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What’s the Difference between Utility-Scale and Rooftop Solar Projects?

Both Utility-Scale and Rooftop Solar Projects have their own benefits when it comes to energy production. Here, let us take a look at the differences between  Utility-Scale solar services and Rooftop Solar Projects.

What are utility-scale solar services?

Utility-scale solar connects to the power grid and sells the electricity generated back to the local utility. Often, they are described as the ‘front of the meter’. Other than this, some other key features include size, location, interconnection type and voltage, state policy, and where the solar power is sold.


What is a Rooftop Solar Project?

As the name suggests, here, the Rooftop Solar Panels are installed in residential properties and business hubs. These panels demand expert engineering, from design to execution.


Key Differences Between Utility-Scale and Rooftop Solar Projects


  • While rooftop solar is a distributed generation (DG) technology, Utility Scale Solar involves building large-scale photovoltaic (PV) generating plants connected to a power grid.

  • Rooftop solar can be mounted on smaller areas like roofs and open terraces, but a utility-scale involves hundreds of acres of land being converted into massive PV arrays with numerous solar panels.

  • A rooftop solar is much more flexible in terms of location and size which is not the case for utility-solar. The latter is a massive unit spread over large land masses.

  • Utility-scale solar produces more overall output over time for less cost per kilowatt hour (kWh) than rooftop solar. When compared to this, the energy production by the rooftop panels only meets the requirements of a particular household.

  • Acquiring a large chunk of land for utility-scale projects often leads to a lengthy permitting process, which delays the project timeline and increases overall project costs. This is not so in the case of rooftop solar, where the permits are easily granted.


While utility solar is a priority for larger energy demand, rooftop solar is beneficial for individual homes and societies. Being a leading Solar EPC Solution provider, we help house owners minimize their carbon footprint and maximize savings through solar. Contact us now.

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