How to Read Your Meralco Bill to Size Solar

Your Meralco bill already has the two numbers you need to size solar: your monthly kWh usage and your rate per kWh. Find the kWh figure, divide it by 120, and you have a rough system size in kW — no need to estimate from your peso total if the actual bill is in your hands.

Where’s the kWh number on my bill?

Look near the top of the bill, in the meter reading section. Meralco prints current reading, previous reading, and the difference between them as your actual consumption in kWh. That’s your registered usage for the billing period — the same number Meralco uses to calculate your charges. If your usage swings by season (more aircon in summer months), grab two or three recent bills and average them for a more realistic sizing number.

What’s the difference between generation and distribution charges?

A Meralco bill bundles several charges into one total:

• Generation charge — what Meralco pays power suppliers for the electricity itself. This is usually the single biggest line item, often more than half your bill.
• Transmission charge — paid to NGCP for moving power over the national grid to Meralco’s system.
• Distribution charge — Meralco’s own cost for wires, meters, and service to your property.
• System loss charge — the cost of power lost in transmission and distribution before it reaches you.
• Taxes and other charges — VAT, the universal charge, and various subsidies mandated by law.

Solar mainly displaces the generation charge, since your panels replace power you’d otherwise buy from a supplier. The other charges (transmission, distribution, system loss) don’t disappear if you’re still connected to the grid, which is one reason solar typically cuts a bill by 40-80% rather than to zero.

What’s my actual ₱/kWh rate right now?

Meralco’s all-in residential rate has moved between roughly ₱13 and ₱15 per kWh through 2026, adjusting monthly with fuel costs and peso-dollar swings. Your bill shows the exact rate that applied to your billing period — check it directly rather than assuming a fixed figure, since it changes most months.

How do I turn my bill’s kWh into a system size?

Once you have your actual monthly kWh from the bill, divide by 120 to get system size in kW. Panels run 450-600W each, so panel count works out to roughly kW × 2.

If you don’t have a bill handy and only remember your peso amount, our how many solar panels do I need guide walks through estimating kWh from the bill total instead — useful for a ballpark, but less precise than reading the actual number off your bill.

Why does my ₱/kWh rate matter for payback speed?

Because it sets how much every self-consumed kWh is worth. A household paying ₱15/kWh saves more per kWh of solar used directly than one paying ₱13/kWh, so the same system size pays back faster at a higher rate. That’s also why exports through net metering matter less than self-consumption — exports are credited at the lower generation-only rate, while power you use as it’s generated offsets your full all-in rate.

Should I use the kWh number or the peso amount?

Use the kWh number whenever you have it — it’s your actual registered usage, not a backward estimate. The peso amount works as a starting point if you’re sizing before your next bill arrives, but once you have a real bill in hand, read the kWh line directly. Either way, our what size solar system for my bill guide and the cost calculator can take that number the rest of the way to a system size and price range.