Is rooftop solar for residential home, beneficial or not?

The rising costs of electricity bills has caused an accelerated adoption of solar power. India is emerging on the global stage as a leader of renewable solar energy and has set a target of 227 GW installed capacity by 2022 end. Currently, large solar plants account for 87% of total solar power generation, but adoption rate of solar systems for home are also steadily increasing. Rooftop Solar is the fastest growing energy sub-sector in India, with a compound annual growth rate of 116% between 2012 and 2018.The World Bank is also providing $625m as financial support for grid-connected solar system for home projects.

This rapid adoption is due to the plethora of benefits that Rooftop Solar has to offer:

Savings on electricity costs

The main advantage of installing a rooftop solar system for home is cost savings. Compared to industrial and commercial rates, the tariff rates for rooftop solar are 17% and 27% respectively. In many residential areas, these installations are attaining grid parity as well. Thus, it can help in slashing electricity bills for building owners, by buying lesser electricity from the grid, saving on electricity costs.

A Secure Investment

The cost of electricity keeps fluctuating with time. Hence, it becomes difficult to calculate the expenditure for a period of time. But it becomes easy to calculate power generation cost with solar rooftops, even up to 10 years. Thus, Solar Power is a safe investment and it is possible to retrieve installation cost in a few years.

Increased Access to Energy

In both rural and urban areas, there are pockets of people who have erratic and unreliable access to electricity, even though power generation is increasing rapidly. They then have to rely on alternatives such as diesel generators, which have harmful health effects and aren’t cost-effective. In such a scenario, rooftop solar can be very beneficial. Solar panels are eco-friendly as they generate clean electricity through the sun. Also, operation costs are steady and stable.

Strong Government Support

Tax credits are offered for installing solar rooftop panels, be it for residential or commercial purposes, to encourage people to adopt solar energy. As per Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, 30% of installation cost is paid as subsidy. It also falls under the attractive tax bracket of 5%, making it one of the few goods that are included in this category.

Environment Friendly

Solar panels are healthy, both for us and the environment. There are zero health hazards, right from the PV installation process to the electricity generation. It is also environment friendly as it doesn’t generate carbon dioxide or any heat-trapping gases that cause climate change, thus effectively reducing carbon footprint. No other harmful emissions such as nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxides or mercury are produced either.

Low Maintenance Costs

There are no major costs related to maintaining a rooftop solar panel. All that is required is cleaning the panels once in a while and inspecting the panels from time to time. They are a great investment, as most solar rooftops have a life expectancy of 25 years. Many solar panel installation firms offer asset management technology system, that monitors your solar panel and notifies you in case of any issues.

Great for Indian Climate

India is a tropical country, where most regions receive ample sunlight, at least for 300 days of the years, giving it one of the best locations to harness solar energy.

Easy Installation

As rooftop solar systems can be easily installed onany rooftop, no large land area is required. An added advantage is installing one also increases the resale value of your home.

As you can see, installing a solar system for home is very convenient, affordable and beneficial. It is equally easy to avail solar financing as there are multiple companies that offer rooftop solar loans as part of home improvementsuch as Electronica Finance Limited, SBI, PNB, Axis Bank, Bank of Baroda etc.