In many countries it is now possible to feed electricity from solar roof top systems into the grid. What that means is you put up a solar photovoltaic (PV) panel on your roof and when it produces more electricity than you need you can sell it to your utility for a fixed price. The consumer becomes a producer and one can actually make money instead of paying the electricity bills. This mechanism is called ‘net-metering’.

In the end of last year the Ministry for Renewable Energy (MNRE) asked theCentral Electricity Authority (CEA) to work out a protocol for how to adopt net-metering in India (http://panchabuta.com/2011/12/22/mnre-has-asked-the-cea-to-develop-a-protocol-for-grid-connectivity-to-enable-rooftop-solar-in-india/).

However, the Delhi state government recently seems to have given up on the plans for roof-top solar feeding power to the grid (http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-02-09/news/31042125_1_solar-power-solar-project-solar-policy). The idea was to have 1 MW of solar systems up on roof-tops of buildings in the capital but part of the plan has been scrapped for fears that people with solar PV systems may run diesel or gas generators instead to feed power into the grid and profit from any difference.

The risk of some installers trying to get undue gains from the policy is something that must be kept in mind but by admitting defeat it seems as if the Delhi Government is just out of ideas. If the risk is production from alternate sources such as diesel, then there must be other ways to address the weakness.

Read the complete post at: http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/blogs/dearth-ideas