Hi Friends,

Even as I launch this today ( my 80th Birthday ), I realize that there is yet so much to say and do. There is just no time to look back, no time to wonder,"Will anyone read these pages?"

With regards,
Hemen Parekh
27 June 2013

Now as I approach my 90th birthday ( 27 June 2023 ) , I invite you to visit my Digital Avatar ( www.hemenparekh.ai ) – and continue chatting with me , even when I am no more here physically

Tuesday, 5 March 2024

Postman to deliver Sun-shine ?

 


 

Context :

Postal Department to register consumers for rooftop solar energy scheme   … 01 March 2024

Extract :

The Department of Posts will register consumers who want to put up rooftop solar panels at their house under

 the “Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana”.

Senior Superintendent of Post Offices, Coimbatore Division, Gopalan, told The Hindu postmen will register the names of the interested consumers in urban and rural areas of the division till March 8 and officials from the Department will get in touch with the consumers to enable them to set up the rooftop panels.

The plan is to register about two lakh beneficiaries in the west zone of the Postal Department in Tamil Nadu, including about 25,000 in Coimbatore division, he said. The postmen were already registering for the scheme in the division.

 

India Post Promotes Rooftop Solar Scheme

Extract :

To spread awareness, postal staff like postmen and village postmen would be conducting door-to-door surveys to identify potential registrants. They would explain the subsidies, costs, technical requirements and long-term savings from adopting solar using informational pamphlets. Willing households can submit registration documents like ID proof, electricity bill and roof photos on the portal with postal department assistance. This facilitates faster approval and installation while addressing consumer concerns.

My Take :

Dear Shri R K Singhji ,

Congratulations for roping in the postmen for visiting homes and “ Registering “ ( - I presume , through their mobiles accessing SuryaGharYojana web site ) /  159,000 post offices / 167,000 employees   

I urge you to consider my following suggestion re : these postmen ALSO “ registering “ those households for bank loans – even though , as per procedure , the loan disbursement may take place only AFTER the actual RTS installation / net-metering linkage with DISCOM / installation certificate upload. Just imagine the loan delivered at the doorstep of a household – with no searching involved !

Another suggestion :

In a number of my earlier emails, I have pointed out that , in multi-storied buildings of towns / cities, there is just enough terrace area to serve 3 Kw RTS installations, for 10 % of the flats . This is the biggest hurdle in adoption of Surya Ghar scheme in urban areas

To ( partially ) overcome this , I had suggested extending the terrace slab on all 4 sides as a cantilever structure . This suggestion can be also applied to parapets at each floor. Currently the parapets in city buildings are barely 2 feet – 3 feet wide. I suggest that you persuade Housing Minister to amend the Building Code and advise all State Governments ( and Municipalities ) to mandate that , in all new buildings, parapets at each floor shall be 4 feet wide. This suggestion is in line with the following recent directive of the Assam Govt. :

Assam government announces mandatory rooftop solar panels    12 Feb 2024

Extract :

The Assam government has announced mandatory installation of rooftop solar panels in all new buildings in the state.

This was announced by Assam finance minister Ajanta Neog in her budget speech on Monday (February 12).

She said:

“All new buildings (private and public) to be constructed in Assam shall mandatorily install roof-top solar facility.”

 

Our government shall come up with a new legislation to this effect during the current year,” said Ajanta Neog (  ajanta.neog.golaghat@gmail.com )  in her budget speech.

he Assam finance minister further said that the state government will implement Pradhan Mantri Suryodaya Yojana, a central government scheme, with a target to install rooftop solar systems in households.

“Our government will also implement this eco-friendly scheme by contributing the corresponding state share,” said Assam finance minister Ajanta Neog.

 

                                 

This will enable 60 cell residential Solar Panels ( which are 3.3 feet wide x 5.6 feet long ), to be installed on parapets. I realize that this is not as good a solution as installing Solar Trees , suggested in my earlier blog , but it may still help some more flat-owners to avail of this scheme

With regards,

Hemen Parekh

www.HemenParekh.ai  /  06 March 2024

 

 Related Reading :

Ø  Is Sun setting on Solar ?  ………………..  20 Sept 2018

 

Extract :

What is required to be done ?

#   Solar Bank will finance Roof Top projects at 2 % interest rate ( to replace 70 % Bank funding of 15 %

    interest rate ) . This will accelerate installations to exceed the targets . 

#  Solar Bank to tie up with India Post Payment Bank to extend such loans through its network of 145,000

    Post offices

#   Solar Bank will extend such loans to EV Battery Charging Stations which do not draw power from the grid

     but generate their own solar power

#   It should be made mandatory for all those 22 million Affordable Houses ( also targeted for 2022 )

     to have pre-installed Roof Top Solar plants , before handing over to the occupants

            

 

 

 

 

 

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