#SupportAtPrimus

Ans. A Solar Water Heater is a device which provides hot water for bathing, washing, cleaning, etc. using solar energy. It is generally installed at the terrace or where sunlight is available and heats water during day time which is stored in an insulated storage tank for use when required including mornings.

Both these systems are available with and without heat exchanger. They can also work with and without pump. Systems without pump are known as thermosyphon systems and those with pump are known as forced circulation systems.

Systems working on thermosyphon principle are simple and relatively inexpensive. They are suitable for domestic and small institutional applications, provided water quality is good and it doesn't have large chlorine contents. Forced circulation systems are generally preferred in industries or large establishments. At places where water is hard and have larger chlorine content, if FPC based system is being installed, it must be with heat exchanger as it will avoid scale deposition in copper tubes of solar collectors which can block the flow of water as well reduce its thermal performance. ETC based systems will not block the flow of water but its performance may go down due to deposition of salt contents on inner surface of glass tubes, which could be cleaned easily once in a year or so.

The system cost does not include the cost of cold water tank, & its stand which is required if overhead tank is not installed in a house/ building. Cost of hot water insulated pipe line also, may be extra if number of bathrooms is more than one. Additional cost towards all these components may increase by 5 to 10%.

The cost, however, does not increase linearly with increase in capacity, rather it comes down proportionately as we go for higher capacity system.

Domestic Systems

Through State Nodal Agency- Contact respective state nodal agency in your state ( list with phone no. given on MNRE website) who will visit the site, provide information on cost, size & other details of system required and get it installed at net of government subsidy through some manufacturers.

Through Accredited Channel Partners of MNRE (List available at MNRE website)- Contact any of them and get the system directly installed from him at net of subsidy.

Institutional Systems

Through State Nodal Agency-In same fashion as above by inviting tenders and placing order to selected manufacturer

Through DGS&D rates- Details available on DGS&D website

Through Accredited Channel Partners- In same fashion as above

Electricity is expensive and is not available due to power cuts in many areas when required for heating water. Solar Water Heater, since it stores hot water in an insulated tank, provides water all the time when required. Fuel oil is also expensive and creates pollution. Storing the fuel oil for long term use in commercial establishments is another problem.

* The use pattern and savings for southern region pertains to the typical climate of Bangalore, while those for western region relate typically to Pune climate.

These systems generate power during the day time which is utilized fully by powering captive loads and feed excess power to the grid as long as grid is available. In case, where solar power is not sufficient due to cloud cover etc., the captive loads are served by drawing power from the grid.

• Electricity generation at the consumption center and hence Savings in transmission and distribution losses
• Low gestation time
• No requirement of additional land
• Improvement of tail-end grid voltages and reduction in system congestion with higher self-consumption of solar electricity
• Local employment generation

• States should have conducive solar policy to allow the grid connectivity
• State Regulators have issued tariff order for appropriate tariff, net-metering/feed-in tariff and the grid connectivity, and
• The Distribution Companies agree to allow grid connectivity and purchase the electricity on feed-in-tariff or through net metering arrangement.

So far, 13 States/UTs namely Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have notified policies that include promotion of grid connected rooftop solar systems with net metering. Regulation from the State Electricity Regulatory Commission is also required to allow net metering/ feed-in-tariff.

20 State/UT Regulators from Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal, Andaman & Nicobar, Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu, Lakshadweep, Pondicherry and Goa have so far issued these regulations for netmetering/gross metering

The Ministry has so far sanctioned 361 MWp aggregate capacity of grid connected rooftop solar systems in the country of which 42 MWp have been commissioned.

The Projects under these guidelines fall within two broad categories i.e.(a) the projects connected to HT voltage at distribution network (i.e. below 33 kV) (b) the projects connected to LT voltage i.e. 400/415/440 volts (3-phase) as the case may be or 230 volts (1-phase). Accordingly, the projects may be under the following two categories.

Category 1: Projects connected at HT level (below33kV) of distribution network The Projects with proposed installed capacity of minimum 50 kW and upto 500 kW and connected at below 33kV shall fall with in this category. The projects will have to follow appropriate technical connectivity standards in this regard.

Category 2: Projects connected at LT level (400 Volts-3 phase or 230 Volts-1 phase) The Projects with proposed installed capacity of less than100kW and connected of the grid at LT level (400/ 415/ 440 volts for 3-phase or 230V for1-phase) shall fall within this category.

There can be many possible business models, some of which can be considered are as follows:
(a).Solar installations owned by consumer. i) Solar Rooftop facility owned, operated and maintained by the consumer(s) ii) Solar Rooftop facility owned by consumer but operated and maintained by the 3rd party
(b) Solar installations owned, operated and maintained by 3rd Party . If the 3rd party implements the solar facility and provides services to the consumers, combinations could be:
i) Arrangement as a captive generating plant for the roof owners The 3rd party implements the facility at the roof or within the premise of the consumers; the consumer may or may not invest as equity in the facility as mutually agreed between them. The power is then sold to the roof owner. ii) Solar Lease Model, Sale to Grid The 3rd party implementing the solar facility shall enter into a lease agreement with the consumer for medium to long term basis on rent. The facility is entirely owned by the 3rd party and consumer is not required to make any investment in facility. The power generated is fed into the grid and the roof top owner gets a rent.
(c) Solar Installations Owned by the Utility
i) Solar installations owned operated and maintained by the DISCOM The DISCOM may own, operate and maintain the solar facility and also may opt to sub contract the operation and maintenance activity. The DISCOM may recover the cost in the form of suitable tariff. The electricity generation may also be utilized by DISCOM for fulfilling the solar renewable purchase obligation.
ii) Distribution licensee provides appropriate viability gap funds The DISCOM may appoint a 3rd party to implement the solar facilities on its behalf and provide appropriate funds or viability gap funds for implementing such facility.

The targets under JNNSM are as under:

The achievements against the targets fixed for Phase-I are as under: