Net Metering Calculator UAE — What a Shams Dubai System Is Worth Per Month

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia both pay less for an exported unit than they charge for an imported one, which is why self-consumption is the whole game there. Dubai does not. DEWA credits surplus against future consumption, so a self-used unit and an exported unit are worth the same — and this calculator shows both halves rather than pretending one is better.

What that changes is the advice. In a net-billing market the lever is using more of your own solar; under Shams Dubai the lever is not building more than you will ever consume, because "the producer shall not be paid any money for the excess electricity" and the set-off is limited by Executive Council Resolution 46 of 2014.

Every field below is editable, and every default carries its source and date on the field itself — the defaults are a starting point, not a claim about your bill. We sell no hardware and take no installer commission; see how we verify.

5 fields on this page ship blank, on purpose

No source we can cite publishes these figures for UAE, so the fields start empty rather than pre-filled with something plausible. The calculator prints no result until you supply your own.

  • Units per month per installed kW — No UAE authority publishes a per-kW monthly yield. DEWA publishes irradiation, not output — "about 2100 kWh/m2 for Dubai" a year at the optimal south-facing 24° tilt — and its own FAQ tells you to ask your provider "how much your new system will produce on an annual basis". Put that contractor figure in here, divided by 12 and by the system kW. Everything below stays blank until you do.
  • Installed cost per kW — low (AED) — UAE rooftop solar is sold by quotation. The only figure DEWA publishes is dated by DEWA itself — "(Q2 2021) typical system costs are in the 4,500-5,000 D/kWp range for small ‘villa-size’ systems" — and a five-year-old band is not a 2026 default. Type the per-kW figure from your own quote.
  • Installed cost per kW — high (AED) — Same reason as the low figure: quote-only market, no current published band.
  • Price of one panel (AED) — No verified public AED price exists for a Tier-1 550W-plus module — that segment is sold by distributors who publish nothing. Consumer retail publishes smaller panels; check /ae/prices/solar-panels for the dated rows we do have and type the price from your own quote.
  • Usable kWh per panel per day — Follows from the yield figure above, which no UAE authority publishes. Ask your DEWA-enrolled contractor for the annual production estimate on the exact panel you are quoted, and divide by 365.

No result yet — generation per kW, your tariff or the export credit has no published figure for this market, so there is nothing to calculate from until you type your own. That is deliberate: a number we invented would look exactly like a number we verified.

How this calculator works — the actual arithmetic

  1. Generation = system kW × the units per kW per month you supply. There is no UAE default; see the sizing calculator for why.
  2. It splits generation into the share you consume on the spot and the share you export, at the percentage you set.
  3. Self-used units are valued at your import tariff; exported units at the export credit — which under Shams Dubai is the same rate, because the surplus is credited against future consumption.
  4. Where the two rates are equal, the page says chasing self-consumption changes nothing and names the real lever: not over-sizing past what you will ever consume.

Why there is no worked example on this page

No worked example: this calculator needs generation per installed kW, and no UAE authority publishes one — see the sizing calculator for the full explanation and DEWA’s own instruction to get the figure from your provider. The tariff half is published and is filled in for you.

The structural answer does not need the missing number, though. At a 1:1 credit, the monthly value of a system is simply its generation multiplied by your slab rate, whatever share of it you happen to consume on the spot.

Sources for this market’s defaults

What this calculator does not know

  • It assumes every exported unit eventually gets used as a credit. Resolution 46 limits the set-off; credits you cannot spend are worth nothing and this sum does not model that ceiling.
  • Slab rates are progressive. Solar shaves your top slab first, so the true value of the first units displaced is higher than a single flat rate suggests.
  • It is a Dubai model. Other emirates have their own utilities and their own rules — parts of Sharjah are served by EtihadWE rather than SEWA — so confirm the authority for your address.

Frequently asked

Does Dubai have net metering or net billing?

Net metering. DEWA’s Shams Dubai FAQ describes surplus energy as exported "through a Net Metering scheme" and states it "will be credited and used to off-set future consumption of electricity" — a kWh-for-kWh credit rather than a lower buy-back rate.

Does DEWA pay cash for exported solar?

No. The resolution behind Shams Dubai stipulates that the producer shall not be paid any money for the excess electricity, and the set-off between surplus and imported energy is itself limited under Executive Council Resolution 46 of 2014.

Should I oversize my system in Dubai to bank credits?

No. Credits offset future consumption, so a system far larger than your own annual usage banks credit you may never spend, and the set-off is limited by the resolution. Size for what you will actually consume.

Are there incentives or tax breaks for solar in Dubai?

DEWA’s own FAQ answers this directly: "No tax or other incentives are currently being offered." The financial case is the electricity you no longer buy.

Guides that explain the numbers

Shams Dubai net metering, explained

How DEWA credits a surplus unit — and why it never pays cash for one.

The DEWA solar connection process

Three stages, six steps, and the enrolled-contractor requirement.

What a solar system costs in the UAE

Verified AED component prices, and the installed total nobody publishes.

Products this applies to

UAE panel prices (dated survey)

Every AED row we have, with the date it was observed.

UAE battery prices (dated survey)Inverters sold in the UAE

Run these next

Solar battery payback calculator

What a battery saves under Shams Dubai — and why, at a 1:1 export credit, the honest answer is nothing.

Solar system size calculator

Turn your DEWA units into a kW figure and a battery size. The generation field is yours to fill — DEWA publishes irradiation, not output.

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