Net Metering by Country: Where It Still Exists in 2026

If you installed solar five years ago, the deal was simple almost everywhere: every unit you exported cancelled out a unit you imported, at the same price. That arrangement - true net metering - is quietly disappearing.

In its place, regulators are rolling out net billing, where the electricity you buy and the electricity you sell are priced separately, and the sell price is much lower. This guide covers where each model stands in 2026, and what it means for the numbers on your bill.

A note on rates. Export rates change constantly and often differ by utility, state or province. Treat every figure here as a starting point and confirm the current number with your own utility or regulator before making a purchase decision.

The one distinction that matters

Almost every argument about solar billing comes down to a single question: is your exported unit worth the same as an imported unit?

• Net metering - yes. Exports offset imports 1:1 at the retail rate.
• Net billing - no. You buy at retail and sell at a lower, separately set rate.
• Gross metering - all your generation is sold to the utility at a fixed rate, and you buy everything you consume at retail. Nothing is offset.
• Feed-in tariff (FiT) - you are paid a set per-kWh rate for exports. Mechanically close to net billing, but usually framed as an incentive rather than a settlement rule.

We break these down properly in net metering vs net billing vs gross metering.

Asia

Pakistan - moved to net billing in February 2026

The biggest change of the year. NEPRA's Prosumer Regulations, notified in February 2026, repealed the decade-old net-metering framework and moved new solar owners onto net billing. Existing agreements were grandfathered at the old rate until their seven-year terms expire.

This is a genuinely large shift in payback maths, and we cover it in detail in Pakistan's move from net metering to net billing.

India - net metering, administered state by state

India still runs net metering, but the rules belong to state DISCOMs rather than the centre, so capacity caps, credit expiry and the threshold at which you are pushed onto gross metering all vary. The PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana subsidy scheme has made rooftop approval volumes jump, and net metering is a prerequisite for it. Credits typically carry forward for up to 12 months.

See net metering in India and PM Surya Ghar.

Sri Lanka - three schemes, and you pick one

Sri Lanka is unusual and worth studying: prosumers choose between Net Metering (banked units, no cash), Net Accounting (paid for surplus) and Net Plus (two meters; the utility buys everything you generate). A one-time migration between schemes is permitted.

See Sri Lanka's net metering, net accounting and net plus.

Philippines - net metering, but credited at generation rate only

Net metering is a legal right under the Renewable Energy Act (RA 9513), but exports are credited at the blended generation rate - only the generation slice of your tariff, not transmission or distribution. A 2026 DOE circular tightened approval timelines significantly and raised the non-residential capacity cap.

See net metering in the Philippines.

Bangladesh, Nepal and the wider region

Bangladesh operates a net-metering scheme that has accumulated a few thousand rooftop systems and tens of megawatts of capacity. Nepal permits grid-connected rooftop solar with utility-administered rules. In both cases the framework exists but the administrative process, not the tariff, is usually the binding constraint.

Japan - FIT/FIP, not net metering

Japan compensates exports through feed-in tariff and feed-in premium schemes rather than netting. Self-consumption has become the dominant economic case as tariff rates decline.

The Middle East

UAE - net metering, emirate by emirate

Dubai's Shams Dubai programme is the region's best-known net-metering scheme: DEWA-certified contractor, design approval, bidirectional smart meter, and credits carried on your account. Abu Dhabi introduced a self-supply policy in 2026 that for the first time allows behind-the-meter solar plus storage for businesses.

One detail that catches people out: in the northern emirates, credits can be forfeited at the end of the calendar year rather than rolled forward indefinitely. Always check the expiry rule, not just the rate.

Saudi Arabia

Small-scale solar net metering operates under SEC/SERA rules, with licensing requirements for contractors. Capacity is tied to your connection.

Europe

Europe is the clearest example of the global direction of travel.

Netherlands - net metering ends 1 January 2027

The Dutch salderingsregeling has been perhaps the most generous 1:1 netting scheme in the world, and it is being abolished outright at the start of 2027. After that, suppliers set the compensation, with a legal floor - reported as at least 50% of the base supply rate. Export value that was once in the low twenties of eurocents per kWh is expected to fall to a small fraction of that.

Cyprus and Belgium

Cyprus is replacing net metering and net billing with a market-based self-consumption model from January 2026. In Belgium, the Flanders region ended net metering in 2025.

The UK - never had net metering at all

This surprises people. The UK has no netting scheme. Exports are paid through the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG), where each licensed supplier sets its own rate and you need a half-hourly smart meter to qualify. Rates vary enormously between suppliers, which means shopping around genuinely pays.

See the Smart Export Guarantee vs net metering.

The Americas

United States - a patchwork, and shrinking

Roughly 38 states plus Washington D.C. maintain some form of net metering or net billing. But the flagship market has already moved: California's NEM 3.0, the Net Billing Tariff in force since April 2023, cut export compensation by roughly three quarters compared with the old 1:1 arrangement. Nevada, Hawaii and Arizona had already shifted; Michigan, Wisconsin and Indiana have reduced export credit; others are reviewing.

See net metering in the US and NEM 3.0.

Canada - net metering nearly everywhere, with local quirks

All provinces and territories offer a net-metering or equivalent programme, though it is called microgeneration in Alberta and Yukon, and Ontario operates differently from the rest. The detail that decides your economics is credit expiry: some provinces let credits ride indefinitely, others wipe them annually.

Africa

Kenya

Kenya's Energy (Net-Metering) Regulations came into force in 2024, allowing systems up to 1 MW to export to KPLC, with a national aggregate cap applied over a rolling multi-year window. Credits are applied against the next bill and carry forward monthly.

See net metering in Kenya.

South Africa

There is no single national scheme. You register as a Small Scale Embedded Generator (SSEG), and the terms - whether you may feed in at all, and what you get for it - depend on your municipality. Two houses a few kilometres apart can face completely different rules.

See selling solar back to the grid in South Africa.

Nigeria

Nigeria is earlier in the cycle. Regulatory activity in 2026 focused on mini-grid capacity thresholds and rooftop safety guidelines, with net metering arriving first for commercial and industrial installations.

Australia - feed-in tariffs, and they are heading to zero

Australia never used net metering. It pays feed-in tariffs, and their decline is the starkest illustration of what abundant midday solar does to export value. Early schemes paid 44-66c/kWh. In 2026, typical rates sit in the range of a few cents, and at least one major retailer's standing-offer feed-in tariff has gone to zero.

With more than four million Australian homes exporting at the same time each midday, wholesale prices collapse in the middle of the day. The economic answer has shifted decisively from export more to self-consume more, which is why batteries and load shifting dominate the conversation there.

What this means for you

Three practical conclusions:

1. Check which model you are on before you size a system. A payback calculation built on 1:1 netting is simply wrong under net billing, and the error is large - often a difference of years.
2. Find out when your credits expire. An annual reset punishes systems sized for summer surplus. A rolling carry-forward rewards them.
3. Self-consumption is now the reliable lever. When export is worth a third of retail, a unit you use yourself is worth roughly three times a unit you sell. Shifting heavy loads into daylight hours beats adding panels in most net-billing markets.

Whatever regime you are on, you still need to know your real net position each cycle. Our free net metering calculator takes your peak and off-peak imports, your exports, any deduction, and your rolled-over surplus, and shows the balance instantly - no sign-up, and nothing leaves your browser.

Frequently asked questions

Which countries still have true 1:1 net metering in 2026? India, Canada, much of the UAE, Kenya, Bangladesh and many US states still offer netting in some form, though almost all attach caps, expiry rules or capacity limits. The Netherlands does until January 2027.

Is net billing always worse than net metering? For the owner, yes - the export unit is worth less. But net billing usually pairs with better economics for self-consumption and storage, and it removes the political risk of a scheme that regulators consider unsustainable.

Why are so many countries abandoning net metering? The common argument is that 1:1 credit lets solar owners avoid the fixed network costs embedded in the retail rate, shifting those costs to non-solar customers, and that midday export is worth less than retail because everyone exports at once.