February 25, 2015

In a workshop that was attended by 250 delegates comprising RWA officials, architects, corporate, industry, schools, NGOs and institutions, the scope and potential of Gurgaon to switch to solar energy was discussed. Titled “Energising Gurgaon Through Solar” the workshop discussed the New Solar Policy by the Haryana Government released in September 2014 as well as the issues, challenges and opportunities in solar. The workshop was organised at Artemis Hospital Gurgaon. Mr. Satyaprakash, DC Gurgaon talked about the need for RWAs to adopt solar. He also talked about creating a e-commerce platform which could act as a market place for solar companies and potential users. He was of a view that a technical workshop should be held with Hareda, DHBVNL as well as technical experts as a follow up to this workshop to iron out the technical impediments towards adopting solar. He also mentioned that Haryana solar policy should also be included in the municipal bye-laws. Dr. ArunTripathi, Director MNRE said that people should adopt solarisation with or without subsidies as solar costs are reducing drastically. He further informed that about 5 MW of solar installation in Haryana will avail a subsidy of 30 per cent. The subsidy wiill be reduced to 15 per cent by April 2015. Some of the issues that have impeded the adoption of solar are high upfront costs, lack of space in cities as well lack of understanding about vendors and suppliers of solar in a crowded solar market. Gurgaon’s electricity need is rising steeply. About 50 per cent of this need is met through polluting and high-price diesel. With large buildings and enough number of sunny days, Gurgaon is ideally placed to exploit the goodness of solar. The new solar policy by the Haryana government announced in September 2014 is a step in the right direction. Following this policy, the state has also made iit mandatory for all buildings of 500 square yards or more to install rooftop solar power systems by September 15, 2015. Besides, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE)) has recently granted subsidy a 15 per cent subsidy for setting upto solar power generation in the state. Gurgaon’s households, condominiums, office buildings, hospitals, hotels, malls, schools can opt for rooftop solar in a big way. These buildings can not only reduce their dependence on grid power and diesel, the adoption can also help reduce electricity bills over time. Besides, Solar Power is Clean Energy. The half-a-workshop was addressed by senior officials from Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Renewable Energy Department- Haryana, Gurgaon Authorities, as well as solar experts and consultants. It attempted to bring clarity on the policy and the mandatory order as well as improve the delegate understanding on solar technology, players, pricing and various options to switch to solar. Users were also apprised that additional revenues could be made by selling surplus solar power to the grid in future. The workshop had three sessions A) Clarity on the New State Policy B) Issues, Opportunities and Way Forward C) Solutions and Offerings. Some of the esteemed speakers were TL Satyaprakash (DC, Gurgaon) Dr A K Tripathi (MNRE), Om Dutt Sharma (Renewable Energy Department, Haryana) and DrSatyendra Kumar ( Emergent Ventures). The workshop was supported by Amplus Solar, Gensol, IEX, Quadsun, Su-Kam, Sun Edison and Sun Source. The associate partners were Alliance for an Energy Efficiency Economy, i-dream, Friday Gurgaon, India Get Green, Solar Energy Society of India, Emergent Ventures and Great Lakes Institute of Management.