With over 300 city residents showing interest in installation of solar rooftop plants at their houses under Renewable Energy Service Company (Resco) model, the UT administration will ask the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) to allow it to go ahead with the model in the city.
Recently, on the directions of the JERC, the administration had started a demand survey. Though the process is still going on, over 300 people have already given consent for the model.
Debendra Dalai, director, Chandigarh Renewable Energy and Science and Technology Promotion Society (Crest), said they will seek permission of JERC for floating tender for installation of solar plants for the 300 applicants under the Resco model. Crest, the project’s nodal agency, had proposed the model after approval of UT administrator V P Singh Badnore as residents were wary of the initial capital investment.
Under the scheme, the agency will install 2,400-odd rooftop SPV power plants on the buildoperate-transfer (BOT) model on a first-come, first-served basis. The details and the application form are available on the website on www.solarchandigarh.com. The plant’s capacity will be 5 to 10kWp (kilowatts peak) for residential sectors.
Under the model, private companies will install solar-energy plants on private property, and in return, charge the building owner a much lower tariff (Rs 3.44 per unit) than the normal electricity rate (Rs 2.75 to Rs 5.20) for about 15 years (or whatever period is agreed in the tender). The house owner will then get the plant.
The building owner and the private company will sign a deal. The plant will be installed under the net metering mode, whereby a solar-energy unit will be connected to the building’s electricity system and the solar energy exported to the grid will be adjusted in terms of units imported from the electricity department during a billing cycle.
