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Ecology & Environment, Schemes & Policies
Mahesh

13/02/24 07:10 AM IST

The Centre’s big push for residential rooftop solar plans

In News
  • The Centre last month unveiled the Pradhan Mantri Suryodaya Yojana (PMSY) to tap into the vast potential of rooftop projects in residential areas.
  • The scheme found a special mention in the interim Budget 2024, with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman reiterating PM’s commitment that the scheme would help one crore families get up to 300 units of free electricity per month with savings of up to Rs 18,000 annually.
Rooftop solar system
  • Vacant spaces on the ground, and rooftops of houses and commercial and industrial (C&I) buildings receive abundant raw solar energy which can be harnessed to produce solar power.
  • When solar photovoltaic panels that convert sunlight into electricity are placed on the top of such buildings, it is known as a rooftop solar system.
  • A RSPV system can be either grid-connected or a standalone unit known as an off-grid solar system.
  • As the name suggests, an off-grid solar system is not connected to any wider electric supply system.
  • Instead, it uses storage devices like batteries that are expensive and bulky. While such a system is self-sustaining, it only stores electricity produced in the unit.
  • A grid-connected rooftop solar system, meanwhile, feeds solar energy into the utility grid.
  • Typically, such a system includes solar PV modules, an inverter, a module mounting structure, monitoring and safety equipment and meters.
  • An inverter converts the DC power generated from solar panels to AC power, which is then fed to the grid, while meters keep track of the electricity injected and drawn from the utility grid.
Net- metering
  • In a grid-connected rooftop solar system, if the plant produces more solar energy than the installer uses, the surplus is exported to the grid.
  • On cloudy days when solar energy is unavailable, power is drawn from the grid.
  • A bi-directional or net meter installed on the premises of a consumer records the energy flow in both directions and the net energy used is calculated at the end of the billing period.
  • A consumer has to pay for the net energy units used, which is the difference between total imported units and exported solar units. This is called net-metering.
  • A grid-connected solar power system reduces the consumption of electricity provided by corporate or state power suppliers and helps a consumer save on electricity costs.
Gross metering
  • In the case of gross metering, while the homeowner has to pay for the power drawn from the grid at rates applicable to consumers in the category, the State power distribution company (discom) pays the rooftop solar PV homeowner for the power injected into the grid as per the power purchase agreement.
  • Presently, there are two models for the installation of a rooftop solar system.
  • In the CAPEX model, a consumer bears the cost and owns the system.
  • In the RESCO model, the system is owned and maintained by a third-party developer from whom a consumer can purchase the generated energy by paying a pre-decided tariff every month.
India,s solar power
  • India gets around 250 to 300 days of sunshine per year; equivalent to about 2,200–3,000 sunshine hours in a year depending upon the location.
  • In terms of energy, it receives around 5,000 trillion kWh of solar energy every year, and the incidence ranges from 4 to 7 kWh per square metre per day in most areas.
  • Since this translates to immense potential, the government has undertaken a series of policy measures and provided financial incentives, keeping solar energy at the forefront of the push to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2070 and meet 50% of its electricity requirements from renewable sources.
  • India, one of the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, has set a target of 500 GW from non-fossil sources by 2030.
  • For this, the country aims to install 485 GW of renewable energy capacity. Solar energy has emerged as a major prong of India’s commitment to achieve these ambitious targets.
Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission
  • In 2010, the Centre launched the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) to focus on the promotion and development of solar power.
  • The country had less than 20 MW of solar energy capacity at the time.
  • After the Narendra Modi-led government took over in 2014, it set a target of 175 GW of renewable energy by 2022 and revised the earlier goal of the mission of 20 GW of solar power to 100 GW, with no change in the timeline.
  • Apart from solar power, the goal was to install 60 GW from wind, 10 GW from bio-power and 5 GW from small hydro-power.
  • The government launched a grid-connected rooftop solar programme in December 2015 with incentives and subsidies for the residential and institutional sectors.
  • The second phase of the project was launched in February 2019 to achieve 40 GW capacity from rooftop projects by 2022.
  • The remaining 60 GW was to come from utility-scale or large-scale power plants (solar parks).
  • The Centre included the provision of a subsidy of up to 40% for solar installations in the residential segment.
Solar power capacity
  • As per the latest estimates, India has installed around 2.7 GW capacity in the rooftop residential sector in 6.7 lakh households.
  • An assessment by the Delhi-based think tank Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) in November found that over 25 crore households in the country have the potential to deploy 637 GW of solar energy capacity on rooftops.
  • Deploying one-third of this total solar potential could support the entire electricity demand of the residential sector in India.
  • This could prove crucial as India is expected to have the largest energy demand growth in the world over the next 30 years.
  • The micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector, which accounts for roughly 30% of industrial energy consumption in the country, is another untapped sector.
  • Estimates show that the 63 million MSMEs offer solar rooftop potential of 15-18 GW, which is more than 30% of the overall rooftop target of 40GW.
New policy
  • As part of the Pradhan Mantri Suryoday Yojana, the Centre will bear the entire cost of setting up rooftop solar systems for households that consume less than 300 units of electricity per month.
  • The subsidy in the segment will increase to 60% from 40% and the remaining will be financed by a private developer affiliated to public sector units of the Power Ministry.
  • 60% of the cost of installation will be subsidised by the Centre and for the rest, the PSU will avail of a bank loan and repay from the cost of electricity used by the household over and above the 300 units.
  • Since the customer will still be required to fund 40%, the scheme will pay itself back in 7-10 years, after which the consumer can sell electricity back to the grid and earn.
  • This means that the scheme puts the onus of providing electricity to households on central government companies instead of individual power distribution companies.
  • The change is likely to have a positive impact on the rooftop solar sector as distribution companies, most of which have been struggling with financial problems, haven’t shown much enthusiasm.
Source- The Hindu

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