Hyderabad rooftop potential stressed

Hyderabad: “Hyderabad can lead rooftop solar panel revolution,” said Head-advisory of Gujarat Energy Research Management Institute (GREMI) Akhilesh Magal while introducing the rooftop revolution project in Press Club Hyderabad, Somajiguda on Wednesday.

The event titled “Rooftop Revolution: Unleashing Hyderabad’s Rooftop Potential” was conducted to release the repot findings of the research which scanned the area under Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC). The research studies estimate on average of 2.70 megawatt per square kilometre can easily be generated by installing rooftop solar panels. The report also finds that total rooftop panel of the city is 1730 megawatts if realised, it can help the city to reduce the power demand by 15 per cent.

Rooftop panels can bring down the dependence of coal as a source of power, which will also help in decreasing pollution in the city. The Government of Telangana should proactively create awareness among residents and other stake holders of Hyderabad to increase the uptake of solar roof panel. To contribute towards India’s overall rooftop PV goal of 40 gigawatt by 2022 which is crucial for India’s contribution to the Paris Agreement.

Akhilesh said “The renewable energy of solar panel is accessible, affordable and a necessity. For residents, solar makes solid investment can cut down electricity bills for considerable amounts. In spite of dynamic and changing landscapes in Hyderabad, the city can still contribute up to 1.73 gigawatt of which 70 per cent of contribution can be made by the residential rooftop panels. It will also help us attain the 2020 goal of solar revolution.”

Describing the statistics, Akhilesh expresses “India shows a gradual increase in terms of utility solar panels, which requires more space. Whereas rooftop panels still lie far behind the race. Installing rooftop panels can create over one lakh jobs in Hyderabad.”

Chief Operating Officer of Zolt Energy Harsha Yadav said “Hyderabad can contribute to the revolution because unlike Mumbai, Hyderabad has good available rooftop spaces, a conductive policy, with direct benefit and transfer of subsidy. But there are other problems like local sub-station issues, cumbersome process, to change the electric meters and customer awareness.”