The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved ‘PM-Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana’ with a total outlay of Rs 75,021 crore for installing rooftop solar and providing free electricity up to 300 units every month for one crore households. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the scheme on February 13 this year.
Addressing a press conference after a meeting of union cabinet, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said the initiative will give thrust to solar manufacturing and supply chain and provide direct employment to 17 lakh people.
“It will strengthen solar energy eco-system. It is estimated that the scheme will create around 17 lakh direct jobs in manufacturing, logistics, supply chain, sales, installation and other services,” he said.
An official press release by the union cabinet said that the scheme provides a Central Financial Assistance (CFA) of 60% of system cost for 2 kW systems and 40% of additional system cost for systems between 2 to 3 kW capacity. The CFA will be capped at 3 kW. At current benchmark prices, this will mean Rs 30,000 subsidy for 1 kW system, Rs 60,000 for 2 kW systems and Rs 78,000 for 3 kW systems or higher.
The households can apply for subsidy through the National Portal and will be able to select a suitable vendor for installing rooftop solar. The National Portal will assist the households in their decision-making process by providing relevant information such as appropriate system sizes, benefits calculator, vendor rating etc.
Households wanting to install rooftop solar panels under this scheme will be able to access collateral-free low-interest loan products of around 7% at present for installation of residential RTS systems up to 3 kW.
The National Portal will assist the households in their decision-making process by providing relevant information such as appropriate system sizes, benefits calculator, vendor rating.
Households will be able to access collateral-free low-interest loan products of around 7 per cent at present for installation of residential RTS systems up to 3 kW.
The press release added that a model solar village will be developed in each district of the country to act as a role model for adoption of rooftop solar in rural areas. The release said that urban local bodies and Panchayati Raj Institutions shall also benefit from incentives for promoting RTS installations in their areas.
The scheme provides a component for payment security for renewable energy service company (RESCO) based models as well as a fund for innovative projects in Residential Rooftop Solar.
As per the government, the households will be able to save electricity bills as well as earn additional income through sale of surplus power to DISCOMs through this scheme. “A 3 kW system will be able to generate more than 300 units a month on an average for a household,” the release said.
The proposed scheme will result in addition of 30 GW of solar capacity through rooftop solar in the residential sector, generating 1000 BUs of electricity and resulting in reduction of 720 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions over the 25-year lifetime of rooftop systems. It is estimated that the scheme will create around 17 lakh direct jobs in manufacturing, logistics, supply chain, sales, installation, O&M and other services.
Households can visit the website of the national portal to register for the scheme. After registering at the portal with relevant details like phone number, email, consumer account number allotted by the power distribution company etc, one needs to login to the portal, and apply for Roogtop Solar using the online form. After that, the DISCOM will conduct a feasibility study. After the company grants approval, the consumer can install the system through a registered vendor. After the installation is done, the household needs to submit the details of the system installed and apply for a net meter. After that, the DISCOM will install a net meter, and generate a commissioning certificate from the portal.
After this, the household needs to submit their bank account details through the portal. The Subsidy will be paid within 30 days.
Notably, net meter installed with solar plants allow households to sale excess electricity generated by the solar panels. When solar power generated is more than the consumed power in the house, the excess power flows into the grid. And if the consumption is more than the solar generation, and in night when there is no solar power, the house gets power from the grid. The meter keeps track of the electricity drawn from grid and contributed to the grid, and the bill is generated for the net power consumed.
