Will I Still Have an Electricity Bill With Solar Panels in Singapore?
Yes, almost every landed home keeps an SP Group bill after installing solar. Here is why, and what actually changes on it.
Quick answer
Yes, almost every Singapore landed home keeps an SP Group bill after installing solar, typically cut by 60 to 90%, since a standard grid-tied system without a battery still draws from the grid at night. Singapore does not have net metering, so even a system that generates more than you use will not bring your bill to exactly zero.
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Chance of a fully zero SP Group bill for a typical grid-tied system without a large battery, since Singapore homes stay connected to the grid at night
Almost every Singapore landed home keeps an SP Group electricity bill after installing solar, just a much smaller one. A standard grid-tied system, the type most landed homes install, has no way to store the electricity it generates during the day, so at night and on low-generation days you are still drawing from the grid, and that consumption still shows up on your bill.
Why can't solar generation cover nighttime use?
Solar panels generate electricity only while the sun is up. Without a home battery to store daytime surplus for later use, any electricity you need after sunset comes from the grid, at the standard retail tariff, currently S$0.3478/kWh including GST. This is simply how a grid-tied system without storage works, not a shortfall specific to any particular installation.
Why doesn't exporting surplus solar zero out the bill?
Singapore does not have net metering, the system used in some other countries where exported electricity is credited at the same rate you pay to buy it. Instead, surplus solar exported to the grid earns the SCT (Simplified Credit Treatment) rate for most homeowners on SP Group's regulated tariff, currently around S$0.2581/kWh, noticeably below the S$0.3478/kWh retail rate you pay to import. Because exported units are worth less than imported units, even a system that generates more electricity than your home uses across a full day will not automatically bring your bill to zero.
| Electricity flow | Rate | Effect on your bill |
|---|---|---|
| Grid import (nighttime, low-generation) | S$0.3478/kWh | Standard charge, same as without solar |
| Self-consumed solar (daytime) | S$0 marginal cost | Displaces grid import directly, the biggest saving |
| Exported solar surplus | S$0.2581/kWh credit | Partial credit, worth less than a self-consumed kWh |
How much does the bill actually drop?
For a well-sized system on a typical landed home, solar commonly cuts the SP Group bill by roughly 60 to 90%, depending on how well your daytime usage pattern matches your generation. A household with high daytime usage, air-conditioning running while someone works from home, for instance, self-consumes more of what the panels generate and sees a bigger reduction than a household that is empty all day and exports most of its generation at the lower credit rate.
What does this actually look like on a real, documented installation?
Take Chuan Drive, a real documented Sunnify installation at 12.7 kWp, projected to save roughly S$329 a month, close to S$3,950 a year, based on Q3 2026 tariff and SCT figures. That saving reflects the same mechanics covered throughout this guide, self-consumed generation offsetting import at the full S$0.3478/kWh retail rate, with any surplus credited at the lower SCT rate, not a system that eliminated its owner's SP Group bill entirely. The real, substantial saving is the actual outcome homeowners should expect, not a misleading zero.
Does a household's starting bill size change how much of a percentage reduction is realistic?
Somewhat, yes, and it is worth understanding why rather than assuming every household reaches the same percentage. A household with high daytime usage, air-conditioning running consistently while someone works from home, for example, self-consumes a larger share of generation directly, landing toward the higher end of the 60 to 90% reduction range.
A household that is largely empty during the day exports more of its generation at the lower SCT rate instead, landing toward the lower end of that same range even with an identically sized system. Your own actual usage pattern, not just system size, is what ultimately determines where in that range your real bill reduction lands.
Is there any way to actually reach a zero bill?
Only with a large enough battery to store daytime surplus for nighttime use, paired with a system sized well beyond typical household consumption, and even then, most homes stay connected to the grid as a backup rather than going fully off-grid. For the vast majority of Singapore landed homes, a substantially reduced bill, not a zero one, is the realistic and still very worthwhile outcome.
Further reading: see how solar export works in Singapore for the full mechanics of the SCT credit, and are solar panels worth it for the honest overall verdict. Run the Sunnify solar estimate to see your own projected bill reduction, based on your own household's actual usage pattern rather than a generic percentage.
Does the size of the original bill itself matter for whether solar is worth pursuing?
Not as much as the reduction percentage might suggest on its own. A larger pre-solar bill, common on bigger GCB or bungalow-class properties with more air-conditioning load, means a larger absolute dollar saving even at a similar percentage reduction to a smaller home. The percentage figure is useful for setting expectations, but the actual dollar amount saved each month is what ultimately matters for a household's own financial decision, and that scales with both system size and how much electricity a home was using in the first place.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
For almost every Singapore landed home, no. A standard grid-tied system without battery storage still draws power from the grid at night and on low-generation days, and that consumption still appears on your SP Group bill. Solar reduces the bill substantially, typically by the value of everything you self-consume, but a S$0 bill is rare without a large battery and a smaller household load than most homes have.
Because Singapore built its own export mechanism, SCT and ECIS, around a different principle entirely, crediting surplus at a rate tied to real system costs rather than mirroring the retail import price one-for-one. That design choice is exactly why an exported kWh is worth less on your bill than a self-consumed one, a gap net metering elsewhere is specifically built to avoid.
The bill itself gets genuinely shorter, and its composition changes shape too. Grid import volume drops as self-consumption displaces it directly, and an entirely new line appears crediting whatever surplus gets exported, together typically cutting a well-sized system's bill by somewhere in the 60 to 90% range.
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