Under an official Decision dated May 9, 2025, the residential electricity tariff has six levels. The lowest is VND1,940/kWh and the highest is VND3,460/kWh.

Rooftop solar helps households take control of their power source and sharply reduces monthly electricity bills, even bringing bills to zero if a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) is sufficient.

Nguyen Thi Tham in Ha An ward (Quang Ninh) uses many electrical appliances, yet her monthly electricity bill is only around VND2–4 million because she installed a VND100 million rooftop solar system six years ago.

“Last year, the rooftop solar power system was interrupted for one month due to storm damage and the electricity bill jumped to over VND7 million that month,” she said. 

Her grocery store alone has six refrigerators and freezers, consuming a large amount of electricity, while her home uses five air conditioners, fans, a television, an electric stove, and more.

Similarly, soaring electricity bills every summer is no longer a concern for the family of Nguyen Cong Toan in Bac Giang ward (Bac Ninh) since the day a rooftop solar system was installed.

Toan said the system with battery storage built in 2024 cost VND210 million. The solar panel system has a capacity of 18 kWp, while the BESS has a capacity of 16.1 kWh.

His household uses eight air conditioners ranging from 18,000 to 24,000 BTU for the living room, kitchen, and bedrooms; two large refrigerators; an elevator; and various appliances such as a washing machine, dryer, lighting system, fans, oven, dishwasher, and induction stove.

With such high electricity usage, without rooftop solar, the family’s monthly bill would exceed VND6 million or more. However, since installing the system, they can freely use appliances while paying only about VND300,000 per month.

“I am preparing documents to sell excess electricity back to the grid,” Toan said. With the current solar capacity, the family still has surplus electricity during the day after meeting its needs.

In Lao Cai, the provincial power company reported that after installing rooftop solar, a household reduced its monthly electricity bill from VND3–4 million to just VND300,000–400,000, while a business saved more than VND1 billion per year.

The strong reduction in electricity bills is becoming the main driver for thousands of households to install “mini power plants” on their rooftops, turning abundant sunlight into clean energy for daily use.

Power corporations reported that by March 2026, there were 12,000 customers nationwide (including households and businesses) developing rooftop solar systems, with a total installed capacity of about 1,800 MWp. In 2025 alone, around 6,000 customers installed rooftop solar, totaling 1,000 MWp.

A recent report by the Northern Power Corporation (EVNNPC) shows impressive growth in rooftop solar. In the first three months of the year, EVNNPC added 2,201 customers, with nearly 141.51 MW of installed capacity. By the end of Q1 2026, the total reached 3,800 customers with a capacity of 465.2 MW.

Policies to support rooftop solar

Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Trade announced conclusions from Prime Minister Le Minh Hung at a meeting reviewing the ministry’s performance since the beginning of 2026. 

The Prime Minister directed stronger promotion of rooftop solar, aiming for 10 percent of public offices and households each year to install solar systems combined with BESS to reduce peak load and increase on-site energy autonomy.

Tran Quoc Tam, Chair of Lithaco, said that over the past five years, battery energy storage technology has developed rapidly. Previously, solar utilization was limited by technological barriers, but recent advances are changing how this energy source is harnessed.

Trinh Quoc Vu, Deputy Director of the Electricity Authority (Ministry of Industry and Trade), said the adjusted Power Development Plan VIII targets having 50 percent of rooftops of public offices and households to be equipped with solar systems by 2030.

To achieve this goal, the government has tasked the ministry with developing incentives for household rooftop solar, with a draft decision currently under review for approval.

Tam An