70 pc subsidy available on solar photovoltaic lights: HP govt

Himachal Pradesh government today said 70 per cent subsidy is available for Solar Photovoltaic lights (SPV) as per the guidelines of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) with a view to promoting solar energy projects in the state.
Presiding over a meeting of governing body of HIMURJA, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said people opting for grid- connected rooftop solar panels/power plant were being given 70 per cent subsidy and the surplus power would be sold to HPSEBL at Rs 5 per unit.
Singh said though 100 per cent electrification had been achieved by the state there were a few offshore habitations in remote tribal areas which were facing low voltage problem and disruptions.

Solar power was the only alternative for electrification of these hamlets which will provide uninterrupted power through decentralized solar photovoltaic applications.
The Chief Minister said apart from hydel-generation, which was a costly affair, HIMURJA had commissioned 10 hydel projects in remote and tribal areas with capacity ranging between 100 Kilowatt (KW) to 5 Megawatt(MW).
He said unlike hydel solar energy was perennial and equally distributed across the state and it was prudent to have an energy mix rather than single source. Hence, coal and gas based sources should be substituted with clean and renewable sources for reliability and security.
Two solar cities are being developed in the state in Shimla and Hamirpur and the finalmaster plan has been approved by MNRE. Under the project, 15 kWp power plant had been commissioned at Panchayat Bhawan and 20 kWp at Old Bus stand in Shimla.

To install 20 kWp solar power plant at the Ridge, approval is awaited from Heritage Committee and 1790 SPV home lights for slums around Shimla are being distributed.