Bangladesh revises net metering rules to expand solar

<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Bangladesh has updated its net metering framework for solar. The new rules aim to expand access and raise self-consumption among prosumers.</span></p><p>The government of Bangladesh has approved new net metering guidelines for 2025 to support rooftop solar and allow every power user to become a power producer.</p>
<p>“This progressive policy makes rooftop solar easier, smarter, and more rewarding for households and businesses,” the Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (SREDA) said in a notification.</p>
<p>Under the new guidelines, 100% of the sanctioned load is now allowed for net-metered rooftop solar, compared with 70% in the past. The sanctioned load is the maximum amount of power that an electricity provider authorizes a consumer to use at any given time. The new provisions encourage PV system owners to increase self-consumption levels.</p>
<p>The guidelines also allow single-phase consumers to produce power under net metering. Under the previous rules, only three-phase consumers were eligible.</p>
<p>Producers under net metering will receive direct payment in Bangladeshi taka into their bank or mobile banking accounts for electricity supplied to the grid.</p>
<p>The new framework also introduces an online application system for net metering and authorizes consumers with prepaid or smart meters to participate in the scheme. In the past, this was limited to consumers with postpaid meters.</p>
<p>Mostafa Al Mahmud, president of the Bangladesh Sustainable and Renewable Energy Association (BSREA), welcomed the guidelines and said they will help boost deployment of net-metered rooftop solar.</p>
<p>“Both the producers and the developers will benefit from the new policy,” he said, noting that the decision to allow single-phase power users into the net-metering system is a “very time-befitting decision.”</p>