ROOFTOP SOLAR

CHANGE OF DIRECTION

Target of 100 GW Solar

• The government of India announced a plan of installing 100 GW solar power by 2022 through both grid-connected utility scale projects and rooftop projects

• The rooftop sector has been allocated 40% share - 40 GW target

• As of February 2016, total rooftop installations in country has been only 166 MW

Trajectory of 40 GW

Year Capacity (MW) Cumulative (MW)

2015-16 200 200

2016-17 4,800 5,000

2017-18 5,000 10,000

2018-19 6,000 16,000

2019-20 7,000 23,000

2020-21 8,000 31,000

2021-22 9,000 40,000

Total 40,000 40,000

Achievement so far

17.1

1

4.1

0.1

0.0

23.4

0.2

3.5

0.2

1

9.5

6.8

0.6

0.9

26.2

5.9

9

13.2

3.7

7.9

1.2

11.4

INDIASOLAR POWER CAPACITY

(ROOFTOP) (MWp) Feb 2016

TOTAL CAPACITY

166 MWp

6.2

Increased Budget

• An increase in the budget for grid connected solar rooftop systems from Rs 600 crore to Rs 5,000 crore by 2019-20.

• This increase in subsidy will however support installation of only 4,200 MW in the next five years

Why Rooftop Solar?

• Air pollution - caused by industrial emissions, (thermal power plants) road dust and vehicular exhaust

• Intermittent power supply

• Generation at the source of consumption

• Security to supply in the event of grid disturbance

• Reduced reliance on fossil fuel based power

• Reduced T&D losses

• Climate change commitments

Why Rooftop Solar?

• Cost savings - Cost of land, civil works and power evacuation constitute around 20% of the capital cost of a ground mounted solar power plant

• Avoid social and environmental issues of land acquisition

• Cleaner and cheaper alternative to DG sets for urban landscape

Metering

• Net metering - In net metering system, the electricity meter operates in both directions. The electricity produced by the RTS plant is consumed by the consumer and the surplus power, if any, is fed into the grid

• Gross metering - In gross metering arrangement, the rooftop generated power is not linked to the consumer’s consumption and there will be two separate meters installed for this purpose. The electricity generated by the solar plant and the electricity imported are measured independently.

What needs to change?

• Policy flip-flop - the amount of capital subsidy has been revised back and forth between 30% and 15% during 2015.

• Restrictions on capacity and grid penetration - the discoms have restricted the amount of electricity that can be fed into the grid in a year and the total capacity of rooftop PV systems connected to the grid

• Still not economical for the residential consumer

• Lack of awareness

• Discom issues

CSE Recommendations

• Remove the technical barriers

• Conduct extensive energy audit to understand the limitations of grid penetration

• Grid stability

• Reduce the cost of batteries in the country

• Change the existing laws and its implementation

• Include Rooftop PV system in building bylaws

• Accelerate the approval process

• Spreading the word

• Improve awareness for rooftop solar power

• Investment in capacity development

CSE Recommendations

• Financing the system

• Making finance available for largely untapped residential consumer

• Money from Clean Environment Fund, Green Climate Fund, and Green Environment Fund should be looked at for investment in smart grid and improvement of the existing grid.

• Leading the innovation

• Pushing for Innovative financing schemes like bundling of rooftop loans, EMI for upfront cost of the system, standardized PPAs for rooftop systems

ARUNA KUMARANKANDATH

Renewable Energy Programme

Centre for Science & Environment

k_aruna@cseindia.org