Government schools in Delhi are eyeing substantial revenue, apart from considerable reduction in electrical energy bills, as they start off earning revenue by promoting electrical energy generated by the rooftop solar systems installed on their buildings. Under the Centre’s scheme for government creating solarisation, the Delhi government has created more than 21 mega-watt (MW) of solar rooftop plants on 150 government schools. These are anticipated to save about Rs 8.8 crore on their electrical energy bills cumulatively every year, apart from earning Rs 8.5 crore from promoting energy.
The rooftop plants are becoming installed below the ‘Resco’ model, wherein solar projects are constructed and operated by the developer employing its personal capital, taking the financing burden off from the schools. The developer will get Rs 3.13 for each and every unit of electrical energy becoming generated by the rooftop plants from the schools. The price is 65% reduced than the electrical energy tariffs paid by the schools to the energy distribution firms (discoms). For any surplus energy generated, the discoms would get the electrical energy from the schools at Rs 5.65 per unit.
As customers globally are steadily becoming ‘prosumers’ — these who create power, consume a aspect of it and also give a aspect to the grid — Delhi schools are taking up this chance to create green power and increase their finances. One kilowatt (kW) of rooftop solar installation requires about 10 square metres of shadow-no cost surface region. Among the Delhi schools, the biggest rooftop solar plants have been set up in West Vinod Nagar (195 kW), Rohini (170 kW), Rouse Avenue (150 kW), East Vinod Nagar (146 kW) and Rajokari (127 kW).
Incidentally, West Vinod Nagar presently homes the biggest solar rooftop plant on a government college in the nation. “Our projects would cumulatively save 63,000 tonne of CO2 over the life of the projects, and contribute significantly to Delhi’s and India’s rooftop solarisation targets,” stated Sharavan Sampath, CEO of Oakridge Energy, which is one particular of the main developers in the government college solarisation tender and has installed solar units in the West Vinod Nagar college.
The projects are becoming constructed below the Central government scheme for solarising government buildings, exactly where the Centre pays 25% of the capital expense upfront. Out of the total solar capacity of 36,910 MW, only 3,402 MW presently comes from rooftop solar. The government aims to have 40,000 MW of rooftop solar capacity by 2022. To market the uptake of rooftop solar, the central government in February authorized the second phase of the grid connected rooftop solar programme. The new scheme offers a central monetary help of Rs 11,814 crore to provide funding for 20-40% of rooftop solar expense, based on the size of the installation.