Monday, 16 December 2019

Rooftop Solar : An Opportunity Lost ?




 [  Not , if included in Central Budget- 2020  ]



It  would seem so , when you read following news :

Highlights :

Ø  Farmer, Babubhai Patel was earlier earning Rs 1.26 lakh from his 15 acre land , cultivating dill seed .


      Now he has installed a 71.5 kW of Solar ground-mounted solar panels


Here is what he says :


“What I earned from solar power generation within the first four months of installation is very promising. If the trend continues then not only will my installation cost be recovered but I will have more money on hand than I got from my crop



Ø  Babubhai’s neighbor, Harshad Patel has a 55 kW installation on his farm. 

He spent nearly 1,00,000 towards the 5 per cent farmer contribution for the project, while he secured about 9 lakh in loans backed by the State utility.

     The solar pump installations under the SKY Scheme were provided with 60 per cent
      subsidy.

          “This means, within a year of installation, I will recover all the money that I have
          invested. On top of it, every year net income is at least double what we usually get
          from our conventional farming,” said Patel


Ø  Since it was just a pilot project with a specific financial outlay from the government, the SKY scheme provides an attractive tariff of 7 per unit to these farmers, which includes  3.50 from the State allocation and  3.50 from the Discoms.


          The effective period of the Scheme is 7 years, after which the State support will be


          withdrawn and the farmers will get  3.5 per unit, which is agreed through a 25-year
          PPA with the discoms.

===========================================


Some 30 MONTHS ago, here is what I suggested to our Policy Makers :

     Green Buildings ? Put Greed to Work !                                            [ 05 June 2017 ]


Extract :


I urge Maharashtra government to adopt this innovative financing model for roof top solar plants where :



·      Individual building owners or Societies will install the plants on their roofs ( model / size / supplier etc to be decided by each consumer )



·     Plants will need to be installed only by Channel Partners ( supplying agencies ) which are empanelled by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy , who have submitted installation data ( Project Completion Report for grid connected rooftop projects ) on the SPIN portal



·     Submit “ Bill / Certificate of Grid Connectivity “ to govt  for “Green Solar Loan 



·    Loan will be repayable at 5 % interest rate , over a 15 year period



·     SOCIETY WILL BE ABLE TO PAY THE  EMI  FROM THE SAVINGS IT WILL MAKE  BY NOT HAVING TO BUY THE GRID POWER FROM STATE DISCOM



·      Societies will even be allowed to repay the EMI in the form of the solar power it generates and FEEDS into the State Grid , under the “ Reverse Metering “ Scheme

===================================================

Earlier, while advocating Rooftop Solar installations , I wrote :

Not Good Enough !                                           [ 02  Dec  2017  ]


Extract :

Surely , our Policy Makers cannot be unaware of the following benefits to millions of rural youths generating / consuming ( and , even “ selling “ ) solar power :


·         Not need to erect /maintain miles of transmission lines to those huts


·         No need to install and monitor Electricity ( Smart ) Meters


·         No need to collect monthly payments for the power consumed


·         In fact , no need to PRODUCE coal-based power elsewhere , in the first place


·         No pollution due to power from coal-based power plants


·         No need to dig or import expensive coal / or worry about low plant-load factor



·         No need to worry about power thefts / transmission losses !


·         No load shedding ( so common in rural areas ) for “ non-payment of bills / low
          consumption “


·         No need to worry about PEAK / LEAN load periods


·         No need to keep Subsidizing Power for ever


=========================================================

Dear Smt Sitharamanji,


Today’s news-papers speak of your “ Invitation “ to citizens to submit their “Suggestions
Ideas “ for incorporation in the forthcoming budget


I urge you to consider my above-mentioned suggestion in respect of ROOF-TOP solar
Installations


Unlike in the case of Gujarat’s SKY scheme for the farmers, I am not suggesting ANY SUBSIDY
for Rooftop installations


Just a  ROOFTOP GREEN SOLAR LOAN   (  a  MUDRA for house-owners ?  ) as follows :

Ø   100 % value of proposed installation  , at

Ø   Interest rate of 5 %

Ø   Repayable over 15 years ( EMI adjustable against savings generated )

Ø   Sovereign Guarantee for irrevocable /mandatory PPA by DISCOMs

Ø   Online submission / approval of “ loan applications “, within 30 days


This will lead to a LOW  COST  ECONOMY

=======================================================

17  Dec  2019

hcp@RecruitGuru.com

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