Net Billing Calculator Saudi Arabia — What Your Solar Is Worth a Month
Saudi Arabia’s small-scale solar scheme is net billing, not net metering: exported electricity is credited at a fixed rate that is lower than the import tariff rather than offsetting imports one-for-one. That single fact is what makes self-consumption worth roughly three to five times export here.
The calculator splits your generation into the share you use on the spot and the share you send back, and values each at its own rate. The generation field is blank — no Saudi yield source we could reach is citable — so put in your installer’s estimate and the split appears.
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.
7 fields on this page ship blank, on purpose
No source we can cite publishes these figures for Saudi Arabia, 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 Saudi irradiance or yield source we could reach publishes a figure we are willing to print, so this ships empty rather than guessed — the same call the Saudi payback guide made when it published break-even in kilowatt-hours instead of years. Ask your installer for the annual production estimate and divide by 12 and by the system kW.
- Installed cost per kW — low (SAR) — Installed rooftop pricing in Saudi Arabia is quote-only: verified checks of the major suppliers found no published prices at all. Type the per-kW figure from your own written quote.
- Installed cost per kW — high (SAR) — Same reason as the low figure: no Saudi supplier we verified publishes an installed price.
- Battery cost (SAR per kWh) — Our Saudi index prices gel batteries by amp-hour and portable power stations by unit, not fixed home storage by kWh — see /sa/prices/batteries for the dated rows. Deriving a SAR/kWh for home lithium from those would be arithmetic on the wrong product, so this stays blank.
- Battery modules added to a new system (SAR per kWh) — Same reason as the battery cost above — no Saudi source we verified prices fixed home storage by kWh.
- Price of one panel (SAR) — Saudi panel listings quote a per-watt rate that is only comparable within a module class — our own index has a legacy 270W poly at SAR 0.93/W sitting UNDER current 630–660W modules at 1.19–1.44 SAR/W. A single default would flatten exactly the distinction that matters. See /sa/prices/solar-panels and type the price you were quoted.
- Usable kWh per panel per day — Follows from the yield figure above, which we could not source for Saudi Arabia. Use your installer’s estimate.
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
- Generation = system kW × the units per kW per month you supply. There is no Saudi default; see the sizing calculator for why.
- It splits generation into the share you consume on the spot and the share you export, at the percentage you set.
- Self-used units are valued at your import tariff (a reported 18 halalas on the lower slab); exported units at the export credit (a reported 7 halalas residential).
- The difference between those two is what each extra point of self-consumption is worth — the number the whole Saudi solar case turns on.
Why there is no worked example on this page
No worked example, because the generation input has no publishable Saudi default. The rate side is filled in: 18 halalas import on the lower slab, a reported 7 halalas export.
The gap between those two — 11 halalas on the lower slab, 23 on the upper — is what every extra percentage point of self-consumption is worth. Our payback guide takes the same figures and publishes break-even at roughly 36,700 kWh at full self-consumption against about 181,000 kWh at full export.
Sources for this market’s defaults
- SERA (Saudi Electricity Regulatory Authority) — consumption tariff categories. The page exists; it was NOT reachable from our research session, which is why the Saudi tariff is labelled corroborated rather than primary. accessed 2026-08-05
- GlobalPetrolPrices — Saudi household electricity SAR 0.200/kWh all-in (December 2025), the cross-check that reconstructs from 18 halalas + meter fee + 15% VAT accessed 2026-08-05
- pv magazine — Saudi rooftop PV provisions: net billing, 7 halalas/kWh residential and 5 halalas/kWh non-residential export credit accessed 2026-08-05
- Aramco — retail fuels, Saudi Arabia pump prices (Gasoline 91 SAR 2.18/litre under the cap). Not reachable at time of writing; corroborated across independent trackers. accessed 2026-08-05
What this calculator does not know
- Export credit figures are corroborated secondary, not primary. They move the answer a lot, so verify before committing.
- The slab you sit in decides the import rate, and solar changes which slab you sit in — a single flat tariff is a simplification.
- 15% VAT and the SAR 10 meter charge are on the bill but not in this sum.
Frequently asked
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.
How much is self-consumption worth against export in Saudi Arabia?
At the reported rates, a self-used unit is worth 18 halalas on the lower slab or 30 on the upper one, against a reported 7 halalas for an exported unit — roughly three to five times. That is why sizing for daytime load beats sizing for the roof.
What is the legal basis for the Saudi small-scale solar scheme?
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.
Guides that explain the numbers
What a displaced kilowatt-hour is really worth once VAT is counted.
SEC net billing and the solar applicationWhy net billing, not net metering, and what that does to payback.
Rooftop solar payback in Saudi ArabiaBreak-even published in kilowatt-hours, because years needs a generation figure nobody publishes.
Products this applies to
Real SAR rows, with the module class attached — per-watt rates only compare within one.
Saudi battery prices (dated survey)Saudi inverter prices (dated survey)