That Space On Your Roof Can Save You Millions

 

While the government has been aggressive on promoting the use of solar energy, the regulations and the process for grid connections and net metering still remain a huge challenge for the consumers in the city.

Solar energy is the cheapest and most practical way for people to self-sustain their power needs. Harnessing this natural source can actually result in additional income and tangible savings for the consumer and yet there is negligent awareness with respect to this goldmine.

A simple and practical way is to adopt Net Metering.

This concept involves converting a simple 100 sqft + rooftop into a solar plant that can then go on to generate what you need as well as produce the surplus that you can sell back to the power authority.

What is Net Metering?

It is a continuous process through which the energy consumed and produced by a solar-powered house/building is tracked. Through this, a consumer can feed surplus power to the state power supply and the excess power produced results in a credit on the consumers power bill.

This credit is carried forward to the next billing cycle of the consumer and deducted from his total power bill. Hence, it helps reduce the costs of the household or commercial complex significantly as one only pays for the units consumed through the utility grid.

Benefits of installing a net metering system in your building/ house.

• Needs fewer resources
• Reduction in Power bill
• Low Maintenance
• Improved Energy Utilisation
• Lower per-capita energy footprint.

“Pune has the capacity to harness sunlight almost 360 days in a year, therefore such initiatives can be started in the city for adequate and sustainable development,” says Prakash Mankar, Active Citizen.

Solar plants generate electricity during the day and consumers can choose whether to use the power or not. They can also send the produced power to the grid, and the generated power can be used during the night.

“The Government has already announced subsidies for the installation of solar plants for non-commercial and non-industrial consumers, to enhance solar adoption on a large scale, which in turn will also provide help protect the environment.

The obvious lack of awareness of consumers is thanks to the State Electricity Distribution Companies who do not encourage this, since they will have to bear huge losses, if the state or our city decides to go solar,” Mankar adds.

Amit Fadke, Social Activist, “Solar Energy is not only a renewable source of energy but also a clean source which will also help reduce pollution- a major cause of concern in the city.

Apart from earning and saving on power bills, the significant advantage for citizens is becoming totally self-sufficient with regards to their power consumption needs.

“Solar projects are installed within few weeks and are very low on maintenance and performance monitoring. Capital subsidies are already available by the government to promote more people to move to solar.

However, the procedure to avail this subsidy is extremely tedious and must be simplified.

“The government needs to expedite the process with respect to net metering, as many of the city building societies have their applications pending for the past few months,” Fadke adds.

A Senior analyst from a city-based NGO says, “Consumption of Electricity has shown a sharp increase sky over the past few decades in comparison to the consumption in the 1970s. T

The demand for electricity has been increasing constantly and generating power is majorly focussed on thermal burning and natural gas thereby warming our planet even more. When a power plant is set up, it requires a huge place and a lot of forest cover is lost in the city.

A solar plant is easy to set-up and low on maintenance. The Indian government has already been spreading awareness on the use of solar energy as a clean source of energy. Additionally subsidies and lower prices have helped though that needs more streamlining and faster processing and the authorities need to work on this aspect.

Jayprakash Diwakar, Businessman says, “Urban homes and societies have been very enthusiastic about utilising the solar power. Our society has installed a solar plant a year back and we’ve saved 80% on our bills.” If businesses wanted to harvest solar power to power their offices and facilities, also looking into comparison sites similar to Utility Bidder, to find the best energy deal could save businesses as well as households further money they would otherwise be spending on their bills.

The demand for electricity is increasing constantly, and installing solar plants is not only cost effective but a small contribution from the society towards the environment.

The government has already done a fantastic job by reducing the price and subsidising it. It not entirely government’s responsibility about spreading awareness, citizens should also spread the word about their experience after installing solar plant.

Members of our societies have been very regular with spreading awareness in the neighbouring societies and 5 of them have already applied for installing solar plants, Diwakar adds.

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