With over 300 sunny days in most locations throughout the year, India is an ideal country when it comes to solar energy. It is because of this tremendous solar potential that the Central Government has set a target of achieving at least 100GW of installed capacity from solar in a bid to move towards renewable sources of energy. While this 100GW is to be achieved in defined proportions from rooftop solar and ground mounted solar, solar as a fundamental technology works identically for both the cases.

How is solar energy produced?

Solar PV (Photovoltaic) modules, which contain cells which are connected in series, are typically placed on rooftops or ground. When the sun rays strike them, they convert sunlight into direct current (DC) electricity. Since our home appliances run on alternating current (AC), it is mandatory to convert this generated DC power into AC. This is achieved by installing an Inverter. The output of the inverter is generally connected to the building mains.

But for large consumers like commercial or industrial buildings, where the solar system size is bigger, say more than 100kW, we may need to step up the voltage to 11kv or 33kV by using a step-up transformer. In this case, the output of the inverter is connected to a step-up transformer and the output from the transformer is connected at the main HT panel (11/33kV). In India, there are generally three types of solar systems that are most common: Grid Connected, Off Grid and Hybrid.

Types of solar systems:

1. Grid connected systems also known as on-grid systems, are connected to the building mains and supply power to the connected load as long as the grid is energized. Priority is first given to the generated solar power and only if the consumption is more than the generation of the solar system, is the grid power sourced. Solar inverters come with a special security feature called Islanding protection that prevents backflow of solar power to the grid, in the event of a grid failure.  If you opt for a grid connected solar system, you are eligible to make an arrangement called Net-Metering. This is a special arrangement with the approval of your local Distribution Company (DISCOM) that allows you to optimize the utilization of generated solar power. With net metering, the extra solar power generated is fed back into the grid, and the customer is accordingly compensated by the DISCOM.
2. Off-grid solar systems are set up independently from the state grid. Here generated solar power can be supplied to the dedicated load with the help of a battery backup system. When generated solar power is more than the load requirement, extra power can be stored in the battery and the same power can be utilized in the event of low generation or during non-generation hours. Off-grid systems generally are less efficient than the on grid systems and are more expensive, requiring the battery to be replaced every 5 years. These are recommended only for areas where there is no power or a very erratic power supply.
3. A hybrid system, as the name suggests, is a combination of on-grid and off-grid solar system. A hybrid solar system has a battery bank with an inverter which can work as an on grid as well as an off-grid system. Generated solar power can be utilized to supply connected load or for charging the battery bank. Just like an on-grid system, any extra power generated by the hybrid system can be supplied back to grid, if the battery is fully charged. In the event of grid failure, just like an off-grid system, the energy stored in storage batteries can be utilized for supplying to the dedicated load connected to the system. Hybrid systems can also have other sources of power such as DG or wind alongside solar and grid.

Let's Talk about the Technology Involved in Solar:

Taking a little deeper dive into technology, we can broadly categorize Solar PV into crystalline silicon and thin film. Crystalline Silicon can be further categorized into mono and multi-crystalline silicon whereas thin film can be categorized as amorphous silicon, Cd-Te (Cadmium Telluride), CIGS (Copper Indium Gallium), CIG (Copper Indium Gallium) etc. The main difference between these is the material that they use as well as their manufacturing processes. Generally, multi-crystalline silicon is used in most solar systems and has a proven generation record of more than 30 years. Multi-crystalline comprises of 80-85% of the overall market share.

If you are considering going for solar at your home, office, industrial or commercial building, there are also a couple of ownership models that you can choose from. You can choose to install and own the solar system (CAPEX Model) or just purchase the solar power from a system owned by a third-party/ individual and you only have to pay for the energy consumed at the rate that has been contractually agreed. In case you wish to own the system, you will have to bear the cost of the system, there are however numerous bank financing options available (RESCO Model). In case you decide to only buy solar power, you will have to lease out your rooftop/ ground area to the third-party that you sign the contract with.

With options galore and cost for going solar coming down substantially in the last few years, there is absolutely no excuse for you to not go solar. The grid tariffs are set to continue to rise over the next several years, and solar gives you the luxury of a low fixed tariff, prompting major savings on your electricity bill, over the next 25 years. Going solar is like discovering a pot of gold, especially for industrial and commercial users. Since solar requires negligible maintenance too, it is as good as planting a tree and enjoying the benefits of it for several years to come. What’s more is that you make your contribution towards reducing the carbon footprint and set an example before everyone prompting the march towards solarization.

image source: energynext

Industries constitute more than 45% of the electricity consumption in India. The landed electricity tariff for industries on an average is 6 Rs./unit. (Industries have two types of customers, viz., LT and HT. LT is 400 V and below and HT is 11 kV and above. Bulk of the industry buyers of electricity are in HT segment. The highest tariff is in Maharashtra at Rs.7.48/kWh. At second spot is Delhi where the tariff for HT customers is Rs.7.25/kWh. The tariff for LT customers is higher but their share in the overall consumption is only 6% in India as compared to 21% for HT. In LT segment as well the highest tariff is in Delhi (Rs.9/kWh) followed by Maharashtra at Rs.7.60/kWh and UP at Rs.7.30/kWh). Bulk of electricity in India is generated from power plants based on coal. As the cost of coal, transportation, labour and disposal of ash increases y-o-y, an annual increase of 4% in electricity tariff is expected and the same has been the trend historically too. Industrial and Commercial consumers will continue to cross-subsidize domestic and agricultural sectors.

Most industrial consumers have large connected loads and many of them partially or fully use their power requirement through diesel generators. These industries have big enough rooftops suitable for 100-300-500 KWp solar installation. They also have a variety of loads, some of which cater to the process requirement which cannot be compromised and others are office and building loads. A rooftop solar plant can be connected to the LT side or through a smart controller to diesel generator which either reduces the total import of electricity or reduces consumption of diesel or both.

If the industry has larger roof-top then even more than 1 MWp capacity can also be installed either under net metering policy or as a captive power plant. As captive power producer, the industry can also claim accelerated depreciation if it is a profit earning entity, which further increases the viability and savings from solar. They can also earn some Solar RECs which can be traded in power exchange at the market rate. In case, the industry is one of the obligated entities the units consumed by it can be offset from its total obligation. Thus, solar shall not be regarded just as a clean and green energy but as a viable energy alternative which provides a good hedging to the certainty in electricity rate increase in future and saves energy cost for the industries. As far as exact savings from solar is concerned, the situation is no-size-fits-all. Each state has its solar policy and as per their solar policy they stipulate following things:

• Wheeling charges
• Wheeling losses
• Cross Subsidy Surcharge
• Banking charge
• Time of day charge
• Electricity duty
• What percentage of solar capacity is allowed for an existing customer
• Metering point and metering details
• SLDC charges

On top of above, it is the location of the consumer which will decide the solar yield and hence the economics. Besides economics, it also helps in energy security and sends a message to the customers of industry on its readiness to adopt environment-friendly technologies.

Three key things, that I would suggest to take note when deciding upon going with a rooftop solar PV plant for your industry or commercial building are:

1. While deciding on the capacity to be installed, 25-30% of the overall average load is the safe bet.
2. Some industries are reluctant to spend capex and often want solar power under open access. This alternative shall be evaluated in totality as the open access charges are normally to be paid by the consumer and may upset the economics of solar vs. grid power. Also, some discoms are reluctant to grant permission for solar installation as they do not want to lose prized customers.
3. Electricity Duty has to be considered while evaluating the financial proposal as despite not using the state grid this charge is payable on each unit of solar electricity consumed by industry. Some states have waived it for solar under their policy for a definite period though.

This article has been contributed by Dr Amitabh Verma, CTO at Solar Power Aditya Birla. He has lead projects in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Telangana etc adding up to a capacity of 80 MW in total. He is a dear contributor at MYSUN as a guest author.

Image source: RMI Outlet

After the Cochin airport famously went 100% solar, Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport has joined the list of airports in India to sport a rooftop solar. The Airport Authority of India, responsible for pushing this initiative has commissioned a grid connected 700 kWp rooftop plant at the Ahmedabad Airport. Incidentally, the 700 kWp plant is the largest rooftop project commissioned in Ahmedabad, which is likely to set an example for other major Commercial and Industrial players. The power produced by this solar plant will be utilized to power the Terminal 1 building.

Just like most of the rooftop plants in India, the rooftop plant at the Ahmedabad airport has a Net Metering system, which allows all the unutilised power that the system has generated to be fed back into the state grid. With the announcement made to solarise at least 7000 Railways Stations in the Union Budget, it is nice to see that the government and public utility spaces are looking to solar rooftop in helping the country reach the target of 40GW for rooftop solar by 2022. Other than the airports in Cochin and Ahmedabad, several other airports such as those in Delhi, Hyderabad, Kisangarh, Chandigarh etc have installed solar power plants.

MYSUN's View: We at MYSUN believe that this is indeed a positive step. With large empty spaces on the field as well as big rooftops and large electricity requirements, airports are ideal sites for solar installations. With a power requirement of 24x7, solar can actually play a crucial role in not just supplying a large part of this power but also reducing the electricity bills of these buildings. Beyond this, having rooftop solar installed at airports is a great advertisement for the power of solar and works as a great real-time demonstration to the travelers, who would definitely get inspired to replicate the same at their homes and in their workplaces. We would like to see all the airports take to rooftop solar and earn the benefits that the solution brings to the table.

If you are remotely attached to or like to keep up-to-date with the world of solar or aeronautics, there is a good chance you would have heard the name of Solar Impulse. Just to refresh memories, Solar Impulse is a Long Range (LR) solar-powered aircraft project with the aim to demonstrate the extraordinary capability of completing a circumnavigation of the earth using a fixed wing plane powered only by solar cells and therefore bringing glory to the name of renewable and solar energy in particular.

As the name suggests, the Solar Impulse 1 was the first to be built and was a demonstration aircraft capable of flying for about 36 hours. It was a monoplane and flew for the first time in a test flight in December 2009. The Solar Impulse project is piloted expertly by the Swiss Engineer André Borschberg and a Swiss psychiatrist Bertrand Piccard. They had initiated the project all the way back in 2003 and by the time the aircraft took flight, the Solar Impulse team comprised of 50 engineers, 100 advisers and about 80 partners. As most projects of this scale, the project is part funded by the Swiss Government and part by private firms such as ABB, Schindler, etc. to name a few. The wingspan of the Solar Impulse 1 was about 63.4 meters with a maximum takeoff weight of 4,400 lb. The aircraft is capable of a cruise speed of 70 kmph with a service ceiling of 8,500m. The first international flight of the Solar Impulse 1 was on May 13, 2011 when the aircraft flew from Switzerland to Brussels in Belgium in 13 hours. In command of the aircraft was André Borschberg at a cruising speed of 50kmph. In comparison to this, a cross-Atlantic flight taken by a Boeing 777 cruises at a speed of about 1000kmph at a service altitude of about 35,000 feet with a positive tailwind. The slow cruising speed of the aircraft meant that it was declared unfit to fly in adverse flight conditions and air traffic had to be routed around the slow moving machine, were among the other challenges it faced. Despite this the aircraft completed its first intercontinental flight in 2012 and then went on to cross the United States in 2013.

Solar Impulse 2 registered as HB-SIB is the successor to the Impulse 2 and took its first flight on June 2, 2014 from the Payerne Air Base. The aircraft featured a larger wingspan at 71.9 meter and a faster cruise speed of 90kmph. The service ceiling of the plane though was same as that of the Impulse 1 at 8,500m. Being a more powerful aircraft than the Solar Impulse 1, the HB-SIB started the circumnavigation around the earth on March 9, 2015. The program was delayed by about 3 years due to a structural failure. The journey around the world began from Abu Dhabi. The Solar Impulse flew primarily in the Northern Hemisphere with 12 planned stops, closely monitored by a control center established in Monaco. The aircraft flew day and night, usually slower at night to conserve power and with pilots alternating between the stops. Poor weather conditions over Pacific and issues with batteries meant that the aircraft took 17 stages to complete the round around the world. It landed in Abu Dhabi back on July 26, 2016.

In the process, the Solar Impulse 2 set several records such as being the first fixed wing-solar powered manned aircraft to circumnavigate the earth. It's flight from Japan to Hawaii lasting 117 hours, 52 minutes covering a distance of 7212km is the longest solar-powered flight, by time and distance. Next challenge up for the Solar Impulse team is to develop an unmanned solar power aircraft and contribute to the fields of communication, observation and surveillance. It is expected the first test flight will be ready by the year 2019.

MYSUN’s take: One of the founders of the program, Swiss psychiatrist Bertrand Piccard rightly mentioned that “Our goal is to create a revolution in the minds of people...to promote solar energies – not necessarily a revolution in aviation." At MYSUN we strongly believe that by powering an aircraft that is capable of going around the planet, the project very aptly demonstrates the power of solar. We have already seen spacecraft and satellites using solar cells for power so there is little doubting on the capability of solar. With the cost of building a solar system coming down and government giving the right push, it is clear that solar will emerge as a primary source of power capable of combatting the acute power shortage that our country faces. It is therefore, a matter of when rather than if solar will go mainstream.

Audience like you can play a vital role by becoming a solar ambassador and sharing such unique and powerful applications of solar and motivating your friends, colleagues and family members to take action. So make sure to use the share buttons and bring the right awareness around and motivate those you know to start their solar journey.

When solar system designers estimate the energy generation potential for your rooftop solar system they generally apply the same system design rules as they would do for large-scale ground-mounted systems. As a result, when the system starts generating, the actual generation falls short of the predicted numbers, leading to dissatisfied and unhappy consumers. In this blog, we not only try to explain why perhaps your rooftop solar systems are generating less but also tell you how a good system design can ensure that the solar system on your roof performs equal to or in some cases, even better than the large ground mount systems. First, lets try to understand the reasons or factors that could be leading to lower generation. Some of them may be beyond our control but many can be controlled through good engineering, project execution and O&M practices.

Factors that may be beyond our control

• Roof orientation – In ground mount system we can optimize the orientation of the modules (Tilt angle and azimuth angle of module) in order to capture maximum solar irradiance whereas in rooftop (primarily in sloped roofs) installations, the angle and orientation of the roof may not be ideal in order to capture maximum solar irradiance.
• Availability of space – Due to space constraint in rooftop installations, solar system designers compromise with the ideal pitch (distance between two rows of solar panels) which leads to higher energy loss because of shading.
• Temperature and distance between Solar Panels and Roof – We know that solar photovoltaic modules have a negative temperature coefficient. In simple terms, this means that output of solar system decreases with increase in ambient temperature around the solar panel. If the solar panel is too close to the roof, there is less air-flow to cool down the solar cells, and therefore the ambient temperature around the panels tends to increase leading to a loss in generation. Ground mounted systems have a better ground clearance between the solar panel and ground, whereas rooftop systems sometimes are installed very close to the hot surface of roof and therefore the generation from rooftop systems is lowered further..
• Maintenance/ System oversight/ etc.-  Large ground mounted solar power plants normally have   better access to preventive and corrective maintenance activities as they can afford to have trained teams on the site. However, due to smaller system sizes in case of rooftops, it is not possible to keep full time on-site engineers. However, this situation can be improved by having a robust remote plant monitoring and analysis in place as well as having a firm O&M contract with the solar system installer.

Factors that can be controlled

Design & Engineering- This is one of the most important factors which is widely ignored by a majority of solar system installers.   A sound solar system design is a must to get the best possible performance from a rooftop solar system and most of the solar system installers lack in this area. A poor design leads to a substantial loss of generation and therefore impacts your savings and financial returns negatively. How do we ensure optimum solar system design and engineering?

• Site assessment – Site assessment is very critical for any solar installation whether it is a rooftop or ground mounted system. Ground mounted systems generally have a free horizon and no nearby shading objects whereas rooftops are prone to near and far shading objects like chimneys, overhead water tanks, air handling units, trees, nearby buildings, etc. In order to avoid the impact of these shading objects, a detailed shading analysis is required to find out best possible location on roof to install your solar system. If this analysis is not done properly, you may lose a large amount of generation. Do note that even a shade on 5% of a single module may lead to a 75-80% loss of generation in the solar string, which that that module is a part of. MYSUN takes a lot of pride in their detailed site assessment efforts. You can read more on it, in the Customer Services section here.

• Solar Plant Layout – The layouting and placement of solar equipment on your roof is extremely important for an optimum performance as the solar radiation is not uniform across the rooftop area. A proper layout can also help reduce the cost of your solar system. It is advisable to connect electrically those modules in same string which are prone to early shading compared to the other modules which are not. One should segregate the modules basis their current rating and try to keep modules with a narrow current range in one string. You can also put lower current rating strings in lesser solar access areas whereas higher current rated strings can be placed in higher solar access areas. This way, one can optimize the system output within the given rooftop circumstances. Ambient Solar Panel/Module temperature is a big concern for rooftop systems, so you should try to elevate your structure from roof surface to make a provision for proper air circulation in order to reduce module temperature and therefore get  better generation. Moreover, try to place inverters at a central location of module array area to minimize cable length which may further reduce your ohmic loss. In ground mounted system, we generally do not see such problems, as sites are quite open and have almost uniform solar irradiance.
• Selection of Equipment- If we select right equipment considering the local weather and site conditions, generation loss can be reduced. Solar modules with a better temperature coefficient can reduce your temperature loss, use of string inverter with multi MPPT can reduce mismatch and shading losses, use of appropriate size of cable can reduce your ohmic losses.

Execution- If you take care of a few small things during installation of your solar system, you can improve the performance.

• Segregate the modules on the basis of their current rating and try to put modules with similar current rating in one string. This would be helpful to reduce your module mismatch losses.
• Keep the provision of air circulation in order to control the module cell temperature in order to reduce losses due to temperature.
• Connect the early shadowing strings of array on separate MPPT and the strings shadowing later on a separate MPPT of inverter.
• Try to avoid any joints in the cable used in entire solar plant.
• Use adequate size and material of cable lugs to make electrical connections. Proper crimping tools should be used for crimping.
• All electrical connection should be air-tight to improve your plant availability.
• Use proper grounding of equipment and lightning arrestors.

Operation & Maintenance (O&M) - Though solar plants do not require much O&M , but a good planning and preventive schedule backed with a detailed plant performance data can help improve the generation significantly. In the case of large ground mounted solar power plants, the  systems are monitored and maintained by on-site skilled manpower, whereas rooftop systems lag in this regard, as most of them either do not have monitoring systems in place or do not get monitored at all. In absence of monitoring, it would be very tough to track plant performance closely and it may lead to a substantial loss of generation. We strongly recommend that each and every rooftop solar system, howsoever small in size, should use a data logger or a remote monitoring device. If we take care of simple things, generation can be improved significantly:

• Periodic cleaning of  Modules –  By cleaning of modules as per recommended cleaning cycle, we can easily increase our generation by 2-7% or even more depending on location of installation.
• Temporary shading object- Sometimes, we put some temporary objects like cables/ wires crossing across the roof, cloth stands, etc. which may cast shadow on modules and lead to generation loss.
• Visual inspection of panels for bird droppings, fallen leaves, dirt accumulation, cracks or any damage
• Inspections for Inverter function by observing the LED indication and Meters etc.

With the aforementioned pointers, we can say that there are certain constraints in roof top system design which may reduce the generation as compared to ground mounted systems, but if we do proper engineering and system designing and keep certain factors in our mind during installation and O&M, this gap can not only be eliminated but we can actually get a much higher performance from our rooftop solar system.

Run our Advanced Solar Calculator where you can change your roof area, shading, orientation and roof to check the generation that you can realistically expect from your rooftop solar system. Make sure you visit the MYSUN blog often and follow us on our Social media profiles to ensure that you keep up with more such interesting articles on rooftop solar.

With each sunrise, the deadline for achieving 40GW from the rooftop solar PV plants by 2022 edges closer. We have already seen states like Karnataka, Haryana and more recently, Assam set ambitious targets or open tenders in order to push the rooftop solar segment as close as possible to the target that has been set. Joining the aforementioned states is the state of Jammu & Kashmir, where, the Jammu & Kashmir Department of Science and Technology has announced a target of achieving at least 450MW of rooftop solar capacity by the year 2022.

The policy allows the interested residential, commercial or industrial building owners to install systems anywhere in the range of 1 kW to 1,000 kW on their rooftops. For government agencies, the upper limit of 1MW does not exist, and they can get an even larger sized plant installed. Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has designated Jammu and Kashmir Energy Development Agency as the agency to undertake the rooftop program and facilitate the sale of power to the state Distribution Company (DISCOM) using Net Metering. The announced policy shall remain applicable for the next 10 years and shall be implemented in accordance to the JKSERC (Jammu & Kashmir State Electricity Regulatory Commission) Regulations.

The best part about the policy is that it invites virtually all consumers, including individual households, industries, government and non- government bodies, commercial, industrial and residential complexes to participate in either a self-owned or through a third party owned Solar PV Net Metering based system. Therefore, you can either choose to install your own solar system or just purchase solar power. To better understand, which of the two options is more financially viable for you, you can always run the MYSUN Advanced Calculator for an instant snapshot, to help you make this decision.

Thanks to Net Metering, consumers who will generate surplus power will see the surplus power carried over on to the next month's bill and subsequently, at the end of the financial year, the surplus power will be compensated for. The policy also notifies that consumers who are interested in participating can approach the Department of Science & Technology or the Government of J&K of the grant of the applicable subsidy from MNRE. Jammu & Kashmir being a special category state, residential and institutional users can enjoy a subsidy of 70% of the solar system cost.

You can find the entire policy available on the JAKEDA site here.

The Finance Minister, Mr Arun Jaitley has just announced the Union budget for the year 2017-18. In the aftermath of demonetization, the budget was anticipated to bring relief to the lower middle class and the underprivileged. The budget is keenly focussed towards helping the rural sector, agricultural sector and re-energising the real estate sector. As expected Digital payments and Demonetisation are in the spotlight with the FM mandating that any transaction beyond Rs 3 lakh would not happen in cash. There is cheer for the middle class as IT rate is slashed from 10% to 5% for those in the slab of Rs 2,50,000 to Rs 5,00,000.

It was expected, given that the Government of India has been a huge propagator of solar power in the country that some announcements will be made to further push the adoption of solar, especially the distributed solar segment given that it is farthest away from the 40GW target by 2022. However, it is a rather dry budget for solar. A couple of announcements that were made included covering 7000 railway stations under the Solar Mission which would see the Railway Ministry target 1000 MW in the next 5 years, which would make Railways the largest solar power producer of the country.

The other important announcement was the Government's commitment towards another 20 GW of solar power under the phase 2 of the Solar Mission. It is not clear whether this 20 GW is an additional capacity to the 100GW capacity that has been earmarked for 2022 or is included in the same. It was later reported that this 20GW is to come from solar park development. Solar tempered glass, which is used in manufacturing cells and panels has been exempted from Customs Duty. There were quite a few interesting announcements that could have an indirect impact on solar. The FM announced a commitment towards building at least 1 crore new homes for the homeless by 2019. Since these homes would need to be electrified too, we believe that it should be made mandatory to use 1kW systems per house, which would automatically see the installed capacity of rooftop solar go up to 10GW. An important announcement regarding complete electrification of villages in India was made by May 2018 and it would not be far-fetched to think that solar could make a major contribution in achieving this via mini-grids and other smaller installations. In addition to it, there was a rationalization of corporate tax by 5% for smaller businesses as well as enhancement in MAT carry forward period from the current period of 10 years to 15 years bringing good news to smaller solar installers. This could give rise to a chain reaction where the installers could pass on some of the benefits to the end user too, leading towards lower system prices.

While the budget may have been rather dry for the renewables industry, there was enough included to keep everyone in the industry interested. Just to stay positive, we would hope that the lack of new announcements is down to the fact that the Ministry wants to focus upon correctly implementing the measures that were announced last year rather than just adding more schemes. We would have loved to see the Finance Minister slightly tweak his budget agenda to "Transform India with Clean Energy" from "Transform. Energise. Clean India."

Image source:Samriddhi.org

Assam Power Distribution Company Ltd (APDCL) has set a target of 250MW capacity of grid-connected solar rooftop plants in the state of Assam within the next 5 years. In an aim to make a stronger push in the direction of achieving that APDCL has appointed RECPDCL as the Project Management Consultant for implementing rooftop solar projects of 10MW capacity. As with every initiative to push solar, the aim here is to reduce the dependency on the fossil-based electricity and make the state as self-reliant as possible. Extra power produced by the plants set up under the scheme will be fed back to the grid.

On behalf of APDCL, RECPDC has invited bids in two categories from the interested solar companies. These bids are for the Category A and Category B, where Category A houses individual projects between 1 to 25 kWp and Category B has projects between 25 and 500 kWp. Both the categories has been tentatively assigned a capacity of 5MWp. It has been made mandatory that anyone who wishes to participate in the bidding has to bid for the category A and subsequently may decide to bid in category B. The tender will not cover government buildings, so the likes of Central or State Government offices, PSUs, Government Educational Institutes or Health institutes cannot be used for installing the panels. The eligible categories are: Residential, Institutional and Social Sector. The building details are below:

The projects will be based on CAPEX models and the bidders have until February 15th to send their bids in. It has been mandated that the project must be completed in 15 months post the date of the award. A single bidder can at best be awarded 40% of capacity in any of the two categories. Net metering and grid connectivity will be in accordance to the current regulatory commission guidelines. Project developers are not just expected to identify buildings and obtaining the requisite permissions, designing the system and commissioning it but also mandatorily have to supply services for maintenance of the plant for five years. A 70% Central Finance Assistance on the project cost is available for the developers except for the private, commercial and industrial sectors.

The tender joins the 1000MW tender floated by SECI as yet another strong example of the efforts that the various government agencies are making in order to make solar rooftop a household name. With APDCL making it compulsory for every bidder to participate in the Category A, it mandatorily pushes the propagation of smaller scale rooftop plants especially for the residential sector. We feel that it is a great initiative to ensure that small scale distributed solar is given a push to involve and bring on board smaller residential players. If you are reading this in Assam and would like to make the most of this opportunity, make sure that you Register your Rooftop with MYSUN so that when the developers are looking for the rooftops for the project, you are able to make the most of the opportunity.

Source
Image source: Energy Next

If you have been actively following the MYSUN blog, you would have come across Part 1 of our blog series on common myths around solar energy, specifically rooftop solar. The aim of doing these series of posts is to try and reason out and explain some of the common notions that people have in context of solar energy or solar system, or perhaps solar in general are incorrect. This is not to establish, that everything you know about or read about solar is inaccurate or incomplete but simply that everything that you hear may not be the most accurate version.

We captured five common myths and explained them in the first part of this article, and this new piece shall try and cater to five more such common misconceptions. For a more accurate take, you can always head over to our Solar Essentials page that has all the information you need before deciding to go solar. As Alan Watts puts it aptly, ‘A myth is an image in terms of which we try to make sense of the world’. So before you go about building your solar world based on perceptions, let’s address them logically one by one.

Myth 1) Solar panels will damage my roof:

We all love our houses and properties, in fact a lot of effort and financial resources have gone into building it. It would be foolishness to install something on top of it, which could lead to its damage or a collapse. Fortunately, installing a solar panel on the rooftop is not equivalent to landing a heavy chopper on your rooftop. There are various well-proven globally accepted norms for installing solar panels on rooftops without any damage to the roofs. Using mounting rails or even screwing(small puncture) methods have been used quite predominantly.But you should be careful while selecting your solar installer. Read more about different types of roofs and how solar panels can be safely mounted on them here. Most buildings built over the last 20-25 years can be assumed to be safe for installing solar panels. Moreover, if you need some unrelated repair work on the roofs in future, you can get the panels removed, do your repair work and re-install the solar panels. Panels are removable and hence can be easily removed if the roof is to be repaired. On the contrary, solar panels actually protect the roof which they cover from the forces of nature. Add to the fact there are no moving parts and no emission of harmful gasses, solar panels are perfectly safe for your roof.

Myth 2) Solar panels need a tracking system to follow the sun:

It is true that higher the exposure to the sun, higher would be yield from a solar system. However, a solar PV system can work perfectly efficiently without involving a tracking system. Observations show that a tracking system may increase the solar system efficiency by 15~20 % as compared to a fixed or seasonal tilt systems. However, this increment may not justify the additional expense for everyone. It is like adding spoilers to your car. No doubt that it will enhance the efficiency and get you better performance, but it is up to you to justify the additional cost for the benefit. Also, the tracking system needs higher maintenance and replacement cost due to the involvement of an increased number of moving parts.

Myth 3) Installing a solar panel/ system on my rooftop will make my house look ugly:

If you have spent plenty of hours with an architect getting the roof of your mansion, just perfect, it is justified that you are worried about looks. We agree that the thought of beauty being skin deep is not true for houses. However, with today’s technology and the right solar system design and choice of material and workmanship, the solar panels can be installed in a manner so as to ensure that they look great on your roof. Add to that the additional pride that you have of going ‘green’ which can definitely make your neighbors go ‘green’ with envy. Moreover, if you want to keep the look of the building pristine, you may want to consider thin film laminate based solar panels. These will make the panels look as though they are a part of the rooftop only rather than something constructed as an afterthought. Yes, these thin film laminates are more expensive than the usual choice of panels, but they would eventually add value to the property and not to forget, installing them would mean that they pay back the investment within their lifetime alone. There is obviously the option of a shingles like setup that Tesla has come up, more on which can be found here. So, if you are too conscious about the looks, there is a solution for that too, albeit a little expensive one.

Myth 4) When nobody has power at their house, I will have power:

As much as we would love for that fact that you have electricity 24x7 at your place, this myth is well, a myth. With a solar system installed, the only difference between the power that you and your neighbor, who does not have solar installed, is the source of generation. However, if there is a fault in the transmission line or the entire grid is down, and you are using a grid-tied solar system, you too will be forced to have a candle light dinner, with no power. If there is a maintenance work for example being held on the grid, you will not be left untouched by the same and sadly will have to fall back on the generator system to provide you with power till the grid is restored. However, if you are not connected to the grid or using a battery-backed solar system and the power is being supplied and consumed just by your house, you will have the power when the grid fails.

Myth 5) Chinese Solar Panels are bad and if you have them, they will fail:

This is a myth that extends from a reputation that has been built. We have heard the same story repeated in the world of electronics, especially phones, where Chinese phones are labeled as cheap devices, with a short lifespan. However, just like in electronics, even in solar, there are Chinese brands that are doing very well. For example, Growatt, a Chinese inverter manufacturing company has the highest market share in Australia when it comes to solar. Similarly, there are names like Trina and Yingli, which are very well trusted, globally. Just like any industry, there are good players and there are bad players, and that is why choosing a right supplier for the system is important, so that he will pay your faith back and not install a sub-standard system. We have spoken a bit more about the myth of Chinese solar products in our post here.

It is imperative to say here that you need to be diligent while selecting your solar system installer. Once that is done, please be rest assured that your investment in solar will be amongst your best investments ever. We at MYSUN are there to not only help you find the right solar installer but also be there on your side during the system design, construction and for the 25 years long life of your solar system.

With that, we round up our second post on the myths that surround solar. We hope, we are able to bring more and more clarity to you from the world of solar as the series is progressing. Do share your feedbacks, thoughts and comments with us, by mentioning them in the section below or catching us up on our social media profiles.

In a major move to push the adaptation of rooftop solar market and march towards the Solar Mission target of 40 GW by 2022, Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI) has floated a Request for Service (RfS) for implementing 1000 MW grid connected rooftop Solar PV systems for pre-identified central government owned buildings. The tender includes both CAPEX and RESCO models and invites bids from solar installers and developers from across all the states and Union Territories in India. This is by far the largest rooftop tender we have seen in India.

The news comes on the back of the 500 MW SECI rooftop tender that is offering a subsidy of up to 30% - 70% for residential, institutional and social customers for a limited period. Of the 500 MW on auction, 432 MW was awarded to 122 developers. You can read more about the 500 MW rooftop tender here.

Out of the 1000 MW, a capacity of 700 MW has been kept aside for the RESCO ownership model (also known as OPEX), where the developers will both, finance and own the solar system and in the process sell power to the government departments at a fixed cost as per a 25 year long PPA. The remaining 300MW has been allocated towards the CAPEX ownership model where the department or the building will purchase and setup the units on their own rooftops. The statewide bidding for the tender will see the bidders trying to match the lowest bid in their respective states. It is mandated that the winning bidders will sign the Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) and the Engineering Procurement Contracts (EPC) within six months and complete the construction, making the plant operational in 15 months time from the date they are awarded the contract.

SECI to its credit has already identified suitable rooftops for the program, with over 70% of the capacity being kept aside for the Ministry of Human Resources and Development. This would imply that maximum of the systems will be installed on educational and training institutes. Gujarat is expected to be a home to 267 MW of the capacity, with Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Delhi and Telangana providing a strong push too.

MYSUN’s take on this tender:

• 1GW addition to the solar rooftop market is a great start to 2017 and really sets the stage for more such projects for the year.
• Going by the last 500 MW tender, we expect the tariffs and price of the solar system to get even more competitive. This is primarily on three accounts - one, the module prices are expected to be low in the first half of the year and second, the interest rates are on a downward trajectory and third, the capital subsidy ranging between 35% - 90% earmarked for these projects.
• The largest factor will be the perceived offtaker risk. Since the offtakers, in this case, are government departments, the developers are expected to be a bit more aggressive while bidding.
• The tender allows 15 months from the award of the contract to complete project execution in comparison to only 12 months in the 500 MW tender. This is a welcome step since it will allow the installers and developers more time to better plan and execute the projects. However, unlike the 500 MW tender, the bidders who win in 1GW tender will not get full payments up front and the incentives will be released stepwise as the developer meets the timelines and targets.

More installations will add more confidence and faith into consumers when it comes to trusting rooftop solar. But for India to reach closer to its 40GW target, the government should not just rely on such tenders as most of these are subsidy based projects which mean there is a huge cost to the exchequer. We strongly believe that the government of India should put more focus on making buying and installation of solar systems simpler for consumers. That will have a spiraling effect on the entire rooftop solar market across consumer categories and will surely help India achieve its targets under the National Solar Mission.

Image Source: NPRI