Safety approval shadow over state’s solar plan

• Published 3 months ago
• By SuperAdmin

All new solar rooftop projects, including residential projects, above 10 KiloWatt capacity in Karnataka will now require safety approval from the Chief Electrical Inspector to the government of state (CEIG).

All new solar projects will need nod from Chief Electrical Inspector to the government of state

All new solar rooftop projects, including residential projects, above 10 KiloWatt capacity in Karnataka will now require safety approval from the Chief Electrical Inspector to the government of state (CEIG).

A circular issued on Thursday states that CEIG will henceforth be the authority for issuing electrical safety approvals. So far, ESCOM officials have given safety approvals for solar rooftops. The requirement of safety approval for smaller projects was withdrawn by Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) in 2016 to promote rooftop solar. Apartment complexes say the added statutory requirement will make the process cumbersome and impact the solar rooftop programme.

“So far, rooftop solar up to one MegaWatt capacity was exempted from obtaining safety approval. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has set guidelines to ensure safety for projects with lesser capacity.

CEIG’s safety approval will prove cumbersome and impact the rooftop solar programme as most of the residential complexes will now have to obtain this approval,” Satish Mallya, vice president of the Bangalore Apartments Federation (BAF).

Experts say, that while some safety standards need to be met even in case of projects with less than one MW capacity, ESCOM engineers have addressed this concern so far and the system has worked fine.

According to Ramesh Shivanna, president of the Karnataka Renewable Energy Systems Manufacturers Association (KRESMA), the procedure to obtain safety approval will involve physical inspection of the project site and safety checks of solar panels, electric connections, etc.

“This new requirement will make the process unwieldy for residential complexes, educational institutions, and MSMEs going for solar rooftops. It is an unnecessary step and KRESMA is planning to make a representation to CEIG to roll it back. So far, DISCOM engineers have been managing these aspects and we will press for the status quo,” said Shivanna.

The solar rooftop programme that was started 10 years ago has been plagued by various issues in Karnataka since inception, opine the experts. It is only in the last two years that the industry is making some progress.

According to data from Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Limited (KREDL), 172.14 MW of rooftop solar projects were installed between March 2023 and July 2024. With this momentum, the total capacity of rooftop solar in the state has crossed the 600 MW mark.

A little over 50 MW of solar rooftops were installed between April and July this year. During 2023-24, 121.82 MW of rooftop capacity was installed; nearly double the capacity in 2022-23 (79.57MW) and the highest installed capacity reported.

SS Raghunandan, president of Karnataka Renewable Energy Association (KREA), fears this added obligation will be detrimental for the industry.

“Getting the safety approval implies running from pillar to post, and completing inspection and audit formalities. At present, neither the state nor the electrical inspectorate is well prepared to have such a system in place. Safety requirements of smaller projects should be the responsibility of installers. As per KERC’s tariff order rolled out in 2022, installers are mandated to provide a declaration and be responsible for safety. However, if the government is dead set on this requirement, it should be at least an online process with minimal human interference to avoid corruption,” said Raghunandan.