SEC small-scale solar (net billing) — the Saudi rooftop scheme

OPEN · official portal

Who is eligible?

What this scheme is. A regulated framework letting a Saudi consumer install rooftop solar, consume it on site, and be credited for the surplus at a fixed rate. SEC's own page cites the regulatory framework approved and amended by the Saudi Electricity Regulatory Authority under Administrative Decision No. 2/47/41 dated 29/04/1441H.

Who is eligible. SEC customers with their own consumption account, within the small-scale capacity band reported as 1 kW to 2 MW. A residential rooftop sits at the bottom of that range. Beyond capacity, the practical gate is the contractor: qualification runs through the Shamsi platform, which has its own tracker on this site.

What you get, and what makes it different. Net billing, not net metering. An exported unit earns a fixed credit — reported at 7 halalas for residential customers, 5 for non-residential — while the unit you buy back costs a reported 18 halalas up to 6,000 kWh a month and 30 above it, before the SAR 10 meter charge and 15% VAT. Self-consumption is therefore worth roughly three to five times export, and that ratio, not the panel price, is what decides a Saudi solar case.

What we could not verify, stated plainly. On 5 August 2026 none of the three authority domains resolved from our research network: se.com.sa, sera.gov.sa and shamsi.gov.sa all returned our local gateway rather than a real address, and wera.gov.sa returned NXDOMAIN. The application itself is a login-gated e-service in any case. So this tracker publishes the scheme's legal basis and economics — both of which are documented and cross-checkable — and refuses to publish a step-by-step walkthrough of a form nobody here has opened. Every tariff and credit figure on this page is labelled corroborated secondary for the same reason.

When one of those sources becomes reachable, the update log above is where the correction will appear, with its date.

How to apply, step by step

  1. ⚠️ READ THIS BEFORE THE STEPS BELOW. The SEC application is a login-gated e-service and we have not seen the form. On 5 August 2026, se.com.sa, sera.gov.sa and shamsi.gov.sa did not resolve at all from our research network. Everything below is the process as described by SEC's public pages and independent reporting — it is not a walkthrough of screens we have viewed, and we will not write one until we can.
  2. Establish which regulatory category you are in. The framework covers small-scale systems, reported as 1 kW to 2 MW; a household sits at the very bottom of that range and a commercial roof may not be small-scale at all.
  3. Choose a qualified contractor before you apply. Qualification is governed through the Shamsi platform (shamsi.gov.sa) — see the separate Shamsi tracker, including what we could and could not verify about it.
  4. Create an SEC digital account. The New Solar Request service is offered under SEC's e-services and requires a customer login; you cannot submit anonymously.
  5. Submit the solar request through SEC's portal against your own consumption account. Your contractor's fluency with this step is a practical signal worth weighing when you choose one.
  6. Expect a technical review, an approved-equipment requirement and a metering change before energisation. Confirm each with SEC or your contractor — we have not verified the sequence against a document.

Status updates

5 August 2026

🔴 SOURCE ACCESS FAILURE, RECORDED RATHER THAN PAPERED OVER. se.com.sa, sera.gov.sa and shamsi.gov.sa all failed to resolve from our network today (DNS returned the local gateway; wera.gov.sa returned NXDOMAIN). This tracker therefore carries no primary-verified process steps. Nothing here is invented to fill the gap.

5 August 2026

Legal basis unchanged from our 4 August research: SEC's own small-scale solar PV page cites the regulatory framework approved and amended by the Saudi Electricity Regulatory Authority under Administrative Decision No. 2/47/41 dated 29/04/1441H.

5 August 2026

Export credit still reported at 7 halalas/kWh residential and 5 halalas/kWh non-residential, consistently across independent sources and never confirmed by us against the regulator's own framework text. Published as corroborated secondary, and the calculators label it the same way.

5 August 2026

Tariff cross-check re-run and it still lands: the reported 18-halala residential slab plus the meter charge plus 15% VAT reconstructs GlobalPetrolPrices' all-in SAR 0.200/kWh for December 2025. Two independent routes to the same number is what corroboration looks like.

4 August 2026

Scheme confirmed to be net BILLING, not net metering: exports earn a fixed credit below the import tariff rather than offsetting imports one for one. This is the single fact that changes Saudi payback arithmetic against Gulf neighbours.

Frequently asked questions

Does Saudi Arabia have net metering for rooftop solar?

No — the scheme is net billing. Exported electricity is credited at a fixed rate that is lower than the import tariff, rather than offsetting imports one for one.

What is the export credit rate?

Multiple independent sources report 7 halalas per kWh for residential customers and 5 halalas for non-residential. These figures are consistently reported but we have not confirmed them against the regulator's own framework text, so treat them as corroborated rather than primary.

What is the legal basis for the scheme?

SEC's official small-scale solar PV page cites the regulatory framework approved and amended by the Saudi Electricity Regulatory Authority under Administrative Decision No. 2/47/41 dated 29/04/1441H.

How do I apply?

Through SEC's New Solar Request e-service, which is login-gated. We have not been able to open it: se.com.sa did not resolve from our network on 5 August 2026, so this tracker describes the process from SEC's public pages and independent reporting rather than from the form itself.

Is it worth it if exports only earn 7 halalas?

That depends almost entirely on how much of your own generation you consume on the spot. A self-used unit is worth a reported 18 halalas on the lower slab and 30 on the upper one, against 7 for an exported one — three to five times. Size for daytime load, not for the roof.

Why does the 6,000 kWh threshold keep coming up?

Because solar displaces your most expensive units first. Above 6,000 kWh a month you are offsetting 30-halala energy; once consumption drops below the threshold each further unit is worth only 18.

Sources