Solar EMI Options for Indian Customers

Your customer wants solar. They've seen the payback calculation, 3.5 to 4 years. They like the numbers. Then they ask the one question that kills more deals than any objection: "Bhai, kya loan milega?" (Can I get a loan for this?)

If you don't have a confident, specific answer ready, with the bank name, interest rate, and estimated EMI, you lose that deal to the competitor who does. This guide covers every serious solar loan product available to Indian residential customers in 2026, with actual EMI tables so you can answer that question in 60 seconds.

The most powerful thing you can tell a customer is: "You don't need to pay for this upfront. Your EMI will be less than your current electricity bill from month 1." That statement is backed by numbers, and this guide gives you every number you need. For the ROI context (why the EMI-vs-savings math works), see our guide on solar ROI calculation for residential systems. For the subsidy that reduces the loan amount, see PM Surya Ghar subsidy slabs.

The Solar Loan Selection Matrix, match loan to customer profile

The Solar Loan Selection Matrix is the proprietary framework for identifying the right solar loan product for any customer in under 2 minutes. The five selection dimensions are: interest rate, processing fee, tenure, collateral requirement, and PM Surya Ghar eligibility.

PM Surya Ghar concessional loan, the best deal on the market

The PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana includes a concessional loan facility at 7% per annum, disbursed through nationalised banks. This is the most customer-friendly solar financing product in India as of 2026, and it's the first option you should present to eligible residential customers.

According to the PM Surya Ghar National Portal, the concessional loan is available for residential rooftop solar systems installed through registered vendors on the scheme. Key features:

Interest rate: 7% per annum (fixed or floating, varies by bank). Maximum loan amount: ₹2 lakh for loans without collateral. Larger amounts may be available with collateral at slightly higher rates. Tenure: up to 10 years (some banks offer 7 years as standard). No processing fee in some participating banks (confirm at branch). Collateral: not required for loans up to ₹2 lakh, the government guarantee under the scheme covers the bank's credit risk. Subsidy and loan: a customer can take the ₹78,000 subsidy AND a loan for the remaining ₹1.07 lakh after subsidy, they are not mutually exclusive.

The loan application is tied to the customer's PM Surya Ghar registration on the national portal. The customer must first register, get approved by their DISCOM, select a registered vendor (that's your EPC), and then apply for the loan through their bank. The sequence matters, you can't get the concessional loan without the scheme registration. For the step-by-step bank loan process under the scheme, see PM Surya Ghar bank loan process.

This math is your closing argument. Print it on your proposal. When a customer's current bill is higher than their prospective EMI, going solar costs them nothing, and after the loan is repaid, they pocket the full bill savings permanently.

SBI Solar Home Loan, the bank most customers already trust

State Bank of India (SBI) offers solar financing as part of its Green Home Loan and Solar Home Loan product suite. For customers who already have an SBI home loan or savings account, this is often the lowest-friction option. According to SBI's official product page, the solar home loan is available to existing and new customers for rooftop solar installations under the PM Surya Ghar scheme.

Product features: Interest rate: currently approximately 8.5–9.5% p.a. (linked to SBI's MCLR/repo-linked lending rate). Tenure: up to 15 years (the longest tenure among bank products, which gives the lowest EMI). Loan amount: up to the system cost or based on the customer's eligibility, typically ₹1–₹10 lakh for residential solar. Documentation: standard KYC, income proof, property documents (the solar system on the roof serves as partial security alongside the home). PM Surya Ghar eligible: yes, SBI is a participating bank.

The SBI Solar Home Loan at 15-year tenure gives customers the lowest possible EMI, at 8.5%, a ₹1 lakh loan over 15 years is approximately ₹980/month. This makes even the total system cost (before subsidy) affordable as a standalone EMI comparison against electricity bills.

Bank of Baroda Baroda Solar Loan, clean collateral-free option

Bank of Baroda has one of the cleaner solar loan products among public sector banks, specifically branded for solar EPC transactions.

Product features: Interest rate: 8.0–9.0% p.a. No processing fee or minimal fee (confirm at branch, this has varied). Collateral-free up to ₹1.5 lakh. Tenure: up to 7 years. Available at Bank of Baroda branches in states with high PM Surya Ghar adoption, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh.

For customers in Gujarat who are Bank of Baroda account holders, this is often faster to process than SBI (fewer applicants). The collateral-free threshold of ₹1.5 lakh means most 2–3 kW post-subsidy net investments are fully unsecured.

Punjab National Bank solar loan, good for customers without a home loan

PNB offers solar financing for residential customers as a personal/consumer loan product tied to solar EPC contracts. It doesn't require the customer to have an existing home loan with PNB.

Product features: Interest rate: 8.5–10.0% p.a. depending on credit score. Collateral-free up to ₹2 lakh. Tenure: 7 years. Available through PNB branch network, wider reach in northern India (Delhi, UP, Punjab, Haryana) compared to some regional banks. PM Surya Ghar registered vendor requirement: the EPC must be registered on the PM Surya Ghar portal for the bank to process the concessional variant.

IREDA, for larger systems and ALMM-compliant vendors

Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) is the government's dedicated renewable energy financier. While IREDA primarily lends to project developers and EPCs for large-scale solar, it also has an indirect retail solar financing program through partner banks and NBFCs.

IREDA's most direct impact on residential solar financing comes through its refinancing of retail solar loans, it provides low-cost funds to partner banks, which then pass on the benefit in their solar loan rates. If you're an EPC registered with IREDA's vendor panel, you can access promotional financing rates that aren't available to unregistered EPCs.

For EPCs doing volumes above ₹5 crore per year in residential solar, IREDA's direct lines of credit for EPCs (structured as working capital or project finance) are worth exploring. This reduces your own capital tied up in projects waiting for PM Surya Ghar subsidy disbursement.

NABARD, rural solar financing through cooperative banks

NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development) supports solar financing in rural and semi-urban markets through its network of Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) and cooperative banks. For EPCs operating in tier-3 cities and rural areas, markets like Gondal in Gujarat or Osmanabad in Maharashtra, NABARD-refinanced loans are often the most accessible option for customers.

Key features: Interest rates: 8.0–9.5% p.a. (NABARD passes refinance at lower rates; bank adds a spread). Collateral: typically land or agricultural assets for rural borrowers. Best for: farmers converting from grid to solar for irrigation pumps (separate PM Kusum Yojana scheme applies here) or rural homeowners under PM Surya Ghar. Availability: through the local RRB or cooperative bank, not through NABARD directly.

If your EPC is expanding into rural markets under PM Surya Ghar, establishing a relationship with the local RRB or cooperative bank in your target district is worth doing early. Bank loan pre-approvals through these institutions can be used as a closing tool with rural customers who don't have a relationship with nationalised banks.

NBFC options, faster but more expensive

NBFCs (Non-Banking Financial Companies) like Bajaj Finserv, Tata Capital, Muthoot Finance, and several solar-specific fintech lenders have entered the residential solar financing space. They offer faster approval (sometimes 48 hours) but at higher interest rates. According to the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), the rapid growth of residential rooftop solar under PM Surya Ghar has attracted both bank and NBFC capital to the sector, increasing product choices for consumers significantly between 2024 and 2026.

NBFCs work best for customers who don't want to visit a bank branch, who have a strong credit score (CIBIL 750+) and can absorb the higher rate, or who need installation completed quickly and can't wait for a bank's processing timeline. Some EPCs have embedded NBFC partnerships, pre-negotiated loan products where the customer applies through the EPC's portal and gets approval same-day.

EMI tables, exact figures for ₹1 lakh, ₹2 lakh, and ₹5 lakh

These tables give you ready reference for the most common loan amounts in residential solar. Monthly EMI = P × r × (1+r)^n / ((1+r)^n − 1) where P = principal, r = monthly interest rate, n = months.

EMI for ₹1,00,000 principal:

EMI for ₹2,00,000 principal: Multiply figures above by 2.

EMI for ₹5,00,000 principal: Multiply figures above by 5.

Pros and cons of bank loan vs NBFC for solar financing

The right answer depends on the customer. For a customer willing to wait 2–3 weeks and with a passbook relationship with an SBI or PNB branch, the bank route is clearly better, lower rate, longer tenure, PM Surya Ghar eligible. For a customer who wants to proceed immediately and can absorb the higher cost, or where the bank has repeatedly failed to disburse loans in that geography, NBFC is the pragmatic fallback.

Using the loan conversation to accelerate your sales cycle

The loan discussion is a deal accelerator, not a deal complicator, if you control it. The mistake most EPCs make is bringing up loans only when the customer says "I can't afford it." By that point, you've already framed the purchase as a financial stretch.

The right approach: introduce the EMI option as the default presentation at the start. "Most of our customers finance their system through the PM Surya Ghar concessional loan at 7%, your monthly outgo would be lower than your current electricity bill." Start with the assumption that financing is available and easy, because it is.

For tips on building this into your proposal format, see how to show ROI in a solar proposal. For the residential ROI numbers that make the EMI comparison work, see solar ROI for residential systems. For the full bank loan application process specifically for PM Surya Ghar, see PM Surya Ghar bank loan process.

For larger system sizes and what the loan amounts look like pre and post subsidy, see 5 kW solar price guide and PM Surya Ghar cost by system size.

Understanding the GST treatment on the system cost (which affects the loan principal) is covered in our guides on GST on solar systems in India and GST rate on solar panels.

How QuickEstimate helps your EPC team close more deals with EMI conversations

Rohit's field reps in Surat were losing deals because they couldn't answer "kya loan milega" on the spot. The customer would say "let me check with the bank" and go cold. Now, with QuickEstimate's Proposal Generator, every proposal includes a personalised EMI section, the PM Surya Ghar loan amount (post-subsidy), the monthly EMI at 7% for 7 years, and the comparison to the customer's current electricity bill, all auto-calculated from the system size the rep entered.

For Priya's ops team, the Pipeline Management feature shows which proposals included an EMI breakdown and which didn't, and whether EMI-included proposals convert at a higher rate. They do. That kind of data changes how you train your reps.

• Proposal Generator, EMI auto-calculated from PM Surya Ghar loan parameters; shown alongside bill savings comparison in every residential proposal PDF.
• Pipeline Management, Track deals by financing type (own funds vs loan) and identify where loan-assisted deals are in your funnel.
• WhatsApp Follow-up, Send the bank loan guide and EMI table directly to the customer after the site visit, so they have the numbers when they visit their bank.

Start with QuickEstimate free, your next residential proposal can include the EMI table automatically.

What to do this week, for your EPC

1. 1

   Visit the SBI and Bank of Baroda branch in your area and introduce your EPC

   Walk into the branch manager's office. Tell them you're installing solar under PM Surya Ghar and want to know their solar loan processing timeline and documentation checklist. Get the relationship manager's contact. Now when a customer asks "kya loan milega," you can say "Yes, call this person at SBI, here's the number."

2. 2

   Add the EMI table to your standard residential proposal this week

   Take the ₹1 lakh, ₹2 lakh, and ₹5 lakh EMI tables from this guide. Put the row for 7% over 7 years on your proposal template. For a 3 kW system at ₹1.07 lakh post-subsidy, the number is ₹1,613/month. If the customer's current bill is visible on the proposal, the comparison makes itself.

3. 3

   Train your field reps on the 5-sentence loan pitch

   Script: "Sir, most of our customers finance this through the government's PM Surya Ghar scheme at 7% interest. On your system, the EMI would be ₹[X]/month for 7 years. Your current electricity bill is ₹[Y]/month. So you'd save ₹[Y minus X]/month from day 1. After 7 years, the system is fully paid off and the savings are yours permanently." Practice this until every rep can say it without hesitation.

Frequently asked questions

What is the PM Surya Ghar concessional loan interest rate?

The PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana provides a concessional loan at 7% per annum through participating nationalised banks. This is below the standard market rate for solar loans (8.5–10%) and significantly below NBFC rates (10–14%). The concessional rate is available only through the PM Surya Ghar scheme to residential rooftop solar customers registered on the national portal. No collateral is required for loans up to ₹2 lakh under the scheme.

Can I take both the PM Surya Ghar subsidy and a solar loan?

Yes. The PM Surya Ghar subsidy (up to ₹78,000 on a 3 kW system) and the PM Surya Ghar concessional loan are not mutually exclusive. A customer on a 3 kW system costing ₹1.85 lakh first receives the ₹78,000 subsidy, reducing the balance to ₹1.07 lakh, and then applies for a loan for the remaining ₹1.07 lakh at 7% interest. The subsidy reduces the loan principal, which reduces the monthly EMI. This is the ideal combination for customers without upfront capital. For the full subsidy calculation, see how to calculate PM Surya Ghar subsidy.

What documents are needed for a solar loan from SBI or PNB?

Typically: Aadhaar card and PAN card (KYC). Latest 3 months' bank statement or salary slip (income proof). Electricity bill of the property (proof of DISCOM connection and ownership/occupancy). PM Surya Ghar registration number (for concessional loan). EPC installation agreement / quotation (the bank verifies the vendor is registered). For property-secured loans: latest property tax receipt and ownership documents. The exact list varies by bank and branch, always confirm before asking your customer to gather documents.

What is the monthly EMI on a ₹1 lakh solar loan at 7% for 7 years?

The monthly EMI on a ₹1 lakh solar loan at 7% per annum over 7 years (84 months) is approximately ₹1,513. For a 5-year tenure, it's ₹1,980/month. The choice of tenure depends on what cash flow the customer is comfortable with. Most EPC sales reps recommend 7 years because the EMI is lower, making it easier to show the EMI-vs-current-bill comparison favourably.

Is there a solar EMI option with zero down payment?

Some NBFCs and fintech lenders offer zero down-payment solar loans where the customer finances 100% of the system cost (before subsidy). Combined with the PM Surya Ghar subsidy (which is credited to the customer's bank account after installation), the effective out-of-pocket on day 1 can be close to zero. However, these products carry higher interest rates (12–14%) and processing fees. The customer should be clearly informed of the total cost of credit before opting for zero down-payment products.

How long does a bank solar loan take to get approved?

Nationalised banks (SBI, PNB, Bank of Baroda) typically take 14–30 days to process and disburse a solar loan for a new applicant. Existing customers with a good credit history and existing accounts may get faster processing (7–14 days). NBFCs approve in 24–72 hours but at higher rates. For PM Surya Ghar-linked loans, the DISCOM approval for the net metering connection typically runs in parallel and may add to the total timeline before installation can begin.

What happens to the solar loan if the subsidy is delayed?

PM Surya Ghar subsidy disbursement sometimes takes 2–4 months after commissioning, per customer reports on the national portal. In the interim, the customer repays the full loan amount (without the subsidy portion). Once the subsidy is credited to their bank account, they typically use it to make a pre-payment on the loan, reducing the outstanding principal. Most nationalised bank loans allow pre-payment without penalty. Ask the bank to confirm their pre-payment policy before your customer signs the loan agreement.

Can a tenant (non-owner) take a solar loan for their rented premises?

In most cases, no. Solar loan products require the applicant to be the property owner or at least have long-term lease rights (5+ years remaining). The solar system is installed on the property and is considered an asset tied to it, banks want security of the underlying property. A tenant in a rented apartment cannot typically apply for a PM Surya Ghar loan unless the property owner applies and the tenant is a co-borrower or guarantor.