The Union government is working on a “rent a roof” policy to support its ambitious plan to generate 40 gigawatts (GW) of power from solar rooftop projects by 2022, said Anand Kumar, secretary in the ministry of new and renewable energy.
The government is also planning to bid out wind power contracts totaling 24.5 GW over the next two years. Kumar said that they are planning a ‘rent a rooftop’ policy. While investors have been enthused by India’s large ground-mounted, grid-connected solar parks, the solar rooftop market hasn’t gained much traction.
Of India’s ambitious target of 175GW of clean energy capacity by 2022, 100GW is to come from solar projects. Of these, while 60GW is targeted from ground-mounted, grid-connected projects, 40GW is to come from solar rooftop projects. Wind power projects are to contribute 60GW.
Such a policy comes in the backdrop of India’s nascent net-metering market. In a net-metering system, a consumer is only billed for the electricity consumed after deducting the power generated from one’s solar rooftop panels that is supplied to the grid.
The country offers a big opportunity given its 750GW potential as it records around 300 sunny days a year, with an average solar radiation range of 4-7 kilowatt-hours per square metre.
According to Livemint Kumar said “Under ‘rent a roof’, anyone can take a roof. Right now, net metering is happening but it is for the individual household to go for it on its own. After this, all the responsibilities such as maintenance will be with the developer. We are working on the policy,”.
