Jan 25 2011
The State Government of Tamil Nadu, India, is pondering to form a public policy to support power generation utilizing rooftop solar PV installations over private and public buildings. But the energy experts in the state are doubtful about achieving success through the policy due to high cost of solar power generation.
P W C Davidar, the energy secretary of the state, made a mention about the proposed policy in the inauguration of the three-day international energy conference arranged by the Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency (TEDA).
According to him, the electricity department of the state is preparing the details of the proposed policy. On completion of the proposals it will be sent to the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) for its approval to work out the tariff for such power generation. The outlined policy will allow the individual consumers to install rooftop power generation solar panels over their residences to generate the required power for their house and sell the balance power to the state utility company.
Nevertheless, people from the energy sector are uncertain about the success of the project. They are doubtful about the willingness of the domestic customers to pay more for the solar power generation from the average current tariff of Rs.3/- per unit to Rs.18/- per unit of solar power. Currently, the Central government subsidy is available only for group power generation and not for individuals and any attempt by the state government to bear the extra costs will only add up to the existing losses incurred by the Electricity Board of the state.