Domestic consumers installing rooftop solar panels will get zero power bills in Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal – EQ
In Short : Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister of Delhi, has announced that domestic consumers installing rooftop solar panels in Delhi will receive zero power bills. This initiative encourages the adoption of solar energy among residents, promoting sustainability and reducing dependence on traditional power sources.
In Detail : New Delhi : Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday unveiled the Delhi Solar Policy 2024 and said domestic consumers will get zero amount electricity bills and the tariff for commercial and industrial consumers will be halved on the installation of rooftop solar panels.
According to the new policy, a residential consumer can also earn Rs 700-900 per month after installing rooftop solar panels as the government proposed to provide generation-based incentives (GBI).
Under the Delhi government’s existing power subsidy scheme, a residential consumer consuming electricity of up to 200 units every month gets a zero amount bill and he gets 50 per cent subsidy on the consumption of electricity between 201 and 400 units.
Addressing a press conference, the chief minister said that the solar power generated gets offset with the electricity consumed from the grid.
Giving details about the new solar policy, Kejriwal said that if a person consumes 400 units and generates 225 units from solar power, he will get zero amount bill since his consumption will be under 200 units that is fully subsidised in the national capital.
In a tweet, the chief minister said that under the policy, domestic consumers’ electricity bill amount will become zero and they will earn Rs 700 to 900 per month. Electricity bills of commercial and industrial consumers will be halved, he added.
According to the AAP government, 70 per cent of consumers in Delhi using less than 200 units per month get zero amount bills. By installing a rooftop plant under the new policy, partially-subsidised and unsubsidised consumers too can get zero bill every month from the first month itself.
The benefit of excess energy units that are left will be rolled over to subsequent billing cycles for up to 12 months.
At the end of the year, in case the solar power generated is more than the consumer’s annual electricity demand, he will earn money for the same from the discom concerned.
The amount under GBI will be adjusted against the monthly electricity bill of the consumer and any excess amount will be deposited into the consumer’s bank account by the power discom every month.
Under the policy, all government buildings having an area of 500 square metres will have to mandatorily install rooftop solar panels in the next three years, the chief minister said.
At present, Delhi’s solar power capacity is around 1,500 MW, including 250 MW from rooftop plants.
Talking to reporters, the chief minister said that under the new solar power policy which will be notified within 8-10 days, the government has targeted to increase the total installed solar capacity of Delhi to 4,500 MW by March 2027, three times the existing capacity.
Around 20 per cent of Delhi’s electricity consumption will come from solar power by 2027 – one of the highest in India. The government will spend Rs 570 crore for the policy implementation.
Kejriwal said the new policy has several new features as compared to the previous policy introduced in 2016, adding that the new one has revised generation-based incentives (GBI), rollover of excess energy units and additional income.
Under the policy, residential consumers going for rooftop solar panels will get five financial incentives. The government will offer a GBI of Rs 3 for small rooftop plants (up to 3 kW) and Rs 2 for larger plants (3 to 10 kW) for five years from the date of installation.
Several hurdles in getting GBI have been removed under the new policy, an official said, adding that there is no condition of minimum generation to receive GBI which existed in the 2016 policy.
The Delhi government will also provide a capital subsidy of Rs 2,000 per kW to residential consumers for installation of up to a maximum of Rs 10,000 per consumer.
This will be over and above the capital subsidy of the central government, the chief minister said.
In addition, they will get a monthly income of Rs 700-900 through the Delhi government’s GBI and a total return on investment (ROI) in four years.
The Delhi government has also decided to extend GBI for commercial and industrial consumers too for the first time — up to the first 200 MW of installations in Delhi. They will receive an incentive of one rupee per unit of solar power generated for five years.
In addition to the benefits of net metering, rollover of excess units and additional income will also be available to them. It will help them save nearly 50 per cent on their existing electricity bill, said a government statement.
The Delhi Solar Policy 2024 also comes up with some innovative deployment models like community solar for consumers who have constraints of funds or rooftop space. For the first time in the country, community solar model will be put in place under the policy.
It will enable consumers who do not have a suitable roof for installing a solar plant to be part of a community owned solar system installed at a third-party location and get all its benefits.
The peer-to-peer trading model, introduced for the first time in the country, will enable owners of solar energy systems to sell their excess generated electricity in real time to other consumers in Delhi through a P2P energy trading platform.
Power minister Atishi said that a new single-window state portal will be developed to act as a one-stop-shop for all information under the Delhi Solar Policy, benefits of solar plants, empanelled vendors among others.
