With the swift advancement of
technology, the latest invention is creating solar energy from terrace tops.
This is one of the best ideas of space utilization wherein the terrace of
residential and commercial buildings can be used to generate solar power. This
Initiative is taken by the government of Gujarat which has aimed to launch two
pilot project in the state capital Gandhinagar.
Each of these projects will generate 5
MW of solar power and have aimed to work towards the extension of this service
to five other cities in the coming months. This project in Gandhinagar is the
first of its kind in the entire country as it also aims to create a mark for
the green energy generation at the household-level.
Gujarat has planned to merge Vadodara,
Mehsana, Rajkot, Bhavnagar and Surat together to take up the solar rooftop
power project with 30MW capacity. These project are still in the process of
functioning and will be taken up by the Gujarat Power Corporation (GPCL).
The
concept of micro generation in Gujarat:
The Gujarat Power Corporation (GOCL)
has approached various bidders who can purchase the request for proposal (RFP)
document for these five solar rooftop projects. However, the two pilot projects
are being developed under the public-partnership (PPP) model in a venture with
Azure Sun Energy. Since the initiation of PPP projects, the government to set
up the rooftop solar project in the other five cities.
How
does this project work?
The scheme allows the solar rooftop
project developer to build, finance, own, operate and maintain the solar
photovoltaic system units. These will be further connected to the state
electricity grid. To create the solar energy in rooftops, the project
developers will rent the rooftop of the housing societies along with commercial
establishments to launch their solar units. The generated power will then be
sold to the state electricity distribution company.
For setting up this project in Gandhinagar, a
sum of Rs. 3 per unit for the solar power generated will be paid as green
incentive and this has further, moved forward to the terraces of private homes,
commercial buildings and government property.
Talking about the mechanics of this
project, the photovoltaic modules which consists of an array of the solar cells
or the solar panels in the system converts the sunlight directly into the DC
power. This is further converted into AC power through an inverter. The project
in Gandhinagar Uses a special type of inverter which is known as the grid
interactive inverter. However, there is no provision yet to have the power flow
into the individual homes and the electrical grid simultaneously. Also for the
project in Gandhinagar, the GPCL has imposed certain restrictions related to
the age and the size of the buildings hosting solar power.
For the Gandhinagar pilot project,
GPCL had imposed certain restrictions on the age of size of buildings that will
host the solar panels. Likewise, buildings applying for the projects should not
be aged more than 8-10 years old and the minimum super built up area required
is 1500-2000 square feet. It is also said that the properties will not be
located in a commercial locality of a city or nearby a business district and
instead will be situated on an arterial road not less than 40 feet width. Both
the project developer and the property owner can take care of the maintenance.
Benefits
of the rooftop solar power generation:
A landlord renting out his rooftop for
solar power generation will make quite a handsome amount. The scheme lets the
owner to earn a green incentive calculated on a per-unit basis of power of the
generated solar power which automatically translates the power into direct
source which can be paid on a monthly or bi-monthly basis.
