Rooftop solar plants installed in over 7,000 homes in Tamil Nadu: Union Minister Joshi

CHENNAI: Amid the electricity tariff hike, 7,324 domestic consumers have installed rooftop solar systems at their residences (around 11.5% of applicants) in the State under the Prime Minister Solar Scheme, said Union Minister of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) Pralhad Joshi, while replying to DMK’s Rajya Sabha MP P Wilson on Tuesday.

As of July 24, he added that 9.5 lakh registrations and 63,992 applications had been received on the scheme’s web portal from consumers in Tamil Nadu.

He said that 7,374 rooftop solar systems have been installed, accounting for in TN. Joshi attributed the relatively low percentage of installations compared to the number of applications in the State to several factors, including the availability of net meters, technical assessments by DISCOMs, logistical aspects of system installation, etc.

However, a senior Tangedco official blamed the glitches on the national portal for the delay in the commissioning of the rooftop solar projects. “Over 68,000 applications have been received on the national portal from TN but only 15,185 applications are reflected on Tangedco’s portal. Of which, installations were completed and rooftop connections were effected for 6,175 applicants,” the official added.

On Friday, MNRE’s additional secretary Sudeep Jain met with Tangedco officials and reportedly assured them that the glitches would be resolved soon. “At least 3,000 new connections will be effected in a week as soon as the glitch is resolved,” stated Tangedco officials.

PM Modi in February this year launched the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana to set up solar plants in one crore households across the country.

However, Tangedco has set an ambitious target of achieving installation of rooftop solar plants in 25 lakh households in the State in one year which is nearly one-fourth of the country’s target.