Highlights

While openers like SRISTI scheme for rooftop solar and KUSUM for farmland solar are likely to give a promising start, their implementation on the ground will determine our winning trajectory this year. Simply going by the connotation of 6 balls an over in the game of Cricket, this article looks at 6 factors that will push India to achieve its 2022 solar target.

Ceiling tariff is fixed at Rs 3.13 per unit for the 30 MW grid-connected projects that are to be set up by state-run generators using domestically made equipment. The 940 KW of off-grid solar capacity is tendered under state budgetary support for year 2019-20.

Bidders can pitch for up to 300 MW of generation capacity per project with the deadline for proposals on February 4. The eighth tranche of inter-state transmission system program capacity offered by the Solar Energy Corporation of India comes with a solar energy price ceiling of Rs2.78/kWh.

Net metering benefits are now allowed across categories, including commercial and industrial consumers. Further, under net metering mechanism, consumption limit of 300 units for the residential category has been removed. This will help consumers set off their entire consumption against their system’s self-generation, benefiting them greatly.

Researchers at the American Institute of Physics have used the clear-sky irradiance model developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to measure the degradation rates of solar panels at a testing field in Germany over five years. The scientists say the model, when combined with real-world data, offers an efficient tool to evaluate the aging of PV technology.

Developers have until January 17 to submit bid for the grid-connected projects that are to be set up anywhere in India on build-own-operate basis. Tariff ceiling payable to the project developer is fixed at INR 2.78/KWh for 25 years.

The Gujarat-based power generator, which aspires to cross 100 MW capacity milestone in 2019-20, has touched 40.75 MW as an independent power producer and close to 4 MW as captive power producer.

Of these, 1633 charging stations will be fast charging stations and 1003 slow charging stations. With this, about 14,000 charging stations will be installed across the selected cities.

Ceiling tariff is revised to Rs 3.30 per unit for distributed solar projects that shall come up across 30 districts for giving day time power to agricultural consumers in the state. Individual project size is limited to 2-10 MW. Bidding closes on January 29.

Multidisciplinary research teams and linkages to industrial partners are highly encouraged. Project duration is 36 months. The deadline for submitting the applications is March 11, 2020.