The Central government is on a look-out for roofs, not to shelter the homeless, but to harness the abundant beneficence of our nearest star—the sun—for generating clean power. A shortage of land to set up solar power farms is behind this major effort. Earlier this month, the Centre unveiled plans to tap rooftops of government buildings, private institutions, industries and residential buildings to add an additional 40,000 megawatts (MW) by 2022. Out of this, a target of 4,000 MW solar power is set for residential rooftops with financial assistance of around Rs 6,600 crore.
As a push towards that ambitious goal, several attractive schemes are being offered by the Centre as well as some states. Banks, too, are coming forward with consumer loans for residential customers. In many ways, these customers face several challenges. Lack of awareness of the benefits is one of them.
