Renters & leased homes
PM Surya Ghar is built around a domestic consumer account and roof rights. Most tenants cannot claim the full residential CFA path alone. Here is the honest playbook — NOC, negotiation, and alternatives — before you chase a vendor quote.
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Permanent grid-tied rooftop solar on a rented house almost always needs written landlord / owner consent (NOC), and the portal application usually follows the electricity meter holder. If the bill is in the landlord’s name, they are typically the applicant of record — and CFA DBT lands in their bank unless you structure a private agreement.
Eligibility overview: who can apply. Scheme amounts: PM Surya Ghar.
Without that letter, tenants risk paying for a plant that stays with the property.
Some DISCOMs accept applications when the domestic connection is already in the tenant’s name and the owner issues a clear NOC for roof install and metering changes. This is the exception path, not the default. Confirm with your DISCOM helpdesk before you pay a booking amount.
Even owner-occupiers need RWA paperwork on shared roofs. Tenants in flats face a double gate: landlord + society. See apartment solar and society NOC.
Before negotiating anything, answer one question: how long do you realistically expect to stay? A grid-tied rooftop plant is a fixture with a payback measured in years, and a tenant's tenure is usually measured in months. If those two numbers do not overlap, no amount of goodwill from the landlord makes the arrangement work in your favour.
The rough test is straightforward. If you expect to remain well beyond the payback period — say seven years or more on a plant that pays back in five — contributing to the cost can be rational, provided the paperwork protects you. If your remaining tenure is shorter than the payback, you would be funding an improvement to someone else's property and leaving before it repays you. In that case the correct position is simple: encourage the owner to fund it entirely, and negotiate on rent or bill sharing instead of capital.
Note that this cuts both ways. A landlord who pays for the plant is improving an asset they keep, which is a reasonable proposition for them. Tenants often assume they must contribute to get the benefit, and that assumption is usually wrong.
If you do proceed, the written agreement between you and the owner is the whole protection. Verbal understandings collapse the moment either party's circumstances change. Six points need to be explicit.
Who pays what. The gross cost, the assistance expected, and the net amount, with each party's contribution stated in rupees rather than percentages.
Who keeps the assistance. It is credited to the bank account of the successful applicant, which is normally the meter holder. If you contributed capital and the owner receives the credit, the agreement must say how that is passed on to you — as a rent reduction, a direct transfer, or an offset against your contribution.
What happens to your rent. If the plant lowers your electricity bill and you did not pay for it, expect the owner to want some of that value. Agree the number in advance, and put an end date on it, otherwise a rent increase justified by solar outlives the savings.
What happens if you leave early. The plant stays; that much is settled by physics. The question is whether any part of your contribution is refunded, on what schedule, and whether it reduces on a sliding scale by year.
Who handles maintenance and warranty claims. Panels need cleaning, inverters occasionally fail, and warranty documents are usually in the applicant's name. Decide who arranges the work and who pays for it, particularly for the inverter, which is the component most likely to need replacing within the plant's life.
Who is responsible if the process stalls. Applications sit in queues, meters take time to change, and society approvals are unpredictable. If you have already paid something and the process fails, the agreement should say what happens to that money.
One detail drives almost every outcome in a rented house: the name on the electricity connection. The application follows the consumer account, the assistance follows the application, and the credit follows the bank account attached to it. That chain has no room for informal arrangements.
So establish early whether the domestic connection is in the owner's name or yours. If it is the owner's, they are the applicant of record and the credit lands with them — you are negotiating for a share of the benefit, not applying for anything. If it is already in your name, you have a stronger position, but you still need clear written consent for the roof installation and the metering change, and you should confirm with the distribution company's helpdesk that they accept applications on this basis before paying any booking amount. Do not transfer the connection into your own name purely to access the scheme without the owner's written agreement, since the connection is tied to the property and doing so unilaterally invites a dispute you will not win.
Portable balcony / plug-in kits can cut a slice of daytime load without net metering — but they are not the PM Surya Ghar CFA product and rarely wipe a ₹3,000 slab bill. Treat them as temporary, not a substitute for a commissioned rooftop plant.
If the landlord is open to applying, the decision is still financial: units, shade, and net cost after CFA. Use the free home check with the house bill (not your rent amount) so both of you see the same numbers.
How to apply · Solar loans · Costs & savings · Areas.
Usually no. The application is tied to the electricity consumer account and documented roof rights. Most renters need the landlord or property owner involved, plus written NOC. Confirm live rules on pmsuryaghar.gov.in.
CFA is credited via DBT to the bank account linked to the successful portal applicant — typically the meter holder named on the application. Tenants should negotiate rent credit or cost sharing in writing before installation.
Only if the remaining tenure comfortably exceeds the payback period, and only with written protection. If you expect to leave before the plant repays itself, you would be funding an improvement to someone else's property. In that case encourage the owner to fund it entirely and negotiate on rent or bill sharing instead of capital, since the owner is improving an asset they keep.
Six points should be explicit: who pays what in rupees, who keeps the subsidy and how it is passed on, whether rent changes and for how long, what happens to any tenant contribution on early exit, who arranges and pays for maintenance and warranty claims including inverter replacement, and what happens to money already paid if the application stalls.
It matters more than anything else. The application follows the consumer account, the subsidy follows the application, and the credit follows the bank account attached to it. If the connection is in the owner's name they are the applicant of record. Do not transfer the connection into your own name purely to access the scheme without the owner's written agreement, since the connection is tied to the property.
