Government increases subsidy for Rooftop Solar plants, but targets remain unachievable at the current pace
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 16, 2019
The Government has recently launched Phase-2 of the rooftop solar
program with a target to achieve 40,000 MW capacity by 2022. Going by the
current pace of installation, this looks highly unlikely.
Solar energy- which is a renewable source of energy- is easily available and has the potential to be highly beneficial to a country like India which is in an ideal geographical location with adequate sunlight. Even though initial set up cost for solar is high, this clean energy has been found out to be less expensive in the long run with operational costs like electricity bills coming down. In remote places where there isn’t any power line or in tough terrains which are yet to be electrified, generating electricity using solar energy will be very helpful for the citizens living there.
In India, a mere20% of total energy utilisation is from renewable sources. Of this, wind energyconstitutes 41%, followed by 31%  fromsolar energy according to a World Bank report released in 2018.In other words, India, despite having sufficient solar energy, has not yetsucceeded in making good use of this valuable source.  Further, rooftop solar energy contributes onlya mere 6% of the total gridconnected solar energy being generated.
The National Solar
Mission was launched in 2010
In a bid toencourage generation of solar power, the Government of India, in 2010 launchedthe National Solar
Mission (as a part of National Action Plan for ClimateChange) aimed at bringing down the cost of generation of solar power in India.The goal was to bring down costs by focussing on long term goals, policy,research & development and domestic production of critical raw materials,components and products by 2022. As a part of this mission, the government alsolaunched the ‘Grid connected Solar Rooftop programme’ to promote the useof this renewable source of energy in households and shops by providing capitalsubsidy. In this story, the details of this program and the current status arediscussed.
What is the Grid
connected Solar Rooftop Programme?
Solar rooftop system also known as small SPV (Solar Photo Voltaic) system can be installed in the rooftops of houses, residential or commercial complexes, private institutions, housing societies or government organisations in contrast to the large-scale solar power plants. This can be of two types –
As stated by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), the average cost of setting up this grid connected rooftop system is Rs. 60 per Watt or Rs. 6 crores per MW peak capacity (1 MW means 1 megawatt and is equal to one million watts) which is pretty expensive and beyond the financial capacity of most Indians. Thus, the Union government as well as State governments- through State Nodal Agencies are providing subsidies to encourage more people to shift to solar.
40%
to 70% percent subsidy provided by Central Government
Under the Grid Connected
Rooftop Solar Programme, for those who install rooftop solarprojects, the Union Government provides Central Financial Assistance (CFA) andincentives. In February 2019, the Government approved the implementation ofPhase-2 of the programme. As per the revised norms, the CFA has been raisedfrom 30% in 2014 to 40% in 2019 for general category states. It can go up to70% in special states (North Eastern states) and UTs. The CFA under residentialcategory will be provided for 4000 MW capacity in Phase-2 of the programme.
The CFA currentlyis as follows:
Total of 1700.6 MW of grid connected rooftop systems have been
installed across the country
The Ministry has also reported that around 780 MW capacity of rooftop solar plants were installed inthe previous two financial years- 2017-18 and 2018-19. The Ministry has alsoadded that an average of 1.5 million units per MW per year is the generationfrom rooftop plants alone. As on 18 July 2019,total of 1700.54 MW of grid connected rooftop systems have been installedacross the country. State wise distribution of 15 states is shown in thefollowing chart.
Gujarat & Maharashtra together account for more than 27% of total RTS capacity
Alook into the state wise solar installations revealsthat Gujarat has the largest rooftop solar installations in India. The totalinstallation capacity is  around 262 MWwhich accounts for more than 15.4% of the total installation capacity in thecountry. Maharashtra is second largest with 198.52 MW equivalent to 11.67% ofthe installation capacity in the country. In Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Naduand Uttarakhand, the installed capacity of unsubsidized installations is muchlarger than the capacity of subsidized installations. Of the total 1700.54 MW,918.42 MW are subsidized installations and the remaining 782.12 MW areunsubsidized installations. In other words, the subsidized installationsaccount for 54% of the total rooftop solar capacity while the unsubsidized onesaccount for the remaining 46%.
What is the procedure to avail the financial assistance under the
scheme?
Eligiblebeneficiary interested to avail subsidy should directly apply to theimplementing agency and get necessary approvals prior to installation of RTSsystems. The list of the implementation agencies in various states can be accessed here. Onecan also express interest on the online interest form. Priorto installation, one should contact the local state nodal agency followingwhich officials will visit the site.
Theimplementing agency is supposed to select vendors for installation of Rooftopprojects by adopting competitive bidding process. Sanction orders are given by MNREto these implementing agencies for the capacity of the rooftop solar systemsplanned to be installed by them. The implementing agency must submit completeproject details online on the dedicated website foravailing eligible service charges and incentives. The online portal capturesall details of the project like capacity, project cost, address, district,State, latitude, longitude etc. It has to be noted that MNRE does not sanctionany project or subsidy directly to the beneficiaries.
ISRO’s android application to calculate solar potential, elevation
and temperatures
TheSpace Applications Centre of the India Space Research Organisation (ISRO) hasdeveloped an application for
android operating system which helps incalculating the monthly or annual solar potential and temperatures of theuser’s location. This is a very important parameter to finalise the capacity ofthe SPV systems to be installed. The application also gives details regardingthe elevation and day lengths through different times of the year. One can alsocalculate the feasible size of the plant using the Solar Rooftop calculator available on the dedicated scheme website.
The Government’s 2022 target
of 40,000 MW of RTS looks unachievable
By2022, the Government of India has fixed a target of 40,000
MW worth Rooftop Solar projects to be installed acrossthe country. If implemented successfully, India will be contributing by andlarge towards ecological sustainability and reduce carbon footprint. Inaddition to this, the program will also aid in generating employment- up to9.39 lakh job years for both skilled and unskilled workers to attain the 2022target. This also supports the Sustainable
Development Goal 7 which aims to assure affordable,reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.
However, the target looks lofty & unachievable as the current cumulative achievement is less than 10% of the 2022 target. If  the 2022 target has to be achieved, the current pace of installation of solar rooftop projects has to be increased by 30 times which seems highly unlikely.
Featured Image: Subsidy for Rooftop Solar plants