Comparison · 9 min read
On-grid, off-grid or hybrid: three different promises.
Bill savings, blackout behaviour, battery cost, subsidy eligibility and payback compared across the three rooftop solar architectures — no brands, just system design.
Rooftop solar is sold as one product but is really three architectures with three different jobs: cut the bill, survive without a grid, or do both.
Pick the architecture from how you answer one question — what should happen at 8pm during a power cut?
We compare technologies, not consumer brands. Within each technology the honest differences between reputable manufacturers are far smaller than the difference between the right and wrong technology for your usage.
At a glance
| Attribute | On-grid | Off-grid | Hybrid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Battery required | No | Yes, sized for autonomy | Yes, sized for essentials |
| Works during a power cut | No — shuts down for safety | Yes | Yes, on the backed-up circuit |
| Net metering / export credit | Yes | Not applicable | Yes, on most utilities |
| Typical payback | 3–5 years | 6–9 years | 5–7 years |
| Upfront cost per kW | Lowest | Highest | Middle |
| Maintenance | Panel cleaning, annual inspection | Panels plus battery care | Panels plus battery care |
| Subsidy eligibility | Commonly eligible for residential schemes | Usually not | Varies by scheme and utility |
| Best fit | Reliable grid, high monthly bill | No grid or extremely unreliable grid | Frequent cuts plus a high bill |
Strengths, trade-offs and price
On-grid
₹55,000 – ₹2,20,000 per system
Typically 1 kW to 5 kW residential, before subsidy.
- Best rupees saved per rupee spent
- No battery to buy, maintain or replace
- Export credit turns the meter backwards on sunny days
- Simplest system, fewest failure points
- Goes dark during a power cut — by regulation, not by fault
- Savings depend on the utility's net-metering policy
- No resilience benefit whatsoever
Best for: Households with a reliable grid whose primary goal is a lower monthly bill.
Off-grid
₹1,20,000 – ₹3,30,000 per system
Cost is driven mostly by the battery bank, not the panels.
- Complete independence from the utility
- Works where a grid connection is absent or unusable
- Full-house autonomy when sized correctly
- Battery bank dominates cost and replacement cycle
- Must be designed for the worst cloudy week, not the average day
- Usually excluded from grid-linked subsidy schemes
Best for: Farms, remote sites, and locations where extending the grid is not realistic.
Hybrid
₹1,10,000 – ₹3,00,000 per system
Battery sized for essential loads, not the whole house.
- Bill savings on sunny days plus backup at night
- Battery sized for essentials keeps cost sensible
- Can prioritise self-consumption over export
- Future-proof — battery capacity can usually be extended
- More complex commissioning and settings
- Battery still needs replacing eventually
- Payback sits behind a pure on-grid system
Best for: Homes with both a meaningful electricity bill and frequent outages — the most common Indian case.
Decide with numbers
Size it before you choose it.
Enter your actual appliances and outage pattern — the calculator sizes the system before anyone quotes you a number.
Our engineering verdict
If your grid is stable, on-grid pays back fastest and every rupee spent on a battery slows that payback.
If your grid fails often, hybrid is almost always the right shape: solar carries the daytime load, a modest battery carries the essentials at night, and you keep export credit for the surplus.
Off-grid is an engineering answer to a connectivity problem, not a savings strategy. Choose it when there is no viable grid, not to make a point.
Questions we get asked
Why does on-grid solar stop working during a power cut?
Grid-tied inverters must disconnect when the grid is down so they cannot feed voltage back into lines that linemen may be working on. It is a safety requirement, not a defect.
How much roof area do I need?
Roughly 80–100 sq ft of shade-free roof per kW for standard panels. Sizing starts from your monthly units consumed, then checks whether the roof can hold it.
Can I add a battery to an existing on-grid system later?
Often yes, either by replacing the inverter with a hybrid unit or adding an AC-coupled storage unit. It costs more than doing it once, which is why the architecture decision matters up front.