Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced rooftop solarisation of 10 million households enabling 300 units of free electricity every month. The push for clean, sustainable energy has been given official backing through the Pradhan Mantri Suryodaya Yojana, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January post the inauguration of Ayodhya temple.
Photovoltaic panels, commonly known as rooftop solar panels, are installed on the roofs of buildings and connected to the main power supply unit. This installation reduces reliance on grid-connected electricity, leading to cost savings for consumers. The whole process is made more financially sound via the concept of Net Metering, where any surplus energy generated by the solar panels is redirected back into the grid, earning users credits to offset future utility bills. This substantially reduces overall electricity bills by balancing what is contributed and consumed.
The finance minister said in budget speech, "Through rooftop solarization, one crore households will be enabled to obtain up to 300 units free electricity every month. This scheme follows the resolve of Hon’ble Prime Minister on the historic day of consecration of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. Following benefits are expected.
a. Savings up to Rs 15,000-Rs 18000 annually for households from free solar electricity and selling the surplus to the distribution companies b. Charging of electric vehicles c. Entrepreneurship opportunities for a large number of vendors for supply and installation d. Employment opportunities for the youth with technical skills in manufacturing, installation and maintenance;
A significant advantage of rooftop solar panels is reduced reliance on grid-connected electricity, leading to cost savings for consumers. While there are initial capital and maintenance costs, these can be offset by considerable cost savings to the consumer. The cost of setting up a solar rooftop ranges from Rs 2.20 lakh to Rs 3.5 lakh, based on a 3KW - 5KW installation requirement. These costs can be managed through easy EMIs, equivalent to electricity bills. To ease the installation cost, the government also offers subsidies. Homeowners and housing societies can receive Rs. 9,000 to Rs. 18,000 per kW for installing rooftop solar systems up to 10kW under the Rooftop Solar Program Phase – Ⅱ.
"Since 2016, the rooftop solar (RTS) capacity in India has grown to 2.7 GW. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) rolled out Rooftop Solar Programme Phase-II in 2019 with an aim to achieve 40 GW of rooftop solar. With the launch of Pradhan Mantri Suryodaya Yojana (PMSY), we expect an accelerated adoption of solar energy. Having said that, the RTS adoption hasn’t gained the desired momentum due to two reasons – lack of awareness among people and unavailability of easy RTS finance. However, we are hopeful that with government support, the RTS demand and adoption will increase," said Vikas Agarwal, Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer of Credit Fair, which is a consumer lending fintech start-up that offers personal loans to set up RTS at an interest rate of 8-10%. Credit Fair also offers no cost EMIs.
The government has set a target of 40 GW annual solar power generation for the next 5 years to reach a 500 GW non-fossil fuel capacity target by 2030. However, with only 2.2 GW installed in homes, about 70% of the targeted 40 GW remains unfulfilled, tweeted Mallikarjun Kharge, President of the Indian National Congress.