Rooftop solar for apartment societies in Vadodara.
Your Vadodara society's common connection runs the lifts, the sump-to-tank pumps and every staircase light, and MGVCL bills it to the association. A terrace plant on that connection cuts the units your maintenance fund pays for. We check the bill's name and category, size the plant on a year of common-area units, and prepare the papers MGVCL asks for.
Book a terrace survey for your society
Share the latest common-meter bill and how many flats and floors you have. An engineer calls the chairman or secretary and fixes a survey the committee can attend.
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The short answer
A Vadodara housing society can put a rooftop solar plant on its terrace and connect it to the common meter that MGVCL bills to the association. MGVCL expects that bill in the society's name and under the RGP category before it processes the file. Each kilowatt generates 4 to 4.5 units a day. Under MNRE's PM Surya Ghar operational guidelines (June 2024), a GHS or RWA plant serving common facilities only attracts ₹18,000 per kW of central support. That support covers up to 3 kW per house and 500 kW at most.
Last reviewed 2 October 2026 · Heaven Green Energy engineering team
Which loads a Vadodara society plant is built to carry
A society plant offsets one account: the common connection. Flats keep their own meters and their own bills. Before sizing anything, we list what hangs off that common account, because the mix of loads decides how much output gets used by day.
Walk through a typical Vadodara apartment block and you find two layers of supply. Every flat has an MGVCL meter in the owner's name. The association holds a separate connection for the parts nobody owns alone: lifts, pumps, the stair core, the compound and the gate. Monthly maintenance pays that bill, so a cut in its units reaches every owner at once.
The size of that account varies widely. A four-storey block without a lift may draw little beyond stair lights and one pump. A taller building with several lifts, fire and booster pumps, a clubhouse and basement fans can carry a common bill larger than any single flat's. The plant has to fit the account you actually have, so we read the bills before we read the roof.
Timing decides value. Panels produce from mid-morning to late afternoon, while a society uses much of its power after dark. Whatever the building cannot use at midday is exported to MGVCL and set against night draw under the GERC framework. A committee that moves pump runs into daylight keeps more of its own output on site.
Lifts
Lifts draw heavy current in short bursts, peaking when residents leave for work and come home in the evening. In a block with two or more cars per wing, lifts usually lead the common bill. The plant does not drive the lift directly; it lowers the account's net monthly units.
Sump and overhead-tank pumps
Most societies lift water from an underground sump to overhead tanks, often twice a day. That pump is the easiest load to move. A timer that runs it in late morning puts it inside solar hours, so more generation is consumed on site instead of exported for credit.
Stair, compound and street lighting
These lights run all night and never coincide with generation. Export credits earned at noon carry them. Replacing old tube lights and sodium fittings with LED before sizing shrinks the night load, and with it the size of plant the committee has to pay for.
Clubhouse, gym and EV charging
Newer societies add a clubhouse, gym air conditioning and shared EV chargers to the common account. PM Surya Ghar's guidelines name EV charging among the common facilities a GHS or RWA plant may serve. Tell us about chargers you plan to add, so the plant is sized once.
Reading the numbers in units, the way MGVCL bills them
Judge a society plant by the units it takes off the common account each month. The rupee value depends on the category and slabs printed on your own bill, so your treasurer converts it; this page does not guess a tariff.
Start with output. Each kilowatt on a clear Vadodara terrace averages 4 to 4.5 units a day. A 10 kW plant gives about 1,200 to 1,350 units a month. A 25 kW plant gives 100 to 112 units a day, roughly 36,500 to 41,000 units over a year. A 50 kW plant on a large campus doubles that to about 73,000 to 82,000 units. Set these beside twelve months of common-meter bills and you can see what share of the shared load the terrace carries.
The connection sets the ceiling. MGVCL tests the proposed capacity against the sanctioned load of the common connection and the transformer that feeds it. A society whose bill has grown since handover, with more lifts or new chargers, may need a load revision first. Daytime match matters as well: units used on site avoid the full billed rate, while exported units are settled under the GERC framework.
Tax and GST. GST is charged at 5% on the equipment and 18% on the service portion, taken as 30% of a supply-and-install contract. That blends to about 8.9%, and these rates have applied since 22 Sep 2025. A housing society usually cannot claim that back, so budget the GST-inclusive price. The 40% accelerated depreciation under Appendix I of the Income Tax Rules suits taxpaying businesses. For a society with little taxable income it rarely helps, and the society's auditor should confirm either way.
| Plant size | Units a year |
|---|---|
| 25 kW | 36,500 – 41,063 |
| 50 kW | 73,000 – 82,125 |
| 100 kW | 1,46,000 – 1,64,250 |
| 250 kW | 3,65,000 – 4,10,625 |
| 500 kW | 7,30,000 – 8,21,250 |
Indicative installed cost at 25 kW: ₹10.75–13.50 lakh (market range, not a quotation). Larger plants are priced after a load study of your bills and roof.
This is what we actually build.
Heaven Green Energy installations across India. Not stock photography, and not renders.
Terrace, structure and wiring on a Vadodara society building
Societies share the terrace with tanks, lift rooms and residents who use it. The survey settles what area is usable, how modules are held down, and how the plant reaches the common meter without disturbing the building.
Shadow-free terrace area
We map shadows from overhead tanks, lift machine rooms, staircase heads and the parapet across the seasons, since a low winter sun lengthens every one of them. What remains is the usable area. Where tanks crowd the roof, an elevated structure lifts modules clear and leaves the terrace walkable underneath for cleaning and residents.
Holding down and waterproofing
Vadodara's long dry season bakes the terrace slab, and the monsoon then tests every joint at once. We prefer ballasted or chemically anchored bases that avoid drilling through the waterproofing, and we seal any penetration we cannot avoid. Fire exits, the terrace door and access to the tanks stay clear for cleaning and emergencies.
Cable route, meter room and MGVCL checks
Cables descend a shaft to the common-meter room, often several floors down. We size conductors for that distance and fit surge protection, earthing and an isolator MGVCL can inspect. If the meter room sits in a basement or a low-lying pocket that floods in heavy monsoons, the inverter and switchgear go above likely water.
Approvals: who does what.
MGVCL processes a common-meter application only when the society's own papers are in order. We prepare both sets, but the resolution and the bill's name and category come first.
Bill name, category and society papers
MGVCL's common-meter checklist asks for the latest bill in the society or RWA name and the common meter under the RGP category. It also asks for the association's memorandum (bandharan) and a resolution (tharav) approving the plant. We tell you early if a change of name or category is needed.
UsAuthority for the chairman
The association authorises its chairman (pramukh) to sign the agreement and other documents, through a notarised authority letter on stamp paper as the checklist specifies, along with the chairman's Aadhaar. We draft the letter for the other office-bearers to sign.
UsApplication, feasibility and installation
We file in the society's name. MGVCL checks capacity against the common connection's sanctioned load and the local transformer. We install only after feasibility is released, then MGVCL inspects earthing, protection and isolation on the terrace and in the meter room.
Us, then MGVCLBidirectional meter
MGVCL replaces the common meter with a bidirectional one and records commissioning. Export credits on the society account run from that date. Any PM Surya Ghar claim for the society then proceeds on the national portal against the commissioned plant.
MGVCLThree ways to fund the plant.
A society needs a funding route the general body can approve and the minutes can record. Three routes cover most committees, and which ones are open to you depends on your bylaws.
Central support under PM Surya Ghar
MNRE's PM Surya Ghar operational guidelines (June 2024) pay a Group Housing Society or RWA ₹18,000 per kW for a plant serving common facilities, EV charging included. Supported capacity stops at 3 kW per house and never exceeds 500 kW, and it includes plants that flats have already installed. The claim belongs to the association that maintains the common areas, the connection must not supply any flat, and every module must be DCR.
Repair fund or per-flat contribution
Many associations pay from the repair or sinking fund; others split the cost across flats, equally or by area, as the bylaws direct. Either route needs a recorded resolution. Show owners the units the plant removes from the common bill, since that is the figure they will check afterwards.
Loan or instalments
Where funds are thin, the plant can be financed and repaid from maintenance collections. We introduce our finance partner and supply the quotation, layout and Bill of Materials a lender asks for. The committee should weigh repayments against the expected fall in common-meter units before anyone signs.
How the project runs.
Five stages take a Vadodara society from the first call to export credits on its MGVCL common account.
Where we work from
Heaven Green Energy's only office is at Mota Varachha, Surat. There is no branch in Vadodara. Our channel partner network and field engineering team cover the city and the wider Central Gujarat region, running terrace surveys, supervising installation and attending MGVCL inspections. We tell committees this at the first meeting, before anything is signed.
Terrace and meter survey · Day 1 to 3
An engineer walks the terrace, logs tanks and shadows, photographs the common meter, notes its sanctioned load and category, and collects a year of common-account bills.
Proposal for the committee · Day 4 to 7
You receive a written layout, plant size, Bill of Materials, yearly unit estimate and price, with a short note the secretary can forward to every flat owner.
Papers and resolution · Set by the society
The committee passes the tharav, signs the chairman's authority letter and fixes funding. If the bill needs a name or category change, that goes to MGVCL first.
MGVCL filing and installation · After feasibility
We file, wait for feasibility, then install over several working days, planned around lift use, water timings and residents who use the terrace.
Inspection, meter and handover · Set by MGVCL
MGVCL inspects and fits the bidirectional meter. Monitoring access, warranties and the cleaning schedule are handed to the committee, not to one resident.
What businesses say after a year.
These are residential Heaven Green Energy customers, each shown with the city their system went into. None is presented as a Vadodara society plant, because we have not relabelled anyone to suit this page.
Got the full ₹78,000 PM Suryaghar subsidy credited within 30 days of commissioning. Not one extra trip needed, they did all the follow-up.
Residential · Vadodara · 6 kW
From first call to generation start: 28 days. On-site engineer answered every question. Post-installation monitoring app is excellent.
Residential · Ahmedabad · 3 kW
Zero advance, just like they promised. EMI through their finance partner, installation done before the first payment was due. Bills practically gone.
Residential · Mehsana · 5 kW
Six things to check with any vendor.
- The plant connects to the society's common meter, which MGVCL bills to the association, never to an individual flat's meter.
- MGVCL's common-meter checklist wants the bill in the society or RWA name and under the RGP category; correct either first if it is wrong.
- Keep the bandharan, a tharav for the plant, the chairman's notarised authority letter and the chairman's Aadhaar ready before filing.
- Each kilowatt yields 4 to 4.5 units a day in Vadodara; a 25 kW plant makes about 36,500 to 41,000 units a year.
- PM Surya Ghar pays a GHS or RWA ₹18,000 per kW for common facilities only, counts plants flats already have within its cap, and needs DCR modules.
- Move pump runs into daylight and switch common lights to LED before sizing, so less output is exported and more is used on site.
Housing society solar in Vadodara, answered.
Cost & output
What does a solar plant for a Vadodara housing society cost?
How many units will the plant take off our common bill?
Will the solar plant keep our lifts running in a power cut?
Licensee & approvals
Is our society served by MGVCL or Torrent Power?
What does MGVCL need before it accepts a society's application?
Can flat owners still claim PM Surya Ghar for their own meters?
Roof & engineering
How much terrace does a society plant need?
Do the mounting bases need holes in our terrace?
Where should the inverter go in our building?
Finance & tax
Does GST apply when a society buys a solar plant?
Can the society claim accelerated depreciation?
About Heaven Green