Rooftop Solar: 81,188 Govt Buildings Potent To Generate 3 GW

The latest data from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) said that the installation of rooftop solar on identified government buildings could harness up to 3.1 GW of solar energy. Minister of State (MoS) of MNRE Sripad Yesso Naik said that the ministry has identified 81,188 such feasible government buildings where rooftop solar could be deployed. India’s current rooftop solar capacity has already surpassed 14 GW.

The Ministry collected this data from states, Union Territories (UTs), and Central Government Ministries and Departments. The data was related to rooftop solar installations in government buildings. The data was taken from the National Rooftop Portal. This portal is a gateway for the application and monitoring of PM Surya Ghar scheme.

Instruction to states

The minister in a written reply said, “Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has directed all states and UTs to instruct their departments and institutions to utilize the vacant rooftops of their buildings for solar panel installations. Additionally, all Central Government Ministries and Departments have been instructed to install rooftop solar projects on their owned buildings.”

Under the PM-Surya Ghar scheme, saturating government buildings with rooftop solar installations is a key component. The Ministry has issued detailed guidelines outlining various implementation models. It also assigned Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) experienced in renewable energy technology deployment to assist ministries and states in installing rooftop solar.

3000 feasible sites in Haryana 

Haryana recently adopted solar energy and other eco-friendly renewable sources of energy and set up solar energy parks in the state. Thus, sharing an update on the status of rooftop solar projects on government buildings the minister said, “In Haryana, surveys have been conducted on approximately 3,000 government buildings, revealing a potential rooftop solar capacity of about 90.5 MW. To date, solar plants with a combined capacity of 16.6 MW have been installed on around 550 government buildings in the state. However, there is no proposal to establish solar energy parks in Haryana in coordination with the state government.”