FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS & ANSWERS--- RTSPG

FAQs for Project No. 1   RTSPG

THE QUESTIONS PUT TO ME AND MYANSWERS ARE:

Q.  How much will be the cost?

A.   It depends upon your consumption.   For example, if you consume say 150 units of electric power in a month, the TOTAL ONE TIME cost of installing a 1 KVA Solar Power Generation Unit will be within 70 to 75 K INR based on my investment in 2017.  (Currently it is quoted much lower)

Q. What are the prerequisites?

A.100 sq. ft. of shadow free space on your terrace per kw installation, an electric bill in your name; and a photograph

.

Q. Will I lose my existing electric connection?

A. Not at all.    The power generated by using Solar Energy is Direct Current (D.C).   This is converted into Alternate Current (A.C.) by an Inverter.     Your production is exported to Government and your consumption continues business as usual.    No change is required for any of your existing items like A.C. or Refrigerator etc. 

Q. How do they keep track of Export and Import?

A. Your existing meter which records your consumption will be changed to a bidirectional meter.   Here, the meter will record your production and consumption.    If the units of both export and import tally, then you do not get a bill from the electric supply company.    If there is difference plus or minus, your account is credited or debited.    In some States in India, you get money paid for excess production; and in some States they allow you to carry forward excess production for a specified period.

Q.  What is my Return on Investment or breakeven (payback) period?

A. Based on my experience in Bengaluru, on my investment of 4.50 lakhs of Indian Rupees, I am saving my electric bills for Rs.60,000  per year (estimated at Rs.5,000 per month).  So my Return on Investment is 13.33% tax free which is a sumptuous amount. (Currently it is available for about 3 lakhs plus  or 20% per year – without of course taking into account any tariff increase by Electric Supply companies.

On this basis, my payback period will be around seven years and thereafter you enjoy free electricity for life.  According to current estimate the payback could come anywhere between 4 and 5 years.

Q. What is the life of the Solar Power Generation Unit?

The Panels’ life is claimed to be 25 years.  Warranty is given for 10 to 15 years.   Inverter has a warranty for 5 years.

Q. Can I see a demo of the Unit?

A. Of course. There are many installations.  For example, just visit Cochin Airport in Kerala (India).    The entire power consumed by them is produced by using Solar Energy.   Chinnasamy Stadium in Bengaluru also uses solar energy.

Q. Can you give a breakup of my investment?

A. Approximately 70% of your investment relates to Panels and Inverter.   20% for Structures, cables and earthing work. Remaining 10% goes for the electricity company charges such as approvals, inspection, fitting a bidirectional meter and commissioning the unit etc. etc.  The bidirectional cost itself is around Rs. 7 or 8 K.

Q. I am staying in a rented house. My landlord does not want to spend money.

A. Days are not far off for you to live under your own roof.   With these advance good wishes to you, let me just say: the electric bills are ultimately paid by you only whether you are a tenant or an owner.  My friend has let out his house with the Solar installed and he has made some arrangements with his tenant.

Q. Let me know the Pros and Cons of this Unit:

A. Whether one is living in the house or not, on all 365 days Solar Power production takes place (production ceases only when Sun sets or the electricity company shuts down the power supply for any maintenance or other reasons).

Keep in mind the installation is for life.  I do not think one will be able to trade in for a better technology which may come up in future.  But nothing stops you in going for new technology.

Q. Will the prices drop considerably?

A. A good question.   About four years ago, a kw system used to around 70 to 75 K. (Now it has come down to 60 K. I will not say whether it will come down further.  But one thing is certain.   Electric power charges per unit may not go up for small consumers but people like you and me consuming more units may not be able to escape the rate hike.  Switching to solar is justified from these angles.

By the way, by clubbing demands of your neighbours, and reducing expenses on logistics and installation, the price per kw may come down further.

Q. I am interested; but I do not have money.

A. Banks like SBI/IDBI Bank do offer loans for solar installation. Even if we take into account their interest charges, still we derive benefits as the Return on Investment is quite high.

Q. I want to voluntarily serve my School, College, Temple/Mosque/Church/Community Halls by spreading awareness.

A. Very good thought. First begin from your home. In case you are staying in an apartment, ask your Society’s Managing Committee to power common areas/clubhouse/gym/swimming pool or lifts with Solar Power.  .

Others can use their own funds; if the Society does not wish to break their Fixed Deposits or use the Corpus amount, they can easily raise funds from the community of owners.    All that is needed to make a beginning.

It is also possible to derive this benefit for your own Apartment, if you can make workable arrangements with other Apartment Owners.

Take for example. In Tamil Nadu, Rain Water Harvesting Project was the brain child of an individual lady.   She convinced and  took the help of Hon’ble Madam Jayalalitha (who was the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, India); today every house in Chennai must have RWH.   This is replicated in other States also today.

Q. What do you think of Payback period? Will it come down?

A. Keep in mind, once you get your full money back in say five or seven years, for life electricity is free for you.   Anyway, I did check on this with an Upcoming Entrepreneur who is planning to set up Solar Panel production.  According to his estimate, payback may come down slightly and possibly with improved panels (such as generating power from both sides of the panels, and panels under which one could grow plants at least for 25% to 30% area).   According to his personal estimate pay back may come down further in course of time.

Q. Do I have to change my cables, etc. to accommodate solar power generation?

A. Not at all… Do not mix up power generation and power consumption.  These are two different activities.  Whatever is produced by you goes to Grid, while what you consume is from the BESCOM power supply.

Q. What about maintenance?

A. No maintenance is needed. A bit of occasional cleaning of the panels will help in maintaining production.

Q. What do we do when there is a load shedding or power cut?

A. Solar power will be generated when there is sun light and when there is no power cut or load shedding by BESCOM.

During power cut you may continue to have the same process as you do today – like using UPS, or Generator or Candles.  Keep in mind, production is not to be mixed with consumption.

Q. You told me BESCOM will pay for excess production. Can you clarify?

A. As per the current policy, BESCOM will buy every unit you produce and net it out with your consumption.  In case you are out of your house for an extended period and there I no consumption, it makes no difference to the calculation.  You will enjoy solar power production on all 365 days.

Q. Can you help me in getting a reliable vendor?

A. We are only creating awareness with the good intention to help all to derive benefits I have received.  We can of course suggest you the vendor who had installed in our home; and also give you names of some other vendors whom we have come across.   But negotiating with the vendor for best prices, quality, configuration, etc. are all your individual responsibility.  "Uberrima fidie" (Buyer beware) principle applies for any deal. .

Q. Can you I go for higher models?

A. Of course; you have various options.  A Hybrid Model is available which uses batteries for power storage; one can go also for a better structure so that the terrace can be used for

Relaxation,  meditation etc.   Vendor will be able to give you more details and the additional cost involved.

Q. Are you sure we do not take any risk?

A. As I mentioned earlier, Cochin Airport is fully functional on solar power only.   Kerala gets heavy rains.  When the Government themselves have set up such a huge facility, this concern may not arise.

Q. Can I bypass electric company?

A. Of course.  The system is called Off Grid if you install on your own, produce and consume.     You can have batteries to store the power produced.

Q. Which of the three systems would you recommend?

A. I will personally prefer the system which I have installed, i.e. NET METERING system without any battery back up (we use generator in case of power shut down by electric company).   I may suggest waiting for some more time to think of Hybrid system as batteries are expensive and will need maintenance/replacement.   Off grid system will be costlier.

Q. Can we switch from net metering to hybrid?

A. Do check with your vendor.   I think it is possible but may need replacement of the Inverter.

Q. Someone says panels may flyaway in heavy winds.

A. Vendors ensure proper structure and installation so that this situation may not arise.  

October 8, 2019

USER EXPERIENCES

USER EXPRIENCES

·Other Apps

October 8, 2019

USER EXPERIENCES :

1.   My own experience :  Feb 1, 2019:

Let me share my personal experience of 20 months in Bengaluru, so that the entire humanity is benefited.  I have saved around Rs. 1 lakh which I would have otherwise put in drain.   Yes, I was spending close to Rs. 5,000 per month towards electricity for my villa.

I returned to India during 2005 and I am living in this beautiful city of Bengaluru.   While walking around aimlessly, I noticed during 2017 that some serious work was going on in a house nearby.     A plumber could only tell me that something is being done by the owner so that the whole house will be brighter always.    Then only I could realize, after talking to the owner, the power of Solar Energy.

I caught hold of the Contractor engaged by the owner and insisted upon him to sign the Agreement with me and make the same arrangement for me on the next day itself.  I even was ready to pay advance money straightaway.    He was polite enough to tell me that he could do that within a maximum of seven days but considering the bureaucratic delays, he could commit for complete hand over within 40 calendar days.  Even though he was not known to me and I did not even check whether he was an individual or an organization which may or may not fly by night I trusted him and signed the agreement (believe me if I say the proposal and agreement were printed from the contractor’s website in my house) and I did pay an advance amount.

Thanks to the Karnataka Government and the documented processes of BESCOM and the supporting officers and staff, Government approvals were a breeze. 

 I was surprised to find that BESCOM signed an agreement with me to buy excess production at   a fixed rate for 25 years at the then rate of 7 and odd rs. Per unit.

March 17, 2017 was a day I could never forget in my life. That was the day I got freedom from paying my  electricity bill averaging Indian Rupees 5,000 per month.

Renganathan Narayanan, Bengaluru ibmnarayan@gmail.com

2.   My Solar Story: (Devarajan Raja, Melbourne, Australia)

Date January 5, 2019:

I live in Melbourne, Australia. The Installation of Solar Panels on rooftops across Australia is gaining rapid momentum. There are state and federal government rebates for installation of Solar, but they will be drying up on the years to come. 

To give some context. I live in a home which  is approximately 5500 square feet (This is considered large in Australia). 2 adults, 2 children live in the home. There is someone in the house using electricity 24/7. We have a solar hot water system (This is mandated by the government). 

Prior to our solar panel installation, our 3 monthly electricity bill would be between $500-1000 AUD. (Roughly Inr 25,000 to 50,000 per qr or Inr 8000 to Inr 14000 per month)  Winter months are very cold, so the bill is often higher.

We have 18 panels. 6KW system (per hour generation capacity). The solar system is connected via the internet, so I can see the generation/panels working, and efficiency live on my smart phone. This was included in the package. (We have this facility in India too).

Currently its summer, and on a normal sunny day 25-35 degrees celcius with no cloud cover, we generate about 40-45kw of power during the day. During winter the efficiency is less (15-20kw per day). We don't have a battery system installed (yet) but this is something I am planning to do when the cost of batteries becomes lower. 

The cost of installation of our solar panels was approximately $11,000 AUD (including all panels, delivery, inverter, delivery, installation certificate, electricity company inspection and safety and quality checks). (Roughly Inr 550,000 = almost the same in India today for a 6 kva system or even less!!)

The panels are Tier 1 LG branded (LG neon 2). The inverter technology is European, and each panel has its own inverter rather than having a collective inverter. This allows each panel to operate independently of each other to drive better efficiency. 

Rooftop solar is increasingly common in Australia, and the uptake is increasing. We have one of the highest uptakes in the world, and battery power stations are being installed to take the load off the grid. 

One of the main motivations for me to install solar in my home is to reduce the power bills (power costs in Australia are very high), but also to have a positive impact on the environment. 

I feel its one of the best decisions I have made, and I am looking forward to installation battery technology, and hopefully transitioning to an electric car as well. (I also find the maintenance of my panels is almost zero. I don't need to do any specific maintenance for its efficiency to be high. It has been about 14 months since I installed it).

I think in the next 10-20 years the landscape will change, and we will have solar power as one of the biggest energy producers in Australia, and hopefully around the world.

3.   A lady (who does not want to be named) : Feb.1, 2019

I had invested 4.2 lakhs in a Solar Production System on my roof top about fifteen months ago.    My bill used to be around 2.5 K per month.   As my production has been more than my consumption, I get a regular refund of about Rs. 1.5 K for excess production credited to my bank account by BESCOM regularly.   Nowadays they are giving us full details of production and consumption. 

HOW TO SAVE MONEY BEING WASTED

                            HOW TO SAVE MONEY BEING WASTED?

                               Renganathan Narayanan, Bengaluru

                                        October 6, 2019



Background:





I am a Solar Advocate and a Social Worker.   I had been wasting money on paying for Electricity for over six decades.   I am speaking to you out of my experience of 30 months plus having installed Roof Top Solar Power Generation in my house in Bengaluru.  I am saving about 5K per month which was being spent on electricity by me till March 17, 2017.



Experience gained in recent interactions:



“Why should not others get the benefit I am getting?” was my thought.     My relatives and friends did not like the idea of my planned attempts to go around house to house – as their views were:   “If something goes wrong, you will be blamed”; “Everyone knows…Why do  you interfere in their personal life?”



“What can go wrong? The system is not new.    Russel Ohl invented the first solar cell in 1941 and the first commercial production was put out by Bell Labs in 1954.

As we all know Cochin Airport is run solely on solar power.  Chinnasamy Stadium in Bengaluru uses solar powered lights.      What is the risk for a common man, when Government Departments have put their faith, after due diligence, study and consideration?” was my counter argument – but still my advisors were not happy.



Thanks to Rotary Club IT, Chennai.   They invited me as a guest speaker on Pongal Day (a day of Worship to Sun God) on January 13, 2019.    This, being my maiden attempt to spread awareness of Roof Top Solar Power Generation, I reached the spot one hour in advance after due preparation, and with a lot of excitement.    The hall was full with enthusiastic audience and they listened to each and every word closely and attentively.    I was very confident that at least 3 or 4 will decide on the spot to go for solar power generation as they had sufficient space on the terrace and the investment was within their reach.

But, a bombshell was thrown by one Rotarian who vociferously challenged that we could get anything done through the Government Departments.    Thereafter neither the Managing Committee of the Club, nor any of the interested members, showed any interest to go ahead either for their individual abodes, or for any school adopted by the Rotary Club.  I had written to the concerned Departments and I believe their new 2019 Policy is focussed on solving the concerns of RTSPG users.



Thereafter I have had the privilege to address a number of Rotary Clubs in Bengaluru, as also Senior Citizens Forum, Schools, Gated Communities, Senior Citizens Fora and individuals.    I have taken full advantage of Facebook to spread awareness.   There are of course successes not only from Bengaluru, but also from Pune and also from Cairo (Egypt).    But the enthusiasm could be much more considering the financial benefits to individuals and also our opportunity to discharge our social responsibility towards Mother Nature to curtain carbon footprint.



Honestly speaking, I am not able to understand the real reason behind procrastination or reluctance on the part of our general public.      They are all quick to invent reasons for not going for Roof Top Solar Power Generation – even though they are fully convinced of the benefits and funding is not an issue.     Common reasons given to me in my voluntary journey for over 8 months are :

v I am a tenant and not an owner

v Government may promise but may not honour payment for excess production

v I must get my full investment back in 2 years; otherwise it is not worth.

v Of course I have money ready but I do not want to pay lump sum.

v My relative is in this business. I can give his contact numbers to you so you can take his help for installation.

v I have got solar installed for 18 years in my house (obviously for this audience, Solar refers only to Water Heater).

In the heart of heart, all of them and me do realise that these are all just reasons to delay.    Little do they bother to understand, in Bengaluru based on my own experience, in normal course one can get freedom from paying for electricity FOR EVER in a couple of months?     What is wrong if one is a tenant or a landlord?   Money is wasted for electricity by the consumer in any case.



I have guessed the real reason is: Paradigm shift is not easy.   Changing practices is not easy at all.   One may not find it difficult to pay say Rs. 3000 a month for electricity, rather than paying one time say 3 lakhs.   This position is understandable.   As all of us have missed the bus at the time of construction of the building (or before connecting a meter for common facilities such as lifts, pumps, staircase lights etc. of an Apartment Complex), we now find it difficult to part with a lump sum payment at this late stage – whether we have funds in hand or not.



The Return on Investment of 25% to 40% - which is quite sumptuous compared to any other opportunity we all have – does not ring bell at all.     The argument on breakeven or payback period – which is currently at 3.5 to 5.0 years - Is just used for the sake of arguments.  Do we really think of?

Breakeven when we buy a house or furnish it, or buy a car?



Anyway, I will continue with my efforts to spread awareness of benefits of Roof Top Solar Power Generation – even though the decision to GO or NO GO does not impact me at all as I am not a salesman but a social worker only.



Let us now look at the System as is available to us today:

1.  Continue to use electricity as you do today without making any change whatsoever.  In case of power shut down by Electricity Company, continue to use generator or UPS or candles as you do today.   This is called NET METERING system.    Keep in mind whatever units are produced by your RTSPG is not used by you but exported by you to the Grid.    Some Governments buy excess power at a fixed rate, while some may allow carry forward to the subsequent months.

2.  Continue to use electricity as you today without making any change whatsoever.    Install a RTSPG system with backup batteries, so that in case of power shut down by Electricity Company, you automatically get supply from the power stored in the batteries.   This is called HYBRID System.

3.  Third system is called OFF GRID system. It is like buying a TV or Fridge for your house.  You do not need any permission or approvals or there are no restrictions that you should use only the terrace.  Like Robinson Crusoe install and start using the power you produce for your own use.   Have your own backup for storing power produced on batteries.

Obviously NET METERING is the best option available to us today.  







HOW DOES THE SYSTEM WORK?



Sun light falls on Solar Panels and its cells convert the energy into electrical energy.    The power that is so produced is DC current.    An Inverter converts it into AC Power.



RECOMMENDATIONS:



Let us not worry about subsidy from Government or whether the Electricity Company will buy our excess production and pay for it or not, let us cover our estimated consumption by producing our own requirements.    If we are staying as tenants, let us look at the possibility of making an arrangement with the landlord and convince the landlord to install or you install as per an arrangement with him.   There is absolutely no point in continuing with wasting money on electricity, as we are blessed with abundant supply of Solar Energy and it is and will be available without an expiry date.



WHAT IS MY INVOLMENT/INTEREST?



I have set a target for myself to achieve 108 installations during the year April 1, 2019 to March 31, 2010.    So my achievement is 10% - this is not bad.   I have got about 75 people interested and I am sure at least 40 will go for RTSPG.  



VENDORS:



Select the best vendor.   If you wish to reduce cost, it can be attempted not by squeezing the vendor’s margin (the vendor claims margin is too low) but by insisting on top quality and costs can be reduced by cutting down expenses on logistics – such as bringing hardware for 4 or 5 people at a time, or saving on labour as the multiple installations can be done by the same labour.



I can of course suggest vendors who have installed in my house or in other places but keep in mind UBERIMME FIDIE principle applies i.e. Buyer Beware policy which expects everyone to do due diligence.



Good luck.



Renganathan Narayanan

Bengaluru, October 6, 2019