Everyone is familiar with India’s solar energy potential and a lot has been said (and promised) to ensure that this potential translates into something bigger. The government has actively worked in this regard and has devised strategies that can aid the growth of the sector. One such ploy has been rooftop solar power generation. Reports have suggested that the scheme was garnering good response and moving on, the government is looking to change the laws that could work in the benefit of the customers.
The report states that there is a possibility that customers could get paid for the solar power they generate and feed into the grid, thereby the generation onus lies on the individual consumers, rather than power distribution companies. The target is to supply at least 1 GW electricity to India’s grid by installing solar panels on rooftops of residential and commercial buildings by 2017.
If successful, this would generate more than one-tenth of the renewable energy capacity of 9 GW of solar power that the government plans to add under the marquee Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM), and more than a hundred-fold increase from the current levels of power generated by rooftop solar power systems.
While, the idea of pay-what-you-generate sounds like an interesting ploy but the government needs to make sure the interested parties are not involving themselves for monetary reasons only and will be expected to give equal focus to the solar power generation aspect as well.
