Domestic Solar Power
Harvest the Energy on your roof top. Step by step guide for a domestic solar PV
Roof Top Solar Power Panel installation

Roof Top Solar Power Plant Installation

What you should consider installing a solar power panel at your home

Strength of the roof

There are different capacities of solar power panels in the market and the average weight of a Solar Panel of 420 Watts is 24 kilograms. You need to install 5 solar power panels which weighted about 120 Kg, if you are expecting to produce or establish a Solar Power plant of 2 kiloWatts.The load on the roof will be increased in line with the capacity. Therefore the strength of the roof should be carefully looked at considering the 20 year life span of the plant

The amount of light that the roof gets

The lights that the roof top gets might reduce due to trees and building around the house. Consideration should be given to such obstacles estimating the 20 year life span.

Selection of an institution to install solar power plant

A large number of service providers exist in Sri Lanka contracting the installation of Rooftop Solar. They must  register at the Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority (SLSEA). Therefore, it is important to select an institution that is registered with SLSEA which they publish a list of registered service providers in SLEA website. Otherwise, there will be issues when connecting the solar panel of yours to the national grid which installed by an unregistered company.The registered solar panel installation company will fix the solar panels, inverter and other necessary protection equipment for the capacity you request.

A Solar Panel

There are variety of solar power panels in the market. Therefore, you must focus on the efficiency and durability of solar panels in selecting a solar panel.

The Tier one solar panel brands are recognized as the most efficient and durable panels.

 

 

What do you expect form a domestic solar power plant

There can be two reasons why you need to have a solar power panel at your home.

 

  1. Generate electricity to match your monthly consumption

 

Net Metering

 

You can install a solar power plant with the capacity to generate the electricity to match your monthly consumption. This calls the Net Metering concept. In this scheme, you won’t be able to able to sell the electricity to the grid.

 

So it is important to decide the capacity of the Plant that you install to match the units (kWh) of electricity you consume per month.

 

Ex : A solar power plant with two kilowatts of capacity would be sufficient to generate electricity if you consume about 200 units per month. (1kW=115-120 units per month)

The investment of a 2 kW Solar power plant will be about four hundred thousand rupees.

It will take longer time to recover your investment if you consume below 200 units of electricity per month.

Your electricity will be banked in the utility system if you generate electricity more than the consumption and the banked units can be used within a period of 10 years. However, it will cancel  if you couldn’t consume it in that given period of time.

  1. Generate solar power with the ambition of getting an income

 

There are two methods that have been introduced to support this procedure.

 

Net Accounting

 

Net Accounting, where a consumer will get paid in money if their solar-generated power is greater than what is consumed from the grid. The tariff is set at Rs22 per unit (1 kilo Watt hour) for the first seven years and Rs15.50 thereafter for 13 years. Total agreement period will be 20 years.

You will have to pay the necessary bill if you consume more than you generate.

Net Plus

 

Net Plus, where there is no link between how much electricity the consumer uses from the grid for which billing will happen and how much solar-generated electricity is supplied to the grid which will be paid in full at the rate of 22 rupees per unit for 7 years and 15.50 rupees for the balance 13 years

 

 

What steps that the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka has taken to promote household solar power generation

Legal permission has been granted to generate electricity for all consumers without a license to generate electricity (Official Notice of the announcement with regard to the licence)

 

 

Recommendations have been issued to accelerate the connection of domestic solar power plant to the national grid. Accordingly CEB and LECO should connect the domestic solar power plant into the grid within two weeks from the date of application. PUCSL asked CEB and LECO to ensure completion of the grid connection and signing the Net metering, Net accounting or Net Plus agreements within the below mentioned time frame.1. Maximum acceptable time to provide the estimate for net meter installation shall be one week from the date of submission of the duly filled net metering application with the relevant application fee.2. Maximum acceptable time to provide net meter installation and grid connection with signing the agreement shall be one week from receiving the payment for net meter installation.

Therefore, it has been proposed to exempt the electricity consumers, who generate electricity in small scale through rooftop solar power plants, from obtaining a license to sell electricity to the national grid.

 

According to the Sri Lanka Electricity Act, as amended, no party is allowed to generate and sell electricity to the national grid without a license granted by the PUCSL. But, with the new decision, any electricity consumer could install a solar system at his or her residence/ premises and generate and sell the electricity based on the agreement which can be signed between the said consumer and corresponding licensee (CEB or LECO). All such parties will be exempted from the requirement of obtaining a generation license.

 

The decision came at a time, where the promotion of generation of electricity through renewable sources has become a major focus of the Government of Sri Lanka as well as the private sector investors. The government is currently in the process of implementing “Soorya Bala Sangramaya” (Battle for Solar Energy), a solar power generation program, to encourage people to generate electricity for themselves.

Under this programme any household or premises owner with valid electricity account can export the electricity generated through the solar system to the national grid under three schemes named, Net metering, Net Accounting and Net Plus.

PUCSL expects the new measure will promote the uptake of even more solar systems by the community. “By granting the exemption, we are planning to minimize the barriers, and encourage the household, rooftop solar systems,” Damitha Kumarasinghe, Director General of Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka said.

“This will offer better opportunity for Sri Lankan electricity consumers to access the environmental friendly and renewable sources of electricity for a reasonable investment,” he added.

In addition, the PUCSL introduced guidelines for installers and the utilities to uplift the installation standards in view of establishing sustainable development of the industry.

By promoting solar based generation among electricity consumers, it is expected to meet the electricity demand of day time through household based solar plants, replacing the thermal plants operates during such periods. This also facilitates management of water resources more efficiently and effectively.

The current installed capacity is 3,900MW and it is expected the total installed capacity to be 4,955 MW by the year 2020.

As per the CEB’s forecast Sri Lanka’s electricity demand is expected to grow at 5.3 percent on average during 2015 – 2034 period, in addition the peak demand is expected to grow at 4.7 percent on average

Legal Authorization

Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) has decided to remove the legal barriers for consumers who wish to enter into the electricity generation by on solar power. 

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