Solar for hotels, restaurants and banquet halls in Zirakpur

The hotels, restaurants and banquet halls along the highways through Zirakpur run large electricity bills: air conditioning for guests and halls, kitchen exhaust, cold rooms, lifts, laundry and lighting. They pay commercial rates with no free units, and most have flat roofs. Rooftop solar can cut those bills substantially, but how much depends on when the building uses its power, because larger connections are billed by the time of day. This guide explains the tariff, the timing and the sizing.

What hospitality businesses pay PSPCL in 2026-27

Hotels, motels, restaurants, guest houses and marriage palaces are billed on PSPCL’s non-residential (NRS) tariff:

Marriage palaces pay the fixed charge on only 25% of their sanctioned load or contract demand.

Time-of-day billing above 100 kVA

A connection with a contract demand above 100 kVA is billed on PSPCL’s time-of-day tariff:

This matters for solar because of how PSERC’s rules net the units. For a consumer on time-of-day billing, the units the panels make in a time block are first set against the units used in the same block. A surplus is then treated as if it was made in the next lower-priced block. So solar made during the day reduces daytime use at the normal rate, but it cannot be set against the expensive evening hours in the monsoon months. Banked units are used against lower-priced hours instead.

The practical result: solar pays best for the power a hotel or restaurant uses in daylight, and least for a hall that is busy mainly in the evenings.

Three kinds of business, three answers

• Restaurants and dhabas. Kitchens, exhaust fans, cold storage and dining-room air conditioning run through the day, so most solar units are used as they are made. A restaurant on a 20 kW connection using about 3,000 units a month, with a 12 kW system making about 1,440 units a month, takes out units charged at ₹7.10 and saves roughly ₹10,200 a month, or about ₹1.2 lakh a year. At ₹5.4 lakh to ₹7.2 lakh installed, it pays for itself in roughly 4.5 to 6 years.
• Hotels. Rooms, corridors, lifts, the kitchen and the laundry draw power through the day, with a further peak in the evening. A hotel with a contract demand above 100 kVA and a 50 kW system makes about 72,000 units a year. Used in daytime at the normal rate of ₹6.45, that saves roughly ₹4.6 lakh a year, and at ₹22.5 lakh to ₹30 lakh installed, it pays for itself in roughly 5 to 6.5 years.
• Banquet halls and marriage palaces. Use is concentrated on function days, often in the evening and in the wedding season, and the building can sit nearly idle in between. Solar still helps, through net metering and through daytime functions, but each kW saves less here than in a hotel. Size the system to the hall’s yearly use, because credit left at the end of PSPCL’s October to September settlement year is paid at 75% of PSERC’s feed-in tariff, about ₹2.23 a unit in 2026-27.

These examples use PSPCL’s 2026-27 rates, our estimate of about 1,440 units per kW a year, and a typical 2026 price of ₹45,000 to ₹60,000 per kW for a business system, and count energy charges only. Our calculator works it out for your bill:

Chandigarh and Panchkula

• Chandigarh (CPDL). JERC’s 2026-27 tariff bills hotels, restaurants, guest houses and marriage houses at ₹4.65, ₹4.75 and then ₹5.80 a kVAh for the first 100, the next 100 and the remaining units in a month.
• Panchkula (UHBVN). Non-domestic connections up to 50 kW pay ₹6.45 to ₹6.80 a kVAh, and supply above 50 kW at 11 kV is ₹6.95 a kVAh with a fixed charge of ₹290 a kVA.

Planning points

• Size. Since PSERC’s amendment of April 2026, the system can be as large as the sanctioned load or contract demand, up to 500 kW, but for most hospitality businesses the right size follows the daytime use, not the limit.
• Roof space. Hotel roofs also carry water tanks, lift rooms, kitchen exhaust and air-conditioning units. A raised frame can put panels above some of them; keep exhaust outlets clear, because grease and soot settle on panels.
• Panels. Business net-metering systems commissioned after 31 December 2026 need panels made with Indian cells. Our guide to DCR and non-DCR panels explains the rule.
• Generators. An on-grid system switches off in a power cut. If a diesel generator runs often, ask for a controller that lets solar run alongside it without feeding power back into the generator.

How we work with hotels and halls

We read twelve months of bills, including the time-of-day breakdown on larger connections, survey the roof and size the system to the daytime use. Our guides to solar for schools and coaching centres and shops and clinics show the same approach for other businesses, and our commercial solar page covers business systems in general.

Common questions

Which electricity tariff does a hotel pay in Punjab?

PSPCL's non-residential (NRS) tariff. In 2026-27 that is ₹6.25 a kVAh for a load from 20 kVA up to 100 kVA, and ₹6.45 above 100 kVA, where time-of-day billing also applies. Smaller connections pay ₹6.10 a unit up to 500 units a month and ₹7.10 above.

Does solar reduce the evening peak charge on a time-of-day bill?

No. Under PSERC's rules, solar units are first set against use in the same time block, and any surplus is treated as made in the next lower-priced block. So daytime solar cannot offset the ₹2.00 a kVAh evening surcharge from 16 June to 15 October.

Is rooftop solar worth it for a banquet hall?

It can be, but each kW saves less than in a hotel or restaurant, because halls are busy mainly on function days and in the evenings. Size the system to the hall's yearly use, since surplus left at the end of the settlement year earns only about ₹2.23 a unit.

How much does a 50 kW solar system cost for a hotel?

Roughly ₹22.5 lakh to ₹30 lakh in 2026, including GST, depending on the structure and the roof. Used mainly in daytime on PSPCL's tariff above 100 kVA, it saves roughly ₹4.6 lakh a year.