs at night will still buy most of its night power from UGVCL. Size the system for the daytime load. Businesses get no subsidy. Accelerated depreciation exists, so ask your CA whether it fits you.

Larger plants for captive use or third-party sale, including ground-mounted ones, go through GUVNL's Akshay Urja Setu portal, which UGVCL links from its Solar Scheme page.

For a society's lifts, pumps and lighting, a GUVNL guideline still posted on UGVCL's page asks for the common facility connections to be moved to the residential category and merged into one connection before a rooftop is registered. It dates from the earlier Surya Gujarat scheme, so confirm with the sub-division whether it still applies.

Dust and heat in the Banaskantha and Patan belt

Toward the Rann, around Banaskantha, Vav-Tharad and Patan, dry winds leave a fine layer of dust on panels within days, and summer roofs get very hot. Plan for a water point and safe access for cleaning. Leave a gap under the panels so air can move, and use cable trays that keep dust out of the joints. In the greener Sabarkantha and Aravalli hills, nearby trees and shade from slopes matter more than dust.