Delhi Government Launch Incentives for Solar Power

Supporters of solar energy in India have scored another run on the board with the announcement that the Delhi government will introduce a net metering system that will reward solar energy producers on a monthly basis.

Autor*in RESET , 08.28.13

Supporters of solar energy in India have scored another run on the board with the announcement that the Delhi government will introduce a net metering system that will reward solar energy producers on a monthly basis.

This new incentive will take the form of a subsidy and will be based on the amount of energy saved while using solar power. Home owners and businesses in Delhi are being encouraged to take part in the scheme and will be financially reimbursed for any solar energy their system produces but then doesn’t use.

Officials from Delhi’s Department of Environment say that the new scheme will be ready for the necessary legislative approval process once the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) establishes net metering guidelines and determines the tariff. Under the guidelines, the amount of energy a person or organisation generates at home or at work will be monitored and if there is a surplus of energy after requirements have been met, the extra power will be returned to the grid and the person or organisation will be financially rewarded for the extra, unused energy.

Campaigners for solar energy welcomed the news. “We have supported a production-based subsidy policy all along,”Abhishek Prata of Greenpeace India told the Times of India. “It is better because it keeps the customer engaged and motivated to maintain a solar generation system. An upfront payment of subsidy like in capital subsidy is not as effective.”

Industry experts believe this incentive could be a massive boost for the solar energy industry in India and if succesful it could be applied to other cities. This production-based scheme as opposed to a capital scheme will provide the necessary motivation for customers to generate power and reap the benefits financially.

Currently, the state of Andhra Pradesh (AP) is operating through a similar system. With the lag between energy supply and energy demand in the state rising from 3 percent in 2011 to 16 percent in January 2013, AP has India’s largest energy deficit. To help eradicate the gap, the state government is encouraging 20,000 households and businesses to install the government-subsidised solar panels by the end of this year.

Greenpeace recently launched the campaign ‘Switch on the Sun’ to promote solar power as a solution to Delhi’s power crisis. Rooftop Revolution: Unleashing Delhi’s Solar Potential (PDF), a report from Greenpeace, says the city can generate 4,500 million kilowatt-hours of solar power every year, which would meet 16 percent of its electricity needs. This is one-third of the energy demand of the city using only 1.6 percent of the available rooftops. These are encouraging statistics as they show that solar power could play an important role to play in India’s future energy security.

Author: Stephen Walsh/ RESET editorial

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