Which solar system do you actually need?
Six different systems solve six different problems. This page is here to make sure you spend your money on the one that solves yours.
Start from your situation, not from the technology
Find the row that describes your property. It points to the system that addresses it.
| Your situation | The system | Why |
|---|---|---|
| My bill is high and my grid supply is reliable | Solar On-grid | Cheapest per unit generated. No battery cost. Net metering absorbs your surplus. |
| My supply cuts out often, or there is no connection | Solar Off-grid | Runs independently of the grid. Storage sized to the loads you must keep running. |
| I want net-metering savings AND backup for a few essential circuits | Solar Hybrid | Keeps the grid connection for savings, adds a battery sized to what must stay on. |
| My electric geyser is a big part of my bill | Solar water heating | Heats water directly. Far cheaper than generating electricity to do the same job. |
| I run a borewell or irrigation pump | Solar water pumping | Removes diesel and grid dependence for irrigation. Governed by a separate scheme, PM-KUSUM, from residential rooftop solar. |
| I need to light a street, campus or yard | Solar lighting | Self-contained units. No trenching, no cabling, no metered supply. |
The six systems in detail
Solar On-grid
Best for: Homes and businesses with a reliable grid connection
Grid-tied rooftop systems that offset your consumption and export the surplus through net metering. The lowest-cost route to a smaller bill.
Solar Off-grid
Best for: Properties with unreliable supply or no connection
Battery-backed systems that run independently of the grid, sized around the load you need to keep running during an outage.
Solar Hybrid
Best for: Buyers who want net-metering savings and outage protection
Grid-tied systems with a hybrid inverter and battery backup — net metering savings day to day, and essential loads keep running when the grid fails.
Solar water heating
Best for: Households replacing an electric geyser
Thermal systems that heat water directly from sunlight, removing one of the largest single loads in most homes.
Solar water pumping
Best for: Farms running borewell or surface pumps
Pump systems driven directly by solar, sized to your head and discharge requirement rather than to a catalogue.
Solar lighting
Best for: Streets, campuses, panchayats and commercial premises
Standalone street and area lighting with integrated panel, battery and controller. No trenching, no metered supply.
What every Origian installation includes
Origian Power is an Engineering, Procurement and Construction contractor, which means one party is responsible for the whole system rather than for supplying parts. Whichever system you choose, the engagement follows the same shape:
- Site survey. We assess the roof or site, the shading, the structure and your existing connection before quoting anything.
- System design. Sizing is driven by your actual consumption and the space available, not by a package tier.
- Procurement. Equipment is sourced from manufacturers with a service presence, because a warranty is only as good as the company honouring it.
- Installation and commissioning. Structure, wiring, protection and testing, through to the approvals the system needs to be energised — the DISCOM feasibility check and net-metering application for a grid-tied system (TGSPDCL/TGNPDCL in Telangana, APSPDCL/APEPDCL/APCPDCL in Andhra Pradesh).
- Handover and support. You are shown how the system reports itself and what to watch for.
Common questions
What is the difference between Solar On-grid and Solar Off-grid?
An on-grid system is connected to the utility supply and has no battery: it offsets your consumption during the day and exports the surplus, using the grid itself as storage. An off-grid system has batteries and runs independently, which costs considerably more but keeps working during an outage.
Can I combine more than one solar system?
Yes, and it is common. A household might run an on-grid rooftop system for general consumption and a separate solar water heater for hot water, because a thermal collector heats water far more efficiently than PV plus an electric element.
Which solar system is cheapest?
Per unit of energy delivered, Solar On-grid is the cheapest because it has no battery. Solar water heating has the lowest entry cost as a single purchase, since it addresses one load rather than your whole supply.
What system would you recommend for a typical home with a reliable grid connection?
For most households in that situation, Solar On-grid is the recommended starting point: it is the lowest cost per unit generated, qualifies for the PM Surya Ghar subsidy, and pays back fastest because there is no battery to fund. We would only recommend Solar Hybrid or Solar Off-grid instead when outages are frequent enough to justify paying for storage — that trade-off is worth working through on your own bill before deciding, not assuming from a general recommendation.
What is the most affordable way to start with solar?
A correctly sized Solar On-grid system is the most affordable route to a smaller bill, because every rupee goes toward generation rather than storage, and the PM Surya Ghar subsidy can reduce the upfront cost further for eligible domestic connections when the system is installed by a DISCOM-registered vendor (Origian Power is not one). If the concern is affordability of the upfront payment specifically rather than the system itself, financing it — see the solar loan EMI calculator — often makes more sense than downsizing the system below what your consumption actually justifies.
Ready to find out what solar would do for your bill?
Book a free site survey. We assess your roof, your consumption and your connection, then tell you what is actually worth installing.