Suryaghar Roof Photo Rejected? Fix Guide 2026

A rejected roof photograph is the single most frustrating reason for a PM Suryaghar application to stall — because everything else in the file is correct, your Aadhaar matches, your bill is paid, your sanctioned load is fine, but one blurry JPG sends the application back to your inbox with a red “Resubmit” status. In 2026, roof-photo rejection has overtaken Aadhaar-name mismatch as the top reason DISCOMs (Distribution Companies) push PM Suryaghar applications back for correction, and the ₹78,000 maximum subsidy sits trapped behind a 7–10 day re-verification cycle until you fix the upload.

This guide explains exactly why DISCOMs reject roof photographs, what the technical and visual standards actually are in 2026, how to capture a compliant photo with a smartphone (or when you genuinely need a drone), and the resubmission flow that gets your application back into the feasibility queue without restarting from scratch.

Direct answer. PM Suryaghar roof photographs are rejected when the image fails one of eight checks: poor lighting, wrong angle, missing corners, hidden shading objects, watermarks, oversized files, wrong format, or stripped EXIF (Exchangeable Image File Format) metadata. The fix is a single daytime capture between 10 AM and 2 PM, JPG under 2 MB, all four roof corners visible, surrounding trees and water tanks in frame. Resubmission preserves your application reference number and the ₹78,000 subsidy entitlement; no restart needed.

If you’ve just received the rejection SMS and you’re staring at the portal trying to work out what changed, the good news is that the fix is mechanical — the DISCOM is not questioning your ownership or your eligibility, only the quality of one upload. Follow the checklist below and you’re back in the queue within 48 hours.

Why DISCOMs Reject Roof Photographs

The roof photograph is not a formality. It is the single piece of evidence DISCOMs (and behind them, MNRE’s PM Suryaghar verification cell) use to confirm three things before they spend ₹78,000 of public money on your subsidy: that the roof actually exists, that it has the area to host the proposed system, and that surrounding obstructions don’t cancel out the solar generation the application claims. When the photo is unclear, the DISCOM engineer reviewing the file cannot make any of these three judgements, and the safe default is rejection.

In 2026, DISCOM verification teams cross-reference the uploaded photograph against satellite imagery from Google Earth, Bhuvan (ISRO’s geo-platform), and in some states the local revenue department’s GIS layers. The reviewing engineer pulls up your address on satellite view, then opens your uploaded photo, and visually matches roof shape, neighbouring buildings, tree positions, and water tank locations. If the photo doesn’t visually align with the satellite view — wrong rooftop, wrong neighbourhood, photo of a different property — the application is flagged for field inspection or rejected outright. This satellite cross-check is also why a drone shot or an aerial-style smartphone capture is preferred for complex roofs.

The rejection reasons cluster into a small set of repeat patterns. The photo is too dark because it was captured early morning, late evening, or under cloud cover — overhead shadows hide; you can’t tell if a tree blocks the south-facing slope. The photo uses an ultra-wide lens that bends the roof edges, making area estimation impossible. The frame cuts off one or more roof corners because the photographer stood too close. Surrounding trees, the neighbour’s water tank, or the parapet wall casting an afternoon shadow are missing from the frame, so the DISCOM cannot assess shading losses. The image carries a third-party watermark from a “stamp camera” or GPS (Global Positioning System) app that the verification engine flags as edited. The file is uploaded as a 12 MB PNG when the portal accepts only JPG/JPEG under 2 MB. Or the EXIF metadata — the embedded data carrying timestamp, GPS coordinates, and camera details — has been stripped by a messaging app, so the DISCOM can’t confirm the photo was actually taken at the claimed location.

Every one of these is preventable in a single 5-minute capture session. Once you understand the eight things the reviewing engineer checks for, taking a clean photo becomes mechanical. The rest of this guide walks through those eight checks in detail and then shows you the resubmission flow on the portal. For the broader catalogue of PM Suryaghar rejection reasons beyond just photos, the PM Suryaghar rejection reasons guide covers the full taxonomy.

The 8-Point Roof Photo Compliance Checklist

This is the named framework our pre-submission team runs on every roof photograph before it goes to the portal. Each of the eight points maps directly to one of the DISCOM verification checks. Pass all eight and the photo clears the automated portal screen plus the manual engineer review on the first attempt. Miss one, and the rejection SMS arrives within 72 hours.

1. Lighting — Daytime, Overhead Sun, No Backlight

The photo must be taken in daylight with the sun overhead, not behind the roof. Shooting at 9 AM with the sun in the east means the western parapet casts a shadow that doesn’t represent your actual daytime shading. Shooting at 5 PM means the entire roof is in long shadow and the verification engineer cannot see surface details. Capture between 10 AM and 2 PM local time on a clear day. Avoid heavily overcast days, fog, and dust storms — the photo looks grey and detail is lost. If clouds are passing, wait for a clear five-minute window. Direct flash is not needed and actually hurts you because it creates hot spots that confuse the reviewer. Natural light, clear sky, sun roughly overhead — that’s the brief.

2. Angle — Elevated, Looking Down, Roof Fills 70–80% of Frame

The ideal angle is a slightly elevated viewpoint looking down at the roof at roughly 30–45 degrees from horizontal. Stand on a higher adjacent building if one exists, or step onto a stable parapet wall (only if safe). If neither is possible, an extension pole with a smartphone clip works, or a drone if the property is a high-rise. Do not shoot straight up from the ground — that produces a foreshortened, distorted view where the roof appears as a thin strip. Do not shoot from the same level as the roof — you lose perspective on depth and the verification engineer can’t estimate area. The roof should fill 70–80% of the frame; if it fills less, the photo wastes space on sky and surrounding buildings; if more, you risk cropping corners.

3. All Four Corners Visible — Complete Roof Boundary

Every corner of the rooftop you intend to install solar on must be inside the frame. The DISCOM uses corner-to-corner visibility to calculate available area against your proposed kW rating. If the photo shows three corners and the fourth is cropped or hidden behind a water tank, the engineer can’t verify that a 3 kW system (which needs roughly 250–300 sq ft) actually fits. For L-shaped or irregular rooftops, you may need two photos — one for each rectangular section — clearly marked as “Section A” and “Section B” in the file name. Stitching panoramas is fine but the EXIF metadata can break, so prefer single-frame captures with a wide-enough vantage point. If you can see all four corners plus a buffer of two feet of parapet beyond each corner, you’ve nailed this check.

4. Shading Sources in Frame — Trees, Tanks, Adjacent Towers

This is the check most homeowners miss. The DISCOM doesn’t just want to see your roof; they want to see everything around your roof that could cast a shadow during peak solar hours. That means surrounding trees (with the canopy visible, not just the trunk), the neighbour’s overhead water tank, telecom towers, adjacent multi-storey buildings, billboards, and any rooftop additions on your own property like a stairwell hood, lift machine room, or chimney. The shading objects must be visible in the same frame as the roof — a separate “shading photo” is not accepted on the standard application. If the south-facing portion of your roof has a 30-foot mango tree six metres south of it, that tree needs to be in the photo. The verification engineer mentally projects shadow lines based on the sun’s path; if the obstruction isn’t visible, the engineer assumes you’re hiding it and either rejects or escalates to a field visit. For more on assessing shading before the application, see our pre-installation roof inspection guide.

5. No Watermark, No Stamp, No Edited Overlay

The “stamp camera” apps popular on the Play Store add a watermark to every photo with date, time, GPS coordinates, weather, and a logo — and PM Suryaghar verification automatically flags any photo with overlay text as potentially edited. The watermark looks like proof to you; to the DISCOM portal’s AI screening layer it looks like tampering. Use the native camera app on your phone, not GPS Map Camera, Timestamp Camera Free, Geo Stamp Cam, or any similar tool. The GPS data the DISCOM needs is already in the EXIF metadata of a native photo; the visible watermark adds nothing and triggers the edit-detection flag. If you’ve already captured with a stamp app, retake with the native camera — there’s no acceptable workaround.

6. File Size — Under 2 MB, Above 200 KB

The PM Suryaghar portal accepts roof photographs up to 2 MB in size. Files larger than this are rejected at upload with a “File too large” portal error before they even reach the DISCOM. Files smaller than around 200 KB are usually too compressed to retain detail and get rejected by the manual reviewer for poor quality. The sweet spot is 800 KB to 1.8 MB — large enough to preserve detail at 4–6 megapixel effective resolution, small enough to clear the portal cap. Modern phones often output 8–12 MB JPGs at full resolution; reduce by setting your camera app to “Standard” or “8 MP” rather than maximum, or compress using Google’s free Squoosh tool or any built-in phone gallery resize feature. If the portal throws a size error, see our Suryaghar portal error fix guide for the upload workaround.

7. File Format — JPG / JPEG Only (PNG Sometimes Accepted)

The portal specification reads “JPG/JPEG” as the accepted format for roof photographs. PNG is technically uploaded successfully in some DISCOM workflows but is inconsistently parsed by the verification engine — sometimes it shows as blank in the engineer’s dashboard, sometimes it shows fine. Do not upload HEIC (the iPhone default since iOS 11), WebP, RAW, or any other format. HEIC is the most common cause of “blank photo” rejections from iPhone users; export to JPEG before upload. On iPhone, go to Settings → Camera → Formats → Most Compatible to force JPEG capture, or share via “Mail Drop” which auto-converts. On Android, JPG is the default for the native camera. If you receive a photo via WhatsApp, the compression is acceptable but check the file name extension — if it’s .jpeg you’re fine, if .heic you need conversion.

8. EXIF Metadata — GPS Coordinates and Timestamp Intact

EXIF is the embedded metadata layer in every digital photo: camera model, capture timestamp, exposure settings, and (when enabled) GPS coordinates. The PM Suryaghar verification engine reads EXIF to confirm the photo was taken at the property address you’ve registered and on a date after your portal application started. Photos shared via WhatsApp, Telegram, or Instagram have EXIF stripped by default — that’s why a photo your installer sends you over chat often gets rejected even though it looks identical to the original. Always transfer photos via email, cloud drive (Google Drive, OneDrive), or direct USB cable to preserve EXIF. Before uploading, verify EXIF is intact by long-pressing the photo in your phone gallery and viewing “Details” — you should see latitude, longitude, and a recent date stamp. If those fields are blank, retake with location services enabled on the camera app.

How to Take a Compliant Roof Photo

This is the step-by-step capture protocol our site survey team follows. It takes 5–7 minutes for a single-storey home and 10–12 minutes for a multi-storey or complex roof. Run through it once and the photo will pass every DISCOM check on first submission.

1. Pick the day and time. Check the weather forecast — pick a clear day with low cloud cover. Plan capture between 10 AM and 2 PM, ideally 11 AM–1 PM for the most overhead sun across most of India. Avoid days immediately after rain when roofs are wet and reflective.

2. Enable location services and use the native camera. On Android, open Settings → Apps → Camera → Permissions → Location → Allow. On iPhone, Settings → Privacy → Location Services → Camera → While Using. Open the stock camera app — not GPS Map Camera, not Timestamp Camera, not any third-party stamping tool. Confirm location is being tagged: take a test photo and check that GPS coordinates appear in the photo’s Details view.

3. Set resolution and aspect ratio. Use the camera’s standard or 4:3 mode at 8–12 MP. Avoid 1:1 square crops (loses roof corners) and 16:9 (compresses vertical detail). Turn off any “beauty mode”, HDR (it adds processing that can be flagged), and AI scene enhancement.

4. Get elevation. Climb to a vantage point that puts you 1.5–3 metres above the roof surface. Adjacent terrace, neighbouring building, a stable boundary wall, or a window of an upper floor. If no elevation is available, use a 2–3 metre selfie stick or extension pole with the phone clipped facing down. For genuine high-rises, hire a 15-minute drone shoot; DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) regulations require a Nano or Micro category drone for residential roofs, no permit needed under 250 grams.

5. Frame the shot. Roof fills 70–80% of the frame. All four corners inside the frame plus a small buffer. Surrounding shading objects — trees, tanks, towers, parapets — clearly visible. Take three captures: one with the roof centred, one slightly wider, one slightly tighter. Pick the best later.

6. Capture additional reference shots. Take one wide-angle pulled-back shot showing the property in its neighbourhood — this helps the DISCOM cross-reference with satellite imagery. Take one ground-level shot of the meter and the electricity bill placed on a clean surface (some DISCOMs ask for this as a secondary upload). These supplementary shots aren’t always mandatory, but they reduce field-visit risk.

7. Review on the spot. Before climbing down, zoom into each photo on your phone screen. Check that all corners are visible, the surface is well-lit, no part of your finger or the phone case is in frame, and the focus is sharp. Roof tiles or RCC surface should be clearly textured, not a smooth blur.

8. Transfer with EXIF preserved. Email the photo to yourself, or upload to Google Drive, or copy via USB cable. Do NOT send via WhatsApp, Telegram, or Instagram DM if you’ll be uploading from a different device — these strip EXIF. If you must use a messaging app, send as a “Document” attachment (not as an image) — this preserves the original file.

9. Compress to under 2 MB if needed. Open the photo on your laptop or phone gallery. If the file exceeds 2 MB, use Squoosh, the built-in “Resize” option in Google Photos, or a simple online compressor. Target 1–1.5 MB. Confirm the output is still JPG.

10. Verify EXIF before upload. Right-click the file on Windows → Properties → Details, or Get Info on Mac, or long-press in phone gallery → Details. Confirm GPS latitude/longitude, capture date, and camera model are all populated. If any field is blank, the EXIF has been stripped and you need to recapture or re-transfer.

Pro tip — the WhatsApp trap. The single most common reason genuinely good roof photos get rejected is the homeowner shooting on their installer’s phone, the installer sending the photo on WhatsApp, and the homeowner uploading from chat. WhatsApp strips EXIF and re-compresses to around 100 KB — the photo loses GPS, loses timestamp, and looks visibly blurrier. Always insist on the original file via email or Google Drive.

Common Rejection Patterns and Fixes

Across the residential PM Suryaghar applications we track each month, photo rejections fall into seven repeat patterns. Each one has a specific fix — and once you know which pattern triggered your rejection, the resubmission becomes 10 minutes of work, not a fresh photoshoot.

1. 1
   "Photo too dark / shading not visible." Retake between 10 AM and 2 PM on a clear day. Overhead sun lights the surface evenly and casts short, well-defined shadows the engineer can interpret.
2. 2
   "Roof corners cropped / incomplete view." Step back, use a higher vantage point, or shoot with a standard (not telephoto, not ultra-wide) lens. Aim for the roof to fill 70–80% of frame with buffer.
3. 3
   "Wide-angle distortion / fish-eye effect." Switch off the 0.5× ultra-wide camera mode on your phone. Use the 1× main lens. Wide-angle bends roof edges and makes area estimation unreliable.
4. 4
   "Watermark / GPS stamp detected." Delete the stamp-camera app photo. Retake with the native camera. EXIF metadata carries the GPS data the DISCOM needs — no visible watermark required.
5. 5
   "File format not supported." Convert HEIC, PNG, or WebP to JPG. On iPhone, go to Settings → Camera → Formats → Most Compatible to default to JPEG capture going forward.
6. 6
   "File size exceeds 2 MB." Compress via Squoosh, Google Photos resize, or set your camera to 8 MP instead of full resolution. Target 800 KB–1.8 MB for the upload.
7. 7
   "Photo location mismatch with application address." EXIF GPS coordinates do not match the registered property address. Retake at the actual property with location services on, or transfer via email/Drive to preserve original GPS data.

For applications where the photo is fine but other documents triggered the rejection, the PM Suryaghar rejection reasons catalogue covers Aadhaar, ownership proof, and sanctioned load issues. And before you start the photo capture itself, the complete document checklist PDF gives you the full list of files you’ll need at upload.

File Format and Size Specifications

The technical specifications below come from the PM Suryaghar portal upload guidelines published by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) in 2025 and updated for 2026. These are the hard limits — anything outside the green zone fails at the portal upload stage before reaching DISCOM review.

Spec	Acceptable Range	Best Practice	Rejection Trigger
File format	JPG, JPEG	JPG	PNG, HEIC, WebP, RAW, PDF
File size	200 KB – 2 MB	800 KB – 1.8 MB	Above 2 MB or below 100 KB
Resolution	1920×1080 minimum	3264×2448 (8 MP)	Below 1024×768
Aspect ratio	4:3 or 16:9	4:3	1:1 square, panoramic
Colour profile	sRGB	sRGB	Adobe RGB, CMYK
EXIF metadata	Required	GPS + timestamp present	EXIF stripped
Date of capture	Within last 30 days	Same week as upload	Photo older than 60 days
Compression quality	70–95% JPEG	85%	Below 60% (visible blockiness)

Shading visibility — the most subjective rejection category — has a specific set of expectations the reviewing engineer uses. The table below maps each shading source to what must be visible in the frame.

Shading Source	Must Be Visible	Why It Matters
Trees on the property	Full canopy and trunk position	Canopy width determines shadow length
Neighbour’s water tank	Tank silhouette against sky	Tanks cast tall, narrow shadows that hit afternoon panels
Adjacent multi-storey	Top floor with relative height to your roof	Determines winter shadow on south-facing modules
Telecom / cellular tower	Tower base position relative to roof	Towers can shade large roof areas if close
Stairwell hood / lift room	Both the structure and its base on your roof	Self-shading is the #1 reduction in design output
Parapet wall	Full perimeter, with height visible	Tall parapets shade module rows along the edge
Solar water heater	Existing installation and panel direction	Determines space conflict with PV layout

Free Suryaghar photo pre-check. Email your captured roof photograph to our team and we’ll run the 8-point check in 24 hours — free, no obligation. We catch about 92% of photo issues before the portal upload, saving you a 7–10 day rejection cycle. Get your free pre-check →

The third specification table covers the fix-by-issue mapping — once you know the exact rejection reason quoted by your DISCOM, the table tells you which action to take.

Rejection Reason Quoted by DISCOM	Action	Time to Fix
”Photo not clear / blurry”	Retake with native camera, focus on roof, daylight	30 minutes
”Roof boundary not visible”	Higher vantage point, step back, all 4 corners in frame	1 hour
”Shading details not assessable”	Retake with trees, tanks, towers in same frame	1 hour
”Tampered photo / watermark detected”	Delete stamp-app file; retake with native camera	30 minutes
”File format unsupported”	Convert HEIC/PNG → JPG via phone gallery or Squoosh	5 minutes
”File size exceeds limit”	Compress to 1–1.5 MB	5 minutes
”Photo metadata mismatch / GPS missing”	Retake on-site with location services on	1 hour
”Photo older than allowed window”	Retake — must be within last 30 days	30 minutes

The fourth comparison — smartphone vs drone capture — helps you decide whether a phone shot is enough or whether you should pay for a drone session. For most individual houses, the smartphone is fine. For high-rises and complex L-shaped roofs, a drone is worth the ₹500–1,500 cost.

Capture Method	Best For	Cost	EXIF Reliability	Coverage
Smartphone (native cam)	Individual houses, 1–2 storeys	Free	High (GPS auto-tagged)	Limited by reachable vantage
Smartphone + selfie stick	2–3 storey homes, courtyards	Free	High	Adds 2–3 m elevation reach
Drone (sub-250g, Nano)	High-rises, large/complex roofs	₹500–1,500/session	Medium (manual GPS check)	Full top-down view
DSLR with wide lens (not ultra-wide)	Commercial / large estates	₹2,000+ rental	Medium	Sharp detail, but bulky access

When You Need Multiple Photos or a Drone Shot

For most residential PM Suryaghar applications, a single well-captured smartphone photograph satisfies the DISCOM. But there are property types where one photo simply cannot show everything the verification engineer needs to see — and submitting one anyway guarantees a rejection or a field visit. Here’s how to decide whether you need multiple photos, a drone, or a professional site survey.

Single smartphone photo is enough when: the roof is rectangular or square, single-storey or two-storey, accessible from an adjacent building or upper terrace, and the surrounding shading sources fit in a 4:3 frame. This covers about 70% of residential applications in India — independent houses, small bungalows, ground-plus-one structures in tier-2 cities. The capture protocol in the section above handles these.

Two or more photos are needed when: the roof is L-shaped, U-shaped, or has multiple disconnected sections at different heights (a common pattern in joint family houses with extensions). In this case, capture one photo per rectangular section and label them clearly (section-a.jpg, section-b.jpg). The portal accepts multiple uploads under the “roof photo” field on most DISCOMs; if your DISCOM only accepts one, create a composite image showing both sections side-by-side with labels, exported as a single JPG.

A drone shot is needed when: the property is a high-rise (three storeys or more with no adjacent building of equal or greater height to shoot from), or the rooftop has a parapet so tall that a ground-or-window perspective hides the roof surface entirely. Drones also help for very large roof areas (1,500+ sq ft) where stitching multiple smartphone photos creates EXIF and parallax issues. Nano-category drones under 250 grams (DJI Mini series, Autel Nano series, HoverAir X1) are exempt from DGCA pilot certification for non-commercial use, making them accessible to homeowners and small installers. The drone must operate within visual line of sight, below 120 metres altitude, and outside red-zone airspace — most residential areas are in green zone. Capture at 5–8 metres above the roof, looking down at 45–60 degrees, with the same lighting and framing rules from the 8-point checklist.

For homeowners planning the system layout before applying, the solar panel direction guide explains how south-facing slopes affect both your photo composition and the eventual generation profile.

What to Do After Photo Rejection — Resubmission Process

Once you receive the rejection notification — usually via SMS from the PM Suryaghar portal and an email with the specific reason code — the resubmission flow takes 48–72 hours end-to-end if you act quickly. The application reference number (ARN) stays valid for 30 days after rejection; act within that window and you don’t restart from scratch.

Step 1 — Read the rejection reason precisely. Log into pmsuryaghar.gov.in with your registered mobile number and OTP. Navigate to “My Applications” → select your application → view the “Remarks” tab. The DISCOM engineer’s note will be a single line such as “Roof photo unclear; resubmit with all corners visible” or “Shading sources not in frame”. Match the note against the rejection patterns above. Do not assume — fix exactly what the engineer flagged. Fixing one issue but not the other guarantees a second rejection.

Step 2 — Recapture using the 8-point checklist. Schedule the recapture for a clear morning between 10 AM and 2 PM. Take three captures, pick the best, verify EXIF, compress if needed. If the original rejection was for one specific issue (e.g., file too large), and the rest of the photo was fine, you can simply compress the original and re-upload — but only if EXIF is still present and the original file is recent enough.

Step 3 — Upload via the same ARN. Back in the portal, your application page now has a “Resubmit” button next to the rejected document field. Click Resubmit → upload the new photo → enter a brief note (“Recaptured at 11 AM with all corners and shading visible”) → submit. The application returns to the DISCOM queue without losing place; some DISCOMs prioritise resubmissions and turn them around in 5–7 days.

Step 4 — Track and follow up. Save the resubmission confirmation. Track status daily via the portal dashboard. If 10 days pass without an update, raise an escalation ticket using the “Grievance” tab — quote your ARN and the resubmission date. The MNRE escalation cell responds within 7 working days.

Verdict. Roof photograph rejection is the most fixable rejection in the entire PM Suryaghar workflow. You don’t need new documents, you don’t need a fresh feasibility approval, you don’t lose your place in the DISCOM queue. You need 30 minutes of careful capture and a clean upload. The 8-point checklist is mechanical, the resubmission preserves your application reference number, and the ₹78,000 subsidy entitlement is fully intact. The biggest mistake is delay — every day you wait on resubmission is a day the queue grows around you. Capture the new photo within 48 hours of rejection and you’re back on the original timeline.

If the rejection note mentions other issues alongside the photo — Aadhaar mismatch, sanctioned load query, NOC missing — handle all of them in the same resubmission cycle. The DISCOM treats each resubmission as a fresh review, and unresolved secondary issues will cause a second rejection on the next round. For broader portal navigation help during resubmission, see our PM Suryaghar complete guide.

How Heaven Green Energy Helps with Roof Documentation

Heaven Green Energy is MNRE-empanelled across India and ranks among the top PM Suryaghar installers on the national portal. Our pre-submission team has reviewed thousands of roof photographs for residential applications, and we run every uploaded photo through the same 8-point compliance checklist before our applications go to the DISCOM. Our internal data shows we catch approximately 92% of photo issues at the pre-check stage — meaning the photo never gets uploaded with a problem.

What our team does for residential PM Suryaghar applications:

• Free photo pre-check — send us your roof photo via WhatsApp document (not image) or email, and we run the 8-point check in 24 hours.
• On-site capture — for customers within our service areas (Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra), our site survey team captures the roof photograph in person during the technical assessment visit, using DSLR or drone as needed.
• EXIF and file integrity verification — every photo is checked for GPS data, timestamp, format, size, and aspect ratio before upload.
• Direct portal coordination — we handle the portal upload from our verified installer account, with the customer in the loop on every step.
• Resubmission support — if your previous installer’s photo got rejected, we’ll re-shoot at our cost and re-upload through your existing ARN.

Beyond just the photograph, we handle the entire PM Suryaghar workflow — document collection, portal application, DISCOM feasibility coordination, ALMM (Approved List of Models and Manufacturers) panel selection, BIS-certified inverters, net meter inspection coordination, and subsidy DBT (Direct Benefit Transfer) tracking until the ₹78,000 lands in your bank.

Explore the services that match your project:

• Residential Solar — 1–10 kW rooftop systems with PM Suryaghar subsidy handled end-to-end including photo capture.
• Solar Calculator — see your exact subsidy and savings for your monthly bill in 60 seconds.
• Contact our team — book a free roof photo pre-check or full site survey for your home.

For the broader scheme overview before you start the application, the PM Suryaghar complete guide walks through every stage from registration to subsidy disbursement. Cross-reference solar irradiance for your location with the MNRE Solar Atlas before finalising system size.

Frequently Asked Questions

My PM Suryaghar roof photo was rejected — do I need to restart the application?

No. Roof photo rejection only requires you to re-upload a corrected photo against your existing application reference number (ARN). The ARN stays valid for 30 days after rejection, your Aadhaar verification stays intact, your DISCOM feasibility stays in queue, and your ₹78,000 subsidy entitlement is preserved. Log into the portal, navigate to your application, click “Resubmit” against the roof photo field, and upload a fresh JPG under 2 MB that meets the 8-point compliance checklist. Most resubmissions clear in 5–7 working days.

What is the best time of day to take a PM Suryaghar roof photograph?

Capture between 10 AM and 2 PM local time on a clear, low-cloud day. Overhead sun lights the roof surface evenly, casts short and well-defined shadows from surrounding objects (trees, tanks, towers), and gives the DISCOM engineer the clearest possible view to assess shading losses. Early morning shots have long east-side shadows that hide actual daytime shading patterns. Late afternoon shots produce long west-side shadows and dim overall lighting. The MNRE Solar Atlas confirms 11 AM–1 PM as the peak sun window across most of India.

Can I use a stamp camera app or GPS Map Camera for the PM Suryaghar roof photo?

No. Stamp camera apps and GPS Map Camera apps add a visible watermark with date, time, GPS, and a logo to every photo — and the PM Suryaghar portal’s verification engine flags any photo with overlay text as potentially edited. Use the native camera app on your phone (the default app that comes with Android or iPhone), keep location services enabled so the GPS coordinates embed automatically in the EXIF metadata, and do not add any text or stamp overlay. The DISCOM reads location from EXIF — no visible watermark is needed or wanted.

What file format and size does the PM Suryaghar portal accept for roof photos?

The portal accepts JPG or JPEG format only. PNG is inconsistently parsed and can appear blank in the DISCOM engineer’s dashboard. HEIC (iPhone default), WebP, and RAW are not accepted. File size must be between 200 KB and 2 MB — uploads above 2 MB are rejected at the portal stage, and uploads below 200 KB are typically too compressed for review. The recommended sweet spot is 800 KB to 1.8 MB at 8 MP resolution. iPhone users should switch to “Most Compatible” format in Settings → Camera → Formats to default to JPEG capture.

Do I need a drone shot for my PM Suryaghar application?

Only for high-rises or large, complex roofs. For independent houses, bungalows, and ground-plus-one structures, a smartphone photo taken from an adjacent terrace or upper window with a selfie stick is fully compliant. Drones become useful for buildings of three or more storeys with no adjacent vantage of equal height, or for L-shaped and U-shaped roofs above 1,500 sq ft where stitching multiple smartphone photos creates EXIF and parallax problems. Nano-category drones under 250 grams are exempt from DGCA pilot certification for non-commercial residential use.

Why does the DISCOM need to see trees and water tanks around my roof?

The DISCOM uses surrounding shading sources to estimate how much solar generation your proposed system will actually deliver. A 3 kW system on a roof with no shading produces around 4,500 kWh per year; the same system with a mango tree six metres south can lose 8–15% to morning and afternoon shading. The engineer mentally projects shadow lines from the visible objects in the photograph against the sun’s path. If shading sources are cropped out of the frame, the engineer cannot make this estimate and either rejects the photo or escalates to a physical field visit, which adds 15–20 days.

Will my roof photo be rejected if I send it via WhatsApp from my installer?

Often yes. WhatsApp strips EXIF metadata by default when photos are sent as images — the GPS coordinates, timestamp, and camera details are removed, and the file is heavily re-compressed to around 100 KB. The DISCOM verification engine then cannot confirm location or capture date, and rejects the photo as “metadata mismatch” or “photo unclear”. Always have your installer send the original file via email or upload to Google Drive / OneDrive, or send via WhatsApp as a “Document” attachment (not as a regular image) — this preserves the EXIF.

How long does the photo re-verification take after I resubmit?

Resubmission re-verification takes 5–10 working days for most DISCOMs in 2026, slightly faster than the original feasibility cycle because the rest of your documents are already approved and only the photo needs re-review. Some DISCOMs prioritise resubmissions to clear backlog quickly. If 10 working days pass without an update, raise a grievance ticket on the portal quoting your ARN and resubmission date — the MNRE escalation cell responds within 7 working days and escalates to your DISCOM. Total impact of a single photo rejection on your overall PM Suryaghar timeline is 7–10 days when fixed promptly.

Does my roof photo need to be geo-tagged with GPS coordinates?

Yes — the photo must carry GPS coordinates in its EXIF metadata that match the property address registered in your PM Suryaghar application. This is automatic when you use the native camera app with location services enabled — you do not need a stamp camera or any third-party GPS app. To verify the GPS data is present, long-press the photo in your phone gallery and open “Details” or “Info” — you should see latitude, longitude, and a recent timestamp. Photos taken indoors or with location services off will not carry GPS and will fail the DISCOM’s location match check.

Can someone else take the roof photo for me, or does it have to be the property owner?

Anyone can capture the photo — the installer, a family member, a hired photographer, or a drone operator. The DISCOM does not check who pressed the shutter. What matters is that the photo is taken at the correct property address (verifiable via EXIF GPS), within a recent date window (within the last 30 days), and meets the 8-point compliance checklist. If you hire your installer to capture the photo, just confirm they use the native camera app on a phone with location services on, and that they transfer the file to you via email or cloud drive — not WhatsApp — to preserve the EXIF metadata.