Shams Dubai: how net metering credits work and the approval process, step by step

Shams Dubai is DEWA's programme for connecting rooftop solar to the electricity grid. It is the reason solar makes financial sense here without batteries: your panels supply your home or business first, and any surplus is exported to the grid and credited against the electricity you draw back later. Nothing you generate is wasted. This guide explains how the Shams Dubai net metering credits work and takes you through the approval process step by step; the path is the same for a villa and a warehouse.

How the net metering credits work

Once connected under Shams Dubai, your premises has a bi-directional meter. It records two flows separately: the units you import from the grid, and the units your solar system exports whenever it generates more than the building is using at that moment. Nothing about your DEWA account changes otherwise: you keep the same connection, the same billing cycle and the grid as your always-available supply.

At billing time, the exported units are credited against your consumption. In practice, a Dubai roof generates hardest in the middle of the day. A family villa often uses less at noon than the panels produce, exports the difference, then draws from the grid through the evening. The credits mean the midday surplus still works for you; it offsets the evening units instead of disappearing.

Credit that is not used up in one billing period is carried forward and set against later consumption. The effect over a year is that your generation reduces your billed units whether or not you consumed each kWh the second it was made. This is why systems in Dubai are sized against annual consumption rather than midday load, and why the savings arithmetic in our DEWA slab guide can treat generated units and consumed units as equivalent.

The approval process, step by step

The process is administered by DEWA and runs through your contractor; you do not handle the technical submissions yourself. The steps, in order:

1. Appoint a Shams Dubai enrolled contractor. This is mandatory. Only contractors enrolled with DEWA under the programme can design, submit and install grid-connected solar in Dubai. DEWA publishes the list of enrolled contractors.
2. Site assessment and design. The contractor surveys the roof, checks the electrical installation and designs a system sized against your consumption and your premises' electrical capacity.
3. Design approval from DEWA. The contractor submits the design to DEWA for approval. Equipment must meet DEWA's standards for the programme: panels and inverters are checked against its requirements, not chosen freely.
4. Installation. The enrolled contractor installs the system. The build must match the approved submission.
5. DEWA inspection. DEWA inspects the completed installation to verify that it matches the approved design and meets its connection requirements.
6. Bi-directional meter. Once the inspection is passed, DEWA replaces or reconfigures your meter so that imports and exports are recorded separately.
7. Connection and generation. The system is energised and starts offsetting your bill. Export credits appear against your account from then on.

We have deliberately not quoted fees or waiting times for the stages: DEWA sets these and they change. Your contractor should confirm the current charges and realistic timings in writing at the design stage, before you commit to anything.

Who does what

A Dubai checklist before you start

• Confirm that any installer you speak to is enrolled with Shams Dubai; ask for evidence and check it against DEWA's published list.
• Have a recent DEWA bill to hand; system sizing starts from your consumption history, not from the roof.
• If the property is leased, obtain the owner's written consent before design work starts.
• Apartment or shared building: approval belongs to the building owner or owners association first; see our property-type guide for how that changes the project.
• Ask the contractor to confirm current DEWA fees and expected stage timings in writing.
• Keep the approved design documents; you will want them if you extend the system or sell the property.

Why the programme exists

Shams Dubai sits inside Dubai's long-run energy strategy and aligns with the UAE Net Zero 2050 commitment: distributed rooftop generation trims daytime grid demand in a city whose peak is driven by air conditioning. For a property owner, the policy backdrop matters mainly as reassurance. Net metering here is not a temporary promotion; it is an established DEWA programme with a defined, repeatable process, open to homes and businesses alike.

What it means for your decision

Whichever route you take, Shams Dubai approval is part of the package rather than a task on your desk. If you buy a system, the installer carries every step above inside the project. Under a PPA at AED 0 upfront, the provider carries the approvals as well as the hardware cost. Either way the finish line is the same bi-directional meter and the same credits on your bill. To see what those credits would be worth on your own account, estimate your savings from your bill first, then let the site survey and the DEWA process firm the numbers up.

Figures are estimates, not a quote. Final numbers depend on a site survey and DEWA approval.