Development of Solar Cities Scheme

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is implementing a programme on ‘Development of Solar Cities’ which aims to reduce a minimum of 10% of the projected demand of conventional energy of the city through renewable energy installations and energy efficiency measures.

• Solar City developed under this scheme will have all types of renewable energy based projects like solar, wind, biomass, small hydro, waste to energy etc. It may be installed along with possible energy efficiency measures depending on the need and resource availability in the city.

Proposed Action

• To create a Solar City Cell.
• To constitute a Solar City Stake Holders Committee.
• To promote National Rating System for construction of energy efficient Green Buildings, particularly by commercial and institutional buildings.
• Sixty Cities were proposed to be developed as Solar Cities during the Eleventh Plan period.
• As of June 2019, master plans have been prepared for 50 cities, while stakeholder committees have been constituted in 21 cities and solar cells have been created in 37cities.

Issues and Improvements Required

• Many cities lag behind due to subdued consumer interest on account of high upfront capital investments and the lack of awareness regarding the incentives available and the favourable regulations.
• City administrations and discoms may adopt utility-centric business models to increase uptake, thereby managing the local demand and supply more efficiently. In this regard, innovative business models with net metering or gross metering or a combination of both can be explored to encourage consumers.