Chandigarh’s administration has freed the city’s residents from obtaining clearance from the electricity department regarding the setup of power plant of up to 10kWp. This has enabled the easy setting up of rooftop solar power plants for its residents.
As per the Solar Rooftop and Metering Regulations 2015, of the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC), anyone planning to set up a rooftop solar power plant will need to submit an application which levies a fee of Rs 50 per kWp to the electricity department to obtain permission.
Once the electricity department has checked its feasibility, it will issue an approval letter or rejection to the applicant. Once permission is obtained, the applicant can set up the plant and submit the work completion report that confirms that the plant is installed as per the approved standards and specifications. Once the site has been verified by the department, the plant is can be commissioned for net metering.
As per Santosh Kumar, the UT director environment and CEO of the Chandigarh Renewal Energy, Science and Technology Promotion Society (CREST), “The UT adviser has given his approval for giving exemption to residents and the file has been sent to the UT administrator for final approval. Efforts are on for making the entire process hassle-free.”
To assist the residents, CREST has entrusted 27 agencies to set up rooftop grid solar photovoltaic (SPV) power plants on residential buildings. Apart from this the government is also offering a subsidy of 30 per cent for the installation of SPV power plants.
