BENGALURU: Karnataka ranked number 1 in the State Rooftop Solar Attractiveness Index (SARAL), which was launched by Power Minister RK Singh on Wednesday. This was followed by Telangana, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.
The states were judged for their attractiveness for rooftop solar development, which was decided on five key aspects - robustness of policy framework, implementation environment and business ecosystem. Other states were encouraged to adopt the best practices being followed by top-ranking states.
Bangalore Electricity Supply Company is the nodal agency for installation of solar panels on the roofs of residential, commercial, educational and industrial buildings. A BESCOM official said, “We were the first distribution utility to implement the rooftop solar scheme in the state and also the first to implement net metering. This refers to storage of rooftop solar generated electricity which is used either for consumption or sent back to the grid, using a bi-directional meter. If it is the latter, the consumer essentially sells power back to the grid and earns from it.”
The Ministry of New Renewable Energy set a target of 2,400 megawatt of solar power generation by 2022.
“So far, BESCOM has achieved 125 megawatt. The simplified online application for consumers to apply for rooftop solar installation has made the approval process easier. We do a feasibility study and share the results on how to go about it.
We also launched CREST, a rooftop solar evaluation tool using Lidar technology, which tells us the potential of a rooftop,” the official added. The agency plans to launch the residential rooftop programme by 2020.“We have submitted a proposal to the Centre to provide financial assistance to encourage domestic consumers,” BESCOM said in a press statement.