The Delhi Government officials, who recently visited Gujarat to study the electricity generation through solar power, opine that Gandhinagar’s ‘rent-a-roof’ model can be replicated only in the State buildings as of now. In its report, the environment department officials stated that ‘rent-a-roof’ model can be replicated in Government offices and hospitals as most of the private buildings are not properly aligned unlike in Gandhinagar, which is a planned city with symmetrical buildings.

“It is recommended that land management agencies will be asked to provide details about the rooftop area of all the Government buildings. If the project is successful, it can be extended in individual and private sectors,” says an excerpt of the report on Gujarat’s solar power projects. Following the directions of lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung, a team comprising officers from all the departments visited Gujarat this month to see the initiatives taken by the Gujarat Government in solar power, including rooftop, ground-mounted and canal top solar project.

The report further states that, “The plan was observed due to shortage of land in Delhi as Gujarat’s 100 NW mega projects are not possible here. We can, however, implement the solar rooftop photovoltaic (PV) model immediately and explore the feasibility of solar projects near drains, river-beds and on irrigation lands.”

The experts recommended setting up of solar photovoltaic (SPV) projects on dry drains, canals, riverbeds. Flood and Irrigation Departments and the DDA may be asked to identify suitable lands for such projects. Experts also recommended setting up of a 5 NW solar park at fly ash dyke near Rajghat.

As per the report, Gujarat has announced a solar power policy in 2009 and the solar power capacity has risen up to 891 MW in Gujarat.

The team visited solar power projects at 5 MW rooftop solar power project in Gandhinagar, 1 MW canal top solar project at Sanand district Mahsana, 1 MW ash dyke ground-mounted solar power project and 1 MW ground-mounted solar power project at Pandit Deen Dayal Petroleum University, Gandhinagar.

It was also found that there are various stakeholders in this project. Bidding was done for 5 MW rooftop solar power projects, out of which, 4 MW was developed on rooftop of Government building under PPP model whereas 1 MW was developed on rooftop by the developers on residential rooftops. The report, once finalized, will be submitted to the lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Government also held a high-level meeting to discuss the solar power policy on Monday with officials from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). The team visited solar power projects at 5 MW rooftop solar power project in Gandhinagar; 1 MW canal top solar project at Sanand district Mahsana; 1 MW ash dyke ground-mounted solar power project and 1 MW ground-mounted solar power project at Pandit Deen Dayal Petroleum University Gandhinagar. It was also found that there are various stakeholders in this project.