SHILLONG: If all goes well, power will soon flow from rooftops as it does presently in the chief minister’s bungalow, but in a spirit of ‘give and take’.
Welcome to net metering, a solar incentive.
In an effort to create clean and green energy, the state government is all set to roll out grid-connected rooftop solar panels based on the success of its pilot project at the chief minister’s bungalow where the first net metering system has been installed.
“Under this project, the entire reading of power consumption and generation comes through a mobile app. This would be one of the few chief minister’s bungalows that is on net metering and will also be one of the few that is giving back power into the grid,” Conrad Sangma said.
The government hopes to generate 200 MW of solar energy in Shillong by installing rooftop solar panels through the ‘Rent a Roof’ scheme to ensure direct benefits to consumers.
The chief minister said that this financial year, the government intends to put up the system in 121 government buildings and the project has already been sanctioned by the Centre.
“If all the government colleges and buildings have this net metering system and every Saturday and Sunday, including holidays, if the power goes back into the grid, it will be a large contribution towards meeting the energy needs of the state,” Sangma said.
Typically, a solar power system produces more energy in summer and comparatively less energy in winter. Reports citing example say, if in summer, solar power generates 100 units and load requirement is 80 units, then 20 units can be fed back to the grid.
In winter, solar power generates only 60 units and load requirement is 80 units, then 20 units can be taken from the grid. Thus, overall excess generation from solar power system is taken care of and net units consumed from the grid become zero.
The abundance of water bodies in the state gives it an immense hydroelectric power potential and as on date, Meghalaya has a requirement of 1700 million watts (MW) but 970 MW are already harnessed.
To tide over the deficiency, the government is taking several initiatives to make the state self-sufficient in energy. Sangma said that hydropower is one of the main energy sources for the state in the future, but apart from that there is a lot of push to ensure that other sources of renewable energy are also tapped and one of them is solar energy.