Vast potential of rooftop solar in India

An overview on what measures, effective policy and stringent regulatory checks need to be put in to achieve the target of 40GW of rooftop solar by 2022

In order to achieve an ambitious target of 40GW of rooftop solar by 2022, an attempt to further boost India’s emerging green economy, the MNRE would try to impress upon the Reserve Bank of India for removal of the priority sector lending limit for the renewable energy sector. This will encourage the PSBs to lend more for renewable energy projects and help renewable energy developer’s access easy finance.

Additional measures need to be taken to achieve the target of 40GW
While the utility scale power plant, due to its advantages of economies of the scale, the rooftop market is yet to see the light of the day. One of the main reasons of this is the hindrance from the distribution companies and further lack of clear guidelines to them. Rooftop solar has its own advantages such as boosting the tail end voltage, reduction of T&D losses, reducing the burden on grid to name a few. Sunil Rathi, Director, Waaree Energies states, “With only 2 GW installed out of the 40 GW target, we believe that utility adoption and implementation need to be factored for. An effective policy and stringent regulatory checks need to be put in if we want to achieve the 40 GW rooftop target. Further, while the government has earmarked funds for rooftop power plants, it still remains to be seen how they reach the bottom of the pyramid efficiently and in the given time frame.”

Sudhir Garg, Director, Patanjali Renewable Energy Pvt. Ltd point out the five major challenges to be taken to achieve the target of 40GW of rooftop solar by 2022 are as follows:

• Awareness: Need of awareness programs among the domestic, commercial, industrial customers still required in more aggressive and focused manner.
• Financial: Finance support system should be made more easer for eligible and interested customers from banks or other financers.
• Ecosystem: Friendly ecosystem should be developed between DISCOMs and net meter customers.
• Operational: Net metering process should be made easier and faster. DISCOMs should appreciate this initiative.
• Technical: Stringent quality measures should be taken to ensure the reliability and life of the solar product available in the Indian market.
• Net-metering and flexible policies, enabler of rooftop solar

Net metering is an important enabler for rooftop solar, and its rollout in many states in the past 12 months has been a promising development. However, the implementation has been slow in some states, and it can take more number of days to actually get the permission, with very different processes in different states.

A standardised policy across India would be helpful. We need to have proper mechanism for speedy execution of the project According to Jeetendra Saraf, Founder, Newtronics Green Energy, “Involvement of too many government agencies such as MNRE, State Nodal Agency, Electrical Inspector, DISCOM, and PWD causes delay and demands unnecessary paper work. If MNRE and respective DISCOM are only involved with a single window clearance, it can simplify and speed up the target to achieve 40 GW by 2022.”

Siddharth Gangal, CEO, The Solar Labs, also voices the same opinion. He says, “The current policy for rooftop solar for consumers is too restrictive. Policy changes to accommodate flexibility for investors, rooftop providers, DISCOMs, to operate in new value loops, will go a long way to expedite net installations.” On the policy front that shows most promise is carbon tax. Implementing a consumption based, additional tax will nudge a lot of businesses towards alternate sources of cheaper electricity.
A lot of stakeholders in the ecosystem are ill prepared to handle this transition. Misinformed customers are taken ill-advantage of by solar developers in the market. Measures to bolster consumer support and strict monitoring will go a long way for long term reliability.

Investing in solar
The widespread adoption of solar is missing the mark due to one major roadblock-awareness. The real challenge before the government is to tackle the scepticism of people investing in something which they don’t understand. The forefront cost of investing in solar is what causes people to take a step backwards in solar investment.

Amit Bajpayee, Solar Energy Adviser, Agni Solar Systems Pvt Ltd says, “Two sure ways to tackle these problems is to create a provision of EMI’s and other financial options. The schemes which are already present must be advertised to a mass audience to reap benefits. Second is to increase solar literacy.” Consumers must first understand the technology, not just the technical specifications but also the financial options and payback timelines.

Moreover, Bajpayee continues to say that the secret is to try and sell the problem. The consumer is not going to pay attention to any product until and unless it solves their problem or make their life better. The government should focus on their schemes and awareness in rural areas where the electricity problems are severe.
Further, Low costs and easy finances must be availed to overcome the upfront costs. Also, there must be some tax breakers for those adopting solar and renewable technologies, as a customer moves fast with incentives. NP Ramesh, COO, Orb Energy says, “I also feel that idea of subsidiaries must be pulled off, as it doesn’t serve the purpose. It never reaches to the deserving and intended people.”

Smart modules contribution towards future
Smart modules refer to equipment that goes into people’s home along with an electricity meter. There lies a synergy for smart modules to be used when a rooftop solar project is installed. Bi-directional meters are used in rooftop solar projects, but are mostly not connected over the internet, nor transmit any data. Gangal says, “Smart meters that are approved by concerned nodal agencies will increase penetration at the customer’s expense. This is a highly desirable outcome for data platforms.”

Each smart module is equipped with real- time monitoring capabilities, allowing installers and system owners alike to access and analyze performance data through intuitive software. Saraf says, “Smart solar modules allow more modules per string reducing BOS costs and more efficient systems designs. Now days, the next technology on that mainstream path is half-cell designs. We predict the market share of half cells will grow from 5 per cent in 2018 to nearly 35 per cent in 2025.”

Smart modules have an extra upfront cost than the traditional solar panels, but there are numerous advantages. With traditional solar panels, there are numerous soft costs associated with installation. By purchasing smart modules, you reduce the cost of installation and time it takes to ship the two components separately. It also saves the installation time since the dealers won’t have to spend extra hours carrying separate parts on the roof and then assemble to make it a complete system.

Monitoring and predictive maintence
Smart modules have now gained some traction in the solar market, thanks to their added advantages. Rathi says, “Their enhanced performance in shadow, intra-module interference-less operation, reduction of conversion losses, easy monitoring and detection failure, has led to significant reduction in OPEX of the power plant while also increasing the financial gains to the end customer/investor.” Advantages like these shall enable the increased uptake of smart modules in the next few years.

According to Gangal when smart modules are deployed in sufficient numbers, the gathered data will enable decision making regarding pricing, demand and supply in real time. So to address demand, more of battery storage and rooftop solar projects can be targeted, efficiently. Smart modules help in predictive maintenance of rooftop solar projects. These modules have also helped develop AI driven tools. Such tools enable greater efficiency in the market, which expand market size.

Garg indicates, smart modules contribution for preparing the next generation rooftop solar projects is as follows:

• Greenery and solar PV Plant now can co-exist with the smart module technology. It will Increase power output and reduce the ROI (Return of Investment) time period.
• Huge reduction in overall cost of small capacity plants and increase in efficiency.
• Smart module technology is easy to install maintain and replace with less technical knowhow.
• To make it more popular, efforts is required to bring down the cost of smart module.

Also, the power optimisers located on the back of smart modules are easily detachable, which makes servicing your equipment relatively straightforward in the rare case that malfunctions occur. Bajpayee concluded by saying that solar technology is witnessing new inventions every day, smart modules increase the performance of solar panels by reducing the number of parts to manage.

Friendly ecosystem should be developed between DISCOMs and net meter customers
Sudhir Garg, Director, Patanjali Renewable Energy Pvt Ltd

Smart solar modules allow more modules per string reducing BOS costs and more efficient systems designs
Jeetendra Saraf, Founder, Newtronics Green Energy

Policy changes to accommodate flexibility for investors, rooftop providers, DISCOMs, to operate in new value loops, will go a long way to expedite net installations.
Siddharth Gangal, CEO, The Solar Labs

Consumers must first understand the technology, not just the technical specifications but also the financial options and payback timelines
Amit Bajpayee, Solar Energy Adviser, Agni Solar Systems Pvt Ltd

The idea of subsidiaries must be pulled off, as it doesn’t serve the purpose. It never reaches to the deserving and intended people
NP Ramesh, COO, Orb Energy

An effective policy and stringent regulatory checks need to be put in if we want to achieve the 40 GW rooftop target
Sunil Rathi, Director, Waaree Energies