Rajasthan: Partial relief on cards for rooftop solar projects in Raj

In a partial relief to the rooftop solar industry, the Union power ministry on Friday proposed to allow net metering benefits to projects having loads up to 500kw.
In the December Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020, it had restricted the net metering benefits to projects with load of 10kw which invited an avalanche of representations from the industry for a review.
Following the Union Ministry of Power (MoP) guidelines issued earlier, Rajasthan Electricity Regulatory Commission (RERC) had also capped the net metering to projects upto 10kw which triggered widespread protests by the industry.
Earlier, the cap was 1 megawatt (1000 kilowatt). Under the net metering system, the solar rooftop generators are allowed to use the power they produce and get a pre-fixed amount for the extra renewable energy they supply to the grid. In the gross metering, the generators cannot use the rooftop energy but were to be paid by the discoms at rates which was considered unviable.