Gurgaon: The installed solar rooftop capacity of Gurgaon has increased by 60% in a year, from 25MW to 40MW (till March 2019). This data was shared by Haryana Department of Renewable Energy (HAREDA) officials at a solar meeting in the city, titled ‘debunking myths: solar rooftop for the resident sector’, on Wednesday. According to environment think-tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), this is a mere 2% of the city’s peak load.
At the meeting, CSE researchers batted for use of solar rooftop in place of generators in residential societies to reduce air pollution in Gurgaon. Hailing SRT as an “excellent non-polluting, cost-effective alternative”, they suggested that the deputy commisioner’s office should create a nodal office to monitor performance by all solar rooftop agencies and control consumer grievances against these agencies.
Moreover, CSE suggested that the government should focus on promotion of SRT to meet an aggressive target for the city — 250 MW by 2024. “Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) should partner with developers to create RESCO models (a zero-investment model in which consumer pays only for electricity generated) for RWAs to address financing concerns, and streamline net metering implementation which should be directly under the top DHBVN management,” said CSE’s Priyavrat Bhati.
Experts also elaborated on the state government’s solar policy, which was announced in 2016 and has set a target to achieve 4,000MW power generation in the next five years, of which 1,600MW would be through SRTs.
“As per an order issued in November 2018, the solar power users in Haryana can claim a rebate of Re 1 per unit for every unit of electricity generated. Moreover, they can claim additional rebate of Re 1 per unit if they have a solar rooftop set up with a battery back-up,” said Rameshwar Singh, the project officer of Haryana’s new and renewable energy department. Gurgaon records around 330 sunny days, with high-intensity solar radiations, every year, and has huge potential for solar power generation.
A press note issued by the CSE on the occasion of World Environment Day claimed that Gurgaon had numerous residential societies and high-rises, which promised 24/7 steady power supply with diesel generator (DG) support.
“Their impact on air quality has been severe. These DG sets are choking the city with their noxious fumes. The CSE’s assessment of the situation shows levels of PM2.5 and PM10 increase by two an dthree times, respectively, immediately after a DG set is operated. These levels are several notches higher than the safe limits for residents,” it said.
Shweta Miriam Koshy, a senior research associate with CSE (renewable energy), said, “In the long run, solar rooftop has clear economic advantages and environmental benefits compared to the polluting, expensive DG sets. Though solar by itself does not offer an alternative for DG sets during power cuts, it does minimise the use of the latter for regular, every-day power supply.”
Source: PTI
