Chandigarh: Solar power plants only at 55 out of 6,000 houses of 500 square yards
EVEN AFTER 10 months of making solar power plants mandatory for all existing buildings, the UT Administration has failed to get it implemented in even 5 per cent of them. The existing buildings have to get the solar power plant installed at their rooftops, latest by May 15, 2018. The solar power plants have to be installed at plot size of 500 square yards and above. With around 6,000 houses of plot size 500 square yards, only 55 have installed it till now and 85 are in the process of installing it.Chief executive officer (CEO), Chandigarh Renewable Energy Science and Technology (CREST), Santosh Kumar said, “The awareness will take some time.” Those whose plot size is below the 500 square yards have been exempted from this. If the solar power plant is not installed, the estate office can initiate action and even disconnect the electricity connection.
For any new building that is to come up in Chandigarh, a solar power plant is also mandatory to be installed at the rooftop. In this case, a no-objection certificate from estate office is not given until one shows that a solar power plant has been installed. A person with a residential plot of 500 square yards up to 999 square yards will have to install a solar power plant of 1 Kilo watt peak while those whose plot size is from 1,000 square yards to 2,999 square yards, will have to install a plant up to 2 kilowatt peak and those with 3,000 square yards and above, will have to install 3 kilowatt peak. The CREST Chandigarh has already posted on its site information about the empanelled agencies that will install these solar power plants.
A 1 kwp solar power plant will cost around Rs 60,000 and the person would get around 30 per cent subsidy from the government on this, that is Rs 18,000. So the total cost which an applicant will have to shell out from his own pocket would be Rs 42,000. “As Chandigarh is to be the model solar city, our target is 50 Megawatt,” added Santosh Kumar. About 28 government residences already have solar power plants atop their roofs. As per norms, all private schools, colleges, hostels which have a connecting load of 30 kilo watt and above will have to install a solar power plant of 5 KWP. All government buildings and offices, government colleges having a connecting load of 30 Kilowatt and above will have to install a solar power plant of minimum 2 KWP.
All private hospitals or nursing homes, hotels, industrial establishments, malls, commercial establishments, banquet halls and other buildings that have a connecting load of 50 Kilo watt to 1,000 Kilo watt will have to have a solar power plant of minimum 10KWP. All new buildings developed by group housing societies builders, housing boards on a plot size of 0.5 acre to 1 acre will have to install a solar power plant of minimum 10 KWP, those with more than 1 acre to 2 acres — 20 KWP, more than 2 acres to 5 acres — 30 KWP, and more than 5 acres — 40 KWP. Existing housing complexes developed by group housing societies, builders and housing boards are exempted from the mandatory installation. The solar panels are installed on rooftops to generate electricity. The power generated is used to run appliances such as fans, lights and even air conditioners. After the power generated is used by a consumer, the remaining electricity is sent to the grid. A plant’s life is generally up to 25 years and cleaning is required after every 15 days.
Source:IE
