New Delhi: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday unveiled the Delhi Solar Policy 2024 and said domestic consumers will get zero amount electricity bills and the tariff for commercial and industrial consumers will be halved on the installation of rooftop solar panels.
According to the new policy, a residential consumer can also earn Rs 700-900 per month after installing rooftop solar panels as the government proposed to provide generation-based incentives (GBI).
Delving into the intricacies of the new solar policy, Kejriwal explained that a person consuming 400 units but generating 225 units from solar power will incur zero charges. This is because the consumption falls under the 200 units fully subsidised threshold in the national capital.
In a tweet, the chief minister said that under the policy, domestic consumers’ electricity bill amount will become zero and they will earn Rs 700 to 900 per month. Electricity bills of commercial and industrial consumers will be halved, he added.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government asserted that 70 percent of consumers in Delhi using less than 200 units per month already enjoy zero bills. The new policy extends the possibility of zero bills from the first month itself for partially-subsidised and unsubsidized consumers opting for rooftop solar panels.
Excess energy units left will be rolled over for up to 12 months. If the solar power generated exceeds the consumer’s annual electricity demand, they will earn money from the concerned distribution company (discom). The GBI amount will be adjusted against the monthly electricity bill, and any excess will be deposited into the consumer’s bank account by the power discom every month.
Mandating the installation of rooftop solar panels in the next three years for all government buildings with an area of 500 square metres is part of the new policy. Presently, Delhi’s solar power capacity is approximately 1,500 MW, including 250 MW from rooftop plants.
Chief Minister Kejriwal stated that the government aims to increase the total installed solar capacity of Delhi to 4,500 MW by March 2027, a threefold increase from the existing capacity. The goal is for around 20 percent of Delhi’s electricity consumption to come from solar power by 2027, making it one of the highest in India. The government has allocated Rs 570 crore for policy implementation.
The new policy introduces several features not present in the 2016 version, including revised GBI, rollover of excess energy units, and additional income. Residential consumers opting for rooftop solar panels will receive five financial incentives. The government will provide a GBI of Rs 3 for small rooftop plants (up to 3 kW) and Rs 2 for larger plants (3 to 10 kW) for five years from the date of installation.
Several hurdles in obtaining GBI have been removed under the new policy, and there is no longer a minimum generation condition to receive GBI, as was the case in the 2016 policy. The Delhi government will provide a capital subsidy of Rs 2,000 per kW to residential consumers for installation, over and above the central government’s subsidy.
In addition, residential consumers will receive a monthly income of Rs 700-900 through the Delhi government’s GBI, with a total return on investment (ROI) in four years. Commercial and industrial consumers, up to the first 200 MW of installations in Delhi, will also receive GBI for the first time, with an incentive of one rupee per unit of solar power generated for five years.
Apart from the benefits of net metering, rollover of excess units, and additional income, the policy offers innovative deployment models like community solar for consumers facing constraints in funds or rooftop space. The introduction of the peer-to-peer trading model in Delhi enables owners of solar energy systems to sell excess generated electricity in real time through a P2P energy trading platform.
Power Minister Atishi announced the development of a new single-window state portal, serving as a comprehensive information hub for the Delhi Solar Policy, covering benefits of solar plants, empanelled vendors, and more.