The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in association with Cadmus Group has launched a program called ‘Indian Solar Market Aggregation for Rooftops’ (I-SMART).
The objective of the program is to aggregate demand of 1,000 megawatts (MW) of rooftop solar capacity across four states. Apart from other cities across India, I-SMART will be implemented in Surat with the support of Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC).
SMC’s efforts have led to the installation of more than 35 MW rooftop solar systems among the domestic consumers in the city. Under the new programme, activities will target new consumers among both domestic and residential sectors.
This is a Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH backed initiative and is part of the Indo-German Solar Energy Partnership.
For more than 60 years GIZ has been working in association with Indian partners for sustainable economic, ecological, and social development.
GIZ is now supporting demand aggregation for rooftop solar systems with an objective to double the installed capacity and number of projects in select states.
The program will be implemented in four states i.e. – Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu & Kashmir along with two Union Territories – Daman and Diu; and Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
In order to make this program successful, TERI has planned to work on the grass root level through launching digital/social campaigns.
Under this program, a single-window web portal will help consumers in understanding relevant information about rooftop solar installation before they submit an online request for the same.
Besides, I-SMART will help in connecting both solar developers and consumers. This will also simplify the installation process and raise awareness via targeted outreach program among common people.
TERI has a successful track of implementing consumer demand aggregation for rooftop solar among 6,000 individual households in Surat, Gujarat and among 100 RWAs in Dwarka, New Delhi achieving a cumulative implementation of over 70 MW rooftop solar capacity.
Reference- TERI PR