Govt incentivises grid connected rooftop solar systems

R K Singh, Minister of Power and New and Renewable Energy, said in his written reply to Rajya Sabha that the Government is encouraging rooftop solar systems connected to the grid to promote Rooftop Solar (RTS) in the country with an incentive, including the rural areas. While the RTS capacity aggregating 4000 MW is targeted for installation in the residential sector by 2022 with the subsidy provision, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is executing the Rooftop Solar Programme Phase II. For RTS plants up to 3 kW capacity, a subsidy of up to 40% of the benchmark price is provided and 20% for RTS plants of capacity beyond 3 kW and up to 10 kW for individual households. The subsidy is narrowed to 20% of the benchmark price for RTS plants of up to 500 kW capacity used to provide power to common facilities for Group Housing Societies/Residential Welfare Associations (GHS/RWA). The government took specific significant steps for the overall promotion of grid connected rooftop solar systems in the country. To achieve additional capacity over and above the installed capacity of the previous year, the Government launched phase II of the rooftop solar programme under Central Financial Assistance (CFA) for the residential sector and for power discoms, it provides incentives in slabs. The CFA assistance for institutional/residential/social sectors and achievement linked incentive was provided for the government under Phase-I of the programme. The government has begun assisting the states in the integration/development of online portals and aggregation of demands relating to rooftop solar projects. It advised the states to report the et/gross metering regulations for RTS projects, and currently, all 36 states/UTs/SERCs have reported such regulations and tariff orders. It facilitated concessional loans from Asian Development Bank (ADB) and World Bank through SBI and PNB, respectively, to distribute loans to commercial and industrial sectors, where the ministry is not providing CFA per incentive. Image Source Also read: Government offers subsidy to promote rooftop solar across India