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Net metering: the honest timeline

Net metering credits your exported surplus against what you draw at night. It is worth having and it takes longer than anyone tells you at the point of sale. Here is every stage, with realistic timings and a clear line between what we control and what we do not.

  1. 01

    Eligibility check

    Before you buy anything

    Your connection type and sanctioned load cap the system size that can be net-metered. We check this before quoting equipment, because discovering it after installation is an expensive way to learn it.

    We do this

  2. 02

    Installation and commissioning

    2–4 days

    The system goes in and starts generating. It offsets your daytime use immediately. Only the export credit waits on the paperwork.

    We do this

  3. 03

    Application pack prepared

    About a week

    Single-line drawings, equipment datasheets, inverter approval evidence, test reports and the distribution company's forms. Incomplete packs are the single most common reason applications sit for months.

    We do this

  4. 04

    Submission and follow-up

    4 weeks to several months

    This is the part nobody can promise a date for. Applications move when somebody goes and asks about them, repeatedly. We do that chasing rather than giving you a reference number and wishing you luck.

    We do this

  5. 05

    Inspection

    A morning

    The distribution company inspects the installation. We attend so questions are answered on the spot instead of becoming a second visit three weeks later.

    We do this

  6. 06

    Bidirectional meter fitted

    1–3 weeks after inspection

    The old meter is swapped for one that counts both directions. From this point your surplus starts earning credit against night-time consumption.

    Distribution company does this

What goes in the pack

A complete submission is the difference between weeks and months. Most stalled applications are not rejected — they are simply sitting there incomplete, and nobody tells you which piece is missing.

  • Completed application forms
  • Single-line electrical diagram
  • Inverter datasheet and approval evidence
  • Panel datasheets and serial list
  • Installation test reports
  • Copy of a recent electricity bill
  • CNIC and ownership documents
  • Sanctioned load evidence

Three things that stall an application

An unapproved inverter

Inverters must be on the approved list. If yours is not, the application stops dead and no amount of follow-up moves it. This is decided when you buy the inverter, not when you apply.

A missing document

The pack sits, and typically nobody contacts you to say which piece is absent. Submitting complete the first time is the whole trick.

Nobody chasing

Applications do not progress on their own. Somebody has to go and ask, more than once. It is the least interesting part of the job and the part that decides the timeline.

Net metering questions

How long does net metering approval take in Pakistan?
Realistically six weeks to several months, depending on the distribution company and how complete the application is. Anyone promising a fixed short timeline is not being straight with you — the parts outside our control are the parts that take the time.
Can I use my solar system before net metering is approved?
Yes. The system generates and offsets your daytime consumption from the day it is commissioned. What you do not get until approval is credit for the surplus you export, so an oversized system waits longer to be worth its size.
What makes a net metering application stall?
Incomplete documents, an inverter that is not on the approved list, and nobody following up. The first two are avoidable at purchase. The third is unglamorous work that we do as part of the job rather than handing you a reference number.
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