Lucknow, May 1 -- A fifth of Lucknow's electricity demand-about 328 MW out of roughly 1,500 MW - is being generated through rooftop solar systems, the Uttar Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Development Agency has said.

What began as a subsidy-driven rooftop movement has evolved into a structural shift: homes across the city are steadily turning into decentralised energy nodes.

With over 92,000 rooftop systems installed under the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana, households are no longer passive consumers. They are "prosumers," capable of generating, consuming, and even exporting surplus energy, said Inderjit Singh, additional secretary, NEDA.

But the more important change is not the number-it's the model.

For decades, electricity flow...