NEW DELHI: Power discoms in Delhi are witnessing a “surge” in residential rooftop solar power connections, with more than half of over 3,700 net metering connections installed in recent years falling under this category, officials said. The BSES discoms have so far energised over 2,700 solar net metering connections in the city, with the highest number of rooftop solar connections in the residential segment (1,526) followed by educational (581) and commercial (473) segments.
“An analysis of data shows that highest number of rooftop solar net metering connections is in domestic segment. In fact, rooftop solar connection is a big hit among the central government housing society (CGHS) segment wherein around 90 societies and apartment complexes have opted for it with a sanctioned load of over 5 MWp,” he said.
The Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) had issued regulations on net metering for renewable energy in September 2014. The regulations allow registered customers to install renewable energy systems and the discoms will allow connectivity of these systems to their network through net meters. A Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TPDDL) spokesperson said the surge in domestic (residential) sector in this regard has been visible since 2017.
“The surge in domestic count can be observed since 2017, which is credited to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) subsidy scheme in Phase-I under which a customer is entitled to flat 30 per cent subsidy on solar plant cost,” he said. The TPDDL has so far installed nearly 1,000 rooftop solar net metering connections.
“In 2019-20, a total of 374 rooftop solar net metering customers were added that included 245 in domestic category,” a spokesperson said. A BSES spokesperson said the response to rooftop solar net metering has been “incredibly encouraging” and consumers across categories have warmed up to the concept in a big way.
Warning against flying kites
In view of the upcoming Raksha Bandhan and Independence Day celebrations, power discoms in Delhi
have advised people not to fly kites near electricity installations, saying metal-coated ‘manja’ thread may
cause electrocution and tripping of the supply network.