To encourage the use of solar energy, the government will soon announce a scheme by which it will bear 30 per cent of the cost of generating it on household rooftops.
The subsidy could later go up to 50 per cent if all states pursue the scheme vigorously.
Solar energy is
generated through rooftop solar photovoltaic panels that can be connected to an electricity grid — widely prevalent in Germany and Spain — or to a few homes through a battery as in Gandhi-nagar, Gujarat.
Aimed at giving a fillip to Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM), the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) hopes to generate 1,000 MW of solar energy by 2013 and 20,000 MW by 2022. “The new guidelines having the subsidy component will be notified by next month,” B Bhargava, Director JNNSM told HT.
In states like Gujarat and West Bengal the state government is already providing 20 per cent subsidy — this would be an addition.
So far, response of citizens to generate roof top solar energy has been poor because of high cost of solar photovoltaic panels. North Delhi Power Limited initiated one such programme in 2009 but not even a single citizen came forward.