To accelerate the large-scale adoption of grid-connected rooftop solar, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has issued orders to simplify the implementation and application process.

The Ministry has stated that at the technical feasibility approval stage, the consumers will only be required to furnish any electricity bill from the last six months.

At the project commissioning and net-metering stage, they will be asked to provide a project completion report, a photograph of the rooftop solar project, and a consumer-vendor agreement.

The project completion report must include the solar module and the inverter make, capacity in watt per module and serial marked total number of solar modules.

The Ministry has directed all concerned distribution companies (DISCOMs) and implementing agencies not to ask for any other documents from the applicants.

Having realized the immense potential and several advantages of decentralized generation of solar energy through rooftop solar, this is aimed at ensuring ease of installation.

MNRE has also directed the DISCOMs to ensure an adequate stock of smart meters or net meters to avoid delays in commissioning the projects or the need for consumers to purchase the meters and have them tested by the DISCOMs lab.

The rooftop solar segment has previously lacked support from the DISCOMs due to their inconsistent policies on net metering. But now, there is a shift as states like Gujarat, Kerala, and Karnataka are driving residential rooftop solar installations. The fall in rooftop system cost is attracting commercial and industrial entities to adopt solar power, especially in states where the DISCOM tariffs are high.

As of September 2023, 431 MW of rooftop solar was added in India compared to 388 MW in the preceding quarter. Installations also increased year-over-year by 34.7%, with the majority being reported from the residential segment.

MNRE has recently enhanced subsidies for residential consumers by 23%, which is expected to boost installations. The Ministry has been consistently introducing initiatives to ease solar adoption by residential consumers. It had earlier said that residential consumers could opt for vendors of their choice to install the systems and did not have to go with vendors listed with the DISCOMs. The subsidies would be credited to eligible consumers’ accounts within 30 days of installation, and DISCOMs had to provide net metering within 15 days to speed the installation process. A national portal was also launched to track the progress of rooftop solar installations. MNRE had asked the State Electricity Regulatory Commissions and DISCOMs to expedite the implementation processes, pointing out that delays discourage consumers from contributing to the national goal of achieving 500 GW of capacity from non-fossil sources by 2030 and also violate the rights of consumers. The Parliamentary Standing Committee also noted that the underwhelming progress of rooftop solar is one of the reasons for India falling short of achieving its renewable energy capacity target of 175 GW by 2022.