BHOPAL: Though slow, the use of solar rooftop by domestic consumers is gaining momentum in Bhopal.
In around two years, close to 2,800 people in state capital have gone for installation of solar rooftops in the city. The net-metering policy was approved by state cabinet in September 2016 paving way for installation of solar rooftops and Urja Vikas Nigam was then made the nodal agency for installation of the solar rooftops.
It grew at snail’s pace later in 2020 when discom was made the nodal agency for its implementation. By December that year, only around 150 domestic consumers of state capital had installed solar rooftops.
Net-metering policy allows consumers to produce and sell power to discoms, a scheme aimed at encouraging use of green power and reducing power bills of consumers. Under the net metering, non-conventional energy generated by individuals is first used in building as per requirement and surplus power is fed to the grid. Consumer gets paid back in terms of energy credits and adjustments in bills against power transferred to the grid. Bi-directional meters are installed at the consumers house apart from rooftops and these meters not only record the power taken by the consumer but also put into the grid by the consumers.
“A total of 2,970 consumers have installed solar rooftops in Bhopal since the beginning. A total of around 14.5 MW of solar rooftops have been installed. Majority of these domestic consumers are those who have installed between 2-3 kilowatts of solar rooftops and probably those who have decent power consumption,” said sources from the central discom.
Central discom is now organising camps between November 1 and November 6 across the city to create awareness regarding the use of solar rooftops.
Government is also providing subsidy on rooftop installations. For installations up to 3 kilowatt, a subsidy of 40% of the total cost is being provided; while for above 3 kilowatt a subsidy of 20% per 10 kilowatt is given.
Source: PTI
