Sri Lanka rooftop solar rules now restrict new connections to Net Plus, ending Net Metering and Net Accounting for new agreements and extensions.
COLOMBO — Sri Lankans seeking new grid-connected rooftop solar installations will no longer be able to choose Net Metering or Net Accounting, with the Government directing that new connections operate exclusively under the Net Plus scheme.
The Energy Ministry’s directive, dated September 11, 2026, applies to new grid clearances granted after that date as well as extensions of existing agreements. Existing agreements remain valid under their current terms until they expire.
The decision represents a substantial change to the rooftop solar framework under which consumers previously had access to Net Metering, Net Accounting and Net Plus.
Acting Energy Ministry Secretary G.M.R.D. Aponsu has said the change follows a Cabinet-approved policy requiring electricity tariffs to reflect costs and seeking generation at the lowest possible cost.
The move has prompted criticism from sections of the rooftop solar industry and electricity consumers, while energy specialists have offered differing assessments of who stands to gain or lose from the new framework.
How the Three Rooftop Solar Schemes Work
Under Net Metering, electricity generated by a rooftop solar system can offset electricity consumed from the grid.
When a household produces more electricity than it consumes during a billing period, the surplus is credited in units and can be carried forward. No cash payment is made for the excess electricity. Official guidance has allowed those banked units to be used for up to 10 years.
Net Accounting operates differently. Solar electricity is first used against the consumer’s own consumption, while excess electricity exported to the national grid is purchased by the electricity utility at the applicable feed-in tariff.
Net Plus separates generation from consumption.
All electricity generated by the rooftop system is measured for export, while the consumer separately purchases electricity from the grid and pays the normal applicable electricity tariff. The utility, in turn, pays for the electricity generated by the solar installation under the applicable payment methodology.
It is this Net Plus model that will now apply to new rooftop solar connections covered by the September directive.
Existing Solar Customers Keep Current Agreements Until Expiry
The policy change does not immediately remove Net Metering or Net Accounting from customers who already have valid agreements.
Existing agreements and grid clearances completed on or before September 11 will continue under their current terms until they expire, according to reporting on the Energy Ministry directive. Once an existing agreement requires an extension, however, the new arrangement will be under Net Plus.
That distinction is important for thousands of households and businesses that have already invested in rooftop systems based on the financial terms of their existing agreements.
Official Ceylon Electricity Board statistics show the scale of the sector. By the end of 2024, the CEB network recorded 11,449 Net Metering accounts, 52,598 Net Accounting accounts, 2,768 Net Plus accounts and 6,235 Net Plus Plus accounts.
Rooftop solar deployment has continued to expand since then.
Government Says Net Plus Reduces System Costs
Explaining the policy to BBC Sinhala, Aponsu said the Cabinet decision was based on a requirement that electricity tariffs reflect the costs associated with supplying power.
“When you buy and pay for a solar system, the lowest cost comes through the third of those three methods. That is, the Net Plus method,” he said.
Aponsu also argued that the previous arrangements could shift costs to the wider electricity consumer base when rooftop solar customers exported lower-cost daytime electricity but later drew electricity from the grid during more expensive periods.
He illustrated the argument by comparing a consumer supplying solar power during the day and drawing electricity from the system at night.
“If you think of generating 10 kilowatts during the day, using 5 at home and giving 5 to the system, and if the amount paid for that is 20 rupees, and let’s say the amount going for a unit at night is 60 rupees. Then I sold 5 at 20 and when I needed those 5 at night, I took from what was generated at a higher amount. Who paid for that? The people who consume the country’s total electricity paid that tariff. It was to reduce that tariff that this was done.”
The Ministry’s position is that restricting new agreements to Net Plus better reflects the cost of electricity generation and consumption.
Solar Industry Disputes Government’s Cost Argument
Solar Power Construction Association President Dr. Shyam Pathiraja disputed the Government’s reasoning, arguing that the value of daytime solar power supplied to the grid must also be taken into account.
Pathiraja told BBC Sinhala that rooftop solar was already supplying around 2,000 MW to the electricity system and argued that, without that generation, alternative electricity would have to be sourced at a higher cost during those periods.
“The cost remaining in the system from one solar unit we supply to the system during the daytime exceeds Rs. 100. A producer consumer who supplies 5 such solar units during the day asks from the system at night only about a quarter of that. That is by no means supplied by the system at an excessive price, but at its real price.”
The figure and cost assessment represent Pathiraja’s position and have not been independently established in the material reviewed for this article.
He also rejected the argument that lower-income electricity consumers were necessarily carrying the cost of existing rooftop solar arrangements.
“This government supplies electricity at a lower price to tourist hotel owners, large-scale rice mill owners and other industrialists. At a price between Rs. 14 and Rs. 18. If the government wants to give it like that, there is no problem at all, it can be given like that. But who is going to make up the loss caused by that to the electricity distributor?”
Pathiraja further alleged that high taxes on solar panels and limitations in managing the electricity system had prevented lower-income households from gaining greater access to rooftop solar.
Could Net Plus Benefit Lower-Consumption Households?
Energy expert and engineer Ashoka Abeygunawardena offered a different assessment, arguing that Net Plus could benefit consumers with relatively low electricity consumption if they are given realistic opportunities to purchase and install solar systems.
“By abolishing the first two and creating more opportunity for the poor, those who will be discouraged by the savings are only high-end consumers. It does not affect the others, so according to the information I know so far, there is no serious problem for the vast majority of consumers.”
Abeygunawardena nevertheless warned that the policy would fail to deliver that benefit unless lower-consumption households could afford rooftop installations.
“If a background is not created for low-consumption people to install rooftop solar and obtain it, what happens is that neither gets done, and in the end rooftop solar collapses,” he said.
His concern extended to the balance between household rooftop generation and larger commercial solar developments.
“The Electricity Board says this is all we can take. In deciding from whom to take it, discouraging rooftop people and cutting a path for companies is what is behind every activity carried out over the past two years. So as a whole, there was an impact on rooftop solar.”
That claim represents Abeygunawardena’s assessment of the direction of government policy rather than an established finding about its purpose.
For prospective rooftop solar customers, the immediate consequence is clearer: Net Metering and Net Accounting are no longer available for new connections covered by the September 11 directive, while existing customers can retain their current arrangements until their agreements expire.
The longer-term impact will depend on whether Net Plus remains financially attractive to households, how access to rooftop installations develops among lower-consumption consumers and how the Government balances distributed rooftop generation with the wider requirements of the national electricity grid.
