Solar, Grid or Ampere in Syria 2026: Cost per kWh and Payback Sheet

Grid electricity for a Syrian shop, workshop or factory costs 14 to 18 new pounds per kWh in 2026, depending mainly on whether your line is exempt from rationing. The Ministry of Energy set these prices in Decisions No. 686 and 687, issued on 30 October 2025 and applied from 1 November 2025, as SANA reported. The decisions are written in old pounds, and Decree No. 293 of 2025 converts every price at 100 to 1.

• Subscriber | Old SYP per kWh | New SYP per kWh
• Commercial, industrial and craft lines not exempt from rationing (Decision 687) | 1,400 | 14
• Industrial, craft, commercial and tourism lines exempt from rationing, fully or partly, including lines in industrial cities and zones (Decision 686) | 1,700 | 17
• Iron and scrap smelting, iron rolling and metal melting on exempt lines | 1,800 | 18
• Billboard lighting | 1,800 | 18
• Homes, first 300 kWh per two-month cycle | 600 | 6
• Homes, above 300 kWh per cycle | 1,400 | 14

Three points matter for a business:

• One rate applies to the whole quantity consumed; there are no tiers on commercial lines as there are for homes.
• The 3-pound gap is the price of exemption from rationing, which the Ministry pitches at users who need power around the clock. At 3,000 kWh per two-month cycle, an exempt line costs 51,000 new pounds against 42,000 on a regular line.
• Supply is improving. In August 2026 the Ministry said daily supply rose during the first half of the year from about 8 hours to 20 or more in some areas.

So the 2026 question is less "grid or nothing" and more which source covers which hours, at what cost per kWh. As of November 2026 we found no later tariff decision. Check the rate on your latest bill, and with your governorate's electricity company, before you plan.

To compare power sources fairly, turn each one into a cost per kWh. The grid already bills that way; generators and ampere subscriptions do not.

An ampere subscription is a capacity charge: you pay for the amperes you reserve, whether or not you use them. Governorates can set the price. In August 2025, for example, Latakia Governorate set it at 813 old pounds per ampere per hour, made its administrative units responsible for enforcement, and said it would cancel the licence of any generator set that broke the rules. Ask for the decision that applies in your area today.

The conversion is simple. One ampere at 230 volts delivers at most 0.23 kWh in an hour. At Latakia's 2025 rate, 8.13 new pounds an hour, that is about 35 new pounds per kWh if you use every ampere all the time. Reserve 10 amperes but use 5 on average, and your real cost doubles to about 70.

For your own generator, keep a one-week log:

• Running hours, from the hour meter
• Litres of diesel added, with the price on the invoice
• kWh produced, from a meter on the generator output
• Oil, filters and repairs in the same period

Cost per kWh = (litres × price per litre + maintenance) ÷ kWh produced. An example with assumed figures, not market prices: 0.3 litres per kWh at 90 new pounds a litre is 27, plus 3 for maintenance, so 30 new pounds per kWh. A generator running far below its rating usually burns more fuel per kWh, so measure at your real load.

Then put three numbers side by side: the grid at 14 or 17, the ampere at your area's price, and the generator at your logged cost. Section four uses them to price solar.

Size a solar system from your loads and your location's winter sun, not from a supplier's package. Five steps, using an illustrative grocery shop in Damascus:

Step 1, list the loads: watts × hours a day = kWh a day.

• LED lighting | 300 W | 11 h | 3.3 kWh
• Two display fridges | 600 W | 12 h of compressor running | 7.2 kWh
• Freezer | 250 W | 12 h | 3.0 kWh
• Till, router and cameras | 120 W | 24 h | 2.9 kWh
• Four fans | 300 W | 10 h | 3.0 kWh
• Total | | | about 19.4 kWh a day

Step 2, decide what solar must cover: daytime loads directly, and the battery for evenings and grid outages.

Step 3, size the panels: kWh a day ÷ winter yield per kWp. The European Commission's PVGIS tool estimates that 1 kWp facing south at about 30 degrees, with its default 14% losses, yields about 3.5 kWh a day in December in Damascus and 2.9 in Aleppo, against about 5.5 in July. So 20 kWh a day needs about 5.7 kWp in Damascus and 6.9 kWp in Aleppo. Run PVGIS for your own address.

Step 4, size the battery: night and outage load × hours ÷ usable share. Fridges, freezer, till and some lights at 1.2 kW for 5 hours need 6 kWh; at 80% usable, that is a 7.5 kWh bank. Take the usable share and cycle life from the datasheet.

Step 5, choose an inverter above your peak simultaneous load that can handle compressor starts; a hybrid inverter also works with the grid.

Before signing, ask your governorate's electricity company whether you may connect to the grid or export surplus; we found no 2026 instruction for small subscribers. Ask for quotes in new Syrian pounds: Legislative Decree No. 5 of 2024 bans dealing in any currency other than the Syrian pound as a means of payment.

Simple payback answers one question: how many years of savings repay the system? Copy these rows into a spreadsheet:

• A. Upfront cost, new SYP: panels and structure, inverter, batteries, cabling, installation
• B. Solar output a year, kWh = kWp × PVGIS annual yield
• C. kWh you actually use a year, after summer surplus and winter shortfall
• D. Cost per kWh of what solar replaces, new SYP
• E. Maintenance a year, new SYP
• F. Saving a year = C × D − E
• G. Simple payback, years = A ÷ F

Worked example for the Damascus shop, with assumed figures that are not quotes: A = 600,000 new pounds (panels and structure 420,000, inverter 80,000, batteries 100,000). B = 6 kWp × 1,743 kWh, PVGIS's annual estimate for Damascus, or about 10,460 kWh. The shop uses about 7,080 kWh a year, so count C = 6,500. E = 10,000.

• Solar replaces | D | F | Payback
• Grid, regular line | 14 | 81,000 | 7.4 years
• Grid, exempt line | 17 | 100,500 | 6.0 years
• Mix: 70% exempt grid, 30% generator | 20.9 | 125,850 | 4.8 years
• Generator | 30 | 185,000 | 3.2 years

The lesson: what solar replaces sets the payback. Against an exempt grid line it is a long-term saving; against generator or ampere power it pays back far faster.

Three adjustments keep the sheet honest:

• If the battery datasheet's life is shorter than the payback, add a replacement set to A.
• Count only surplus you can use or are allowed to export.
• Re-run the sheet whenever tariffs, your area's ampere price or your fuel price change.

Then carry the result into the rent, electricity and generator fuel column (J) of your 2027 budget template, so the saving shows up month by month.

Odoo can show what energy costs each branch, depreciate the solar system and remind your team to maintain it.

Energy costs: open expense accounts for grid electricity, ampere subscriptions, generator fuel and energy maintenance, and enter every bill as a vendor bill. Under Accounting ‣ Configuration ‣ Analytic Distribution Models, split those accounts automatically by account prefix; Odoo's own example sends utilities 60% to manufacturing, 30% to marketing and 10% to admin. Factories can add energy to a work center's Cost per hour: a 7.5 kW machine on an exempt line uses 127.50 new pounds of power an hour. Our manufacturing guide covers work centers.

Solar assets: post the purchase to an account of type Fixed Assets, create one asset per component under Accounting ‣ Accounting ‣ Assets, and click Compute Depreciation to see the board. Odoo creates the entries in draft and posts them on schedule, as its assets guide explains. Example lives, to agree with your accountant under Syrian tax rules: panels and structure, 420,000 over 10 years, 3,500 a month; inverter and batteries, 180,000 over 5 years, 3,000 a month. When you replace the batteries, retire the old set with Sell or Dispose.

Maintenance: register the inverter, battery bank, panels and generator under Maintenance ‣ Equipment ‣ Machines & Tools, with model, serial number, cost and warranty expiry date, as Odoo's equipment guide lists. Then schedule preventive requests on the Maintenance Calendar. A starting point, before each maker's manual:

• Panels: cleaning when dust builds up and after dust storms
• Inverter and batteries: a monthly check of error log, charge, temperature and terminals
• Wiring, breakers and earthing: a qualified electrician every 6 months
• Generator: oil and filters at the maker's running-hour interval

METCH, an official Odoo partner serving Syria, can set this up with you.