UPERC Amends Rules To Expedite Rooftop Solar Installations

Bihar Proposes To Reduce Timelines For Rooftop Solar Installations

The Uttar Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPERC) has now amended its existing rooftop solar rules of 2019 to pave the way for faster installations of rooftop solar systems. As per the revised rules, the state commission has mandated the state discoms to complete the process of Technical Feasibility Reports (TFRs) within 15 days.

The Commission earlier had issued the UPERC (Rooftop Solar PV Grid Interactive Systems Gross / Net Metering) Regulations in 2019 to regulate the sector. However, with the announcement of the PM Surya Ghar scheme, several states have now passed new regulations to expedite the process of rooftop solar installations. UP has now also jumped into the bandwagon with its fresh set of rules. 

After several states decided to do away with the TFR for rooftop solar systems below 10 KW,. UPERC also ordered the same. This comes at a time when the state renewable agency-UPNEDA had received a target for increased rooftop solar installations. UPNEDA earlier had asked the UPERC to amend the rules. The new rules are in line with the Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Amendment Rules, 2024 notified by the Centre.

According to UPNEDA, there are around 855 registered solar rooftop vendors in the state who are into the business. The state with a large population and geographical area has better opportunities for the rooftop solar business. With a revised thrust of the MNRE towards this under the PM Surya Ghar, the scale of residential rooftop solar is slated to rise. 

According to the MNRE, till December 2023, UP had a total RTS capacity of 175.95 MW. On the other hand, under the RTS-II scheme, the state had added 63.76 MW. As per the list, UP was ranked 17th in terms of the total RTS capacity in India. Under the PM Surya Ghar, the Indian government has planned to install rooftop solar in one crore households.