GUWAHATI: As the State of Meghalaya suffers from at crisis of conventional electric energy, the state government has embarked on an overdrive to increase production of solar energy at the household level in the state to compensate to some extent for shortfall in supply of conventional electric energy.
Keeping this in mind, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangam launched the Meghalaya Roof Top Solar Portal of the Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited (MeECL) in Shillong on Thursday.
Meghalaya’s own hydropower generation plants can’t produce sufficient electricity to meet the consumption needs of the State and generating power from other alternative sources is less than one per cent therefore some of the quick ways to reduce power deficiency is being explored and solar energy production is now in focus.
Sangma said, “Meghalaya has a long way to go in generating energy from alternative sources. The state has the capacity and opportunity to harness solar energy, and this is where solar projects like these are important for us.”
Residents of Meghalaya installing rooftop solar energy panels will be able to do it with zero investment. They will get a 40 per cent subsidy from MNRE, 50% from the vendor and 10% from MePDCL.
Consumers who install solar panels will pay Rs 2 lesser electricity tariff to MeECL as compared to Rs 6 per unit that they are paying right now. When consumers are not using electricity from their household solar panels, they will earn Rs 1 per unit from MeECL. Consumers can apply for this Scheme through the unified solar rooftop portal,” informed the chief minister.