MNRE Allows BIPV, Balcony Solar Under PM Surya Ghar

MNRE Allows BIPV, Balcony Solar Under PM Surya Ghar

The Ministry Of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has now come out with a fresh set of guidelines for the implementation of the PM Surya Ghar Scheme. The scheme aims to install residential rooftop solar systems in one crore households.

The new norms clarified that in case of paucity of rooftop space, the consumers can also opt for Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV). They have also been allowed to use the terrace, balcony or the top of elevated structures to install solar systems. MNRE said that all such installations in residential segments will be considered valid for availing the Central Financial Assistance (subsidy). MNRE allows central subsidies upto Rs 78,000 for a 3 KW solar system under the scheme.  

“For the purpose of CFA, residential RTS plant would be the grid connected solar power system tagged to a particular residential power connection of the local DISCOM and will only include installations on a roof/terrace/balcony or on top of elevated structures. Special RTS installations such as Building Integrated PV (BiPV) systems shall also be considered eligible for CFA support. To clarify, installations under metering mechanisms such as Group Net Metering and Virtual Net Metering shall be eligible for CFA if the installations are on any roof/terrace/balcony or on top of elevated structures or as BiPV and the metering arrangement is approved by the DISCOM,” the ministry norms said.

The ministry also clarified that the interested consumers can also opt for virtual net-metering and group net-metering under the scheme, subject to the approval of the local power distribution companies. These new clarifications from the MNRE have allowed more consumers to opt for solar through non-conventional ways when they lack rooftop rights or rooftop space to use solar power for their households. 

Inverter size

The new guidelines from the MNRE on PM Surya Ghar also talked about the issue related to size and capacity of the inverters. The new norms said that the subsidies will be granted by the ministry irrespective of the size of the inverter and the capacity of the inverters. The ministry instead said that the subsidies will be provided as per the rated DC capacity of the solar module system. 

The ministry norms for PM Surya Ghar also said that under the rooftop solar connections given to the Group Housing Society/Residential Welfare Society, the entities would not be allowed to supply the power to residential households but the solar power should be used for common power usages only. 

MNRE has also fixed the benchmark cost for the rooftop solar connections at Rs 50,000/KW for the first 2 KW systems and Rs 45,000 for KW for the additional capacities. Thus for a 3 KW connection under the scheme, the government has set up a benchmark price of Rs 1.45 lakh.