Chennai: Mr Chandrasekar’s four-bedroom house in Rajkilpakkam, a city suburb, looks no different from other houses in the city. And yet, the family is among the few that has reduced its electricity bill by 40 per cent through harnessing solar power.
“Our bi-monthly electricity bill has come down by 30 to 40 per cent after installation of a grid tied rooftop SPV system with net metering facility under the Chief Minister’s Solar Rooftop Capital Incentive Scheme (CMSRCIS),” said Mr K. Chandrasekar, who works in Southern Railway.
Tamil Nadu is the first state in the country to introduce net meters, which will record both power consumption as well as supply to the grid.
Like the Chandrasekars, there are 240 residents in the state who look to the sun as a main source of energy and are less affected by the constant threats of a tariff hike.
Installation of rooftop solar photovoltaic system (SPV) at homes seems to be a better option to overcome the proposed tariff hike as a kilowatt system generates five units on a sunny day and two to three units on cloudy days.
His house is also designed to make use of natural light and better ventilation facilities to reduce electricity consumption. Mr Chandrasekar said that normally his power consumption for a bimonthly billing period varies from 700 to 800 units but with the help of solar power generation his net payable units has come down to 500, which qualifies him to avail power tariff subsidy.
