Static Rooftop Solar Plan Pricks Government to Deal with New Arrangement

In an offer to end the inadequacies, he stated, the administration is building up another plan called SRISTI – Sustainable Rooftop Implementation for Solar Transfiguration of India.

Worried over the inertia in the nation’s rooftop solar program, the administration today said just a single GW housetop sun based limit has been set up against the objective of 40 GW and another arrangement is really taking shape to end the weaknesses.

“We have set a target of installing 100 GW of solar capacity by 2022. And of this, 60 GW would come through ground-mounted and 40 GW has to come through the rooftop.

“But as we speak today, against this target we have set up around 16 GW of ground-mounted and 1 GW of rooftop solar. So if I can admit…I can say that our rooftop programme is not doing really well,” Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) Secretary Anand Kumar said here.

He was talking at a workshop on the solar rooftop program by CII.

He counted reasons like a conflict of enthusiasm amongst discoms and top of the line purchasers for the dormancy in the housetop program.

“There is a clash of interest between discoms and high- end consumers. Discoms charge at a higher rate for high-end consumers…and then, in turn, subsidize the residential sector or the farming sector…So we all must realize that we have to develop a win-win situation for discoms and consumers,” the secretary explained.

He said issues are emerging as discoms are not keen on advancing rooftop solar plants. Besides, there are issues of value shortfall and support and operation of this program.

In an offer to end the inadequacies, he stated, the administration is building up another plan called SRISTI – Sustainable Rooftop Implementation for Solar Transfiguration of India.

“I am not saying that the new programme will definitely bring the success. But this programme is being developed to end the shortcomings of the present programme. And we are going to have our next meeting to finalize SRISTI on Monday because we cannot afford to lose more time thinking what we should do,” he said.

The gathering will see cooperation from several discoms, and partners from the private sector since they know where the issue is squeezing, the secretary said.

A Parliamentary board had before said that the housetop sun oriented focus of 40 GW by 2022 is “improbable” and should be “reevaluated”.

Source: ET Energy World