PM
ROOFTOP SOLAR SCHEME - ENVIRONMENT
News:
300 Units Free Electricity Under Rooftop
Solar Scheme: Interim Budget 2024
What's
in the news?
●
Recently, the Finance Minister of India
presented an interim budget 2024 and reiterated a plan by the Prime Minister to
supply power to one crore households in the country using rooftop solar panels.
Key
takeaways:
●
In 2014, the government launched the Rooftop Solar Programme that aimed to
achieve a cumulative installed capacity
of 40,000 megawatts (MW) or 40 gigawatts (GW) by 2022.
●
India has increased it from less than 10
MW in 2010 to 70.10 GW in 2023.
PM
Suryodaya Yojana:
●
Installation
of System: Households that have a monthly electricity
consumption of less than 300 units a
month will be able to install a mid-sized system with the government
bearing the expense.
●
Rise
in Subsidy: The subsidy will increase to 60% from 40%
and the rest will be financed by a private developer who is affiliated to a
public sector enterprise connected to the Power Ministry, earlier the remainder
having to be borne by the consumers.
●
Mechanism
of Net-Metering: The surplus electricity produced by
households can be sold back to the grid to make good the loan, though the
actual way of implementation can be complex.
●
Target:
Installing rooftop solar on 1 crore houses.
Rooftop
Solar Programme:
●
It is launched in 2014.
Aim:
●
To expand India’s rooftop solar installed
capacity in the residential sector by providing Central Financial Assistance -
the financial assistance to the eligible projects as per MNRE Guidelines and incentives to DISCOMs (distribution companies).
Goal:
●
To increase rooftop solar installed
capacity to 40 GW by March 2026 and
it is currently in its second phase.
○
Owing to the scheme, the country’s rooftop
solar has increased from 1.8 GW as of March 2019 to 10.4 GW as of November
2023.
Features:
●
A consumer can avail of benefits of the
scheme through DISCOM tendered projects or through the National Portal (www.solarrooftop.gov.in).
●
The
consumer has the choice to select any vendor and choose the
brand and quality/efficiency of solar equipment on the national portal.
●
The DISCOMs
role is limited to issuing of technical feasibility approval, installation
of net-meter and inspecting the system.
●
After installation and inspection of the
system, the subsidy is sent directly to the bank account of the consumer.
●
The surplus solar power units generated
from the rooftop solar plant can be exported
to the grid as per the metering provisions issued by respective SERCs
(State Electricity Regulatory Commissions)/JERCs (Joint Electricity Regulatory
Commission).
●
The consumer can receive monetary benefits for the surplus exported power as per the
prevailing regulations.
Go
back to basics:
States
with Top Solar Capacity:
States
with Top Rooftop Capacity: