RE Feature

Grid-connected SPV Rooftop

An Option for India's Growing
Energy Demand
With the Introduction
The Indian solar PV market has seen significant growth with the installed solar PV
Indian solar capacity rising from under 40 MW to more than 2,000 MW in the last four years. The
PV market total installation capacity of solar power generation is expected to be 12,500 MW by
2016-17, whereas only roof top solar generation is estimated to be 4,000 MW by 2016-
growing 17. It is also expected that distributed generation (rooftop SPV) at the consumer end
will drive solar power capacity additions given the acute power shortage scenario in
rapidly, it is several states along with associated transmission and distribution losses.

being seen Globally, PV installed capacity has reached more than 100 GW in 2013. Countries
with large capacities in PV installations are Germany, Italy, Japan, USA, China, Spain
that the and Australia. In these countries rooftop SPV installation has major contribution in the
total installation.
country has Recently, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) has estimated that India has a
market potential for 124 GW rooftop SPV in urban settlements.
a market
potential TABLE 1: Advantages of Distributed SPV generation over centralised generation

Centralised SPV Generation Distributed SPV Generation

for 124 GW 12-15% of solar power generated by large plants is Overall performance ratio to point of utility is 10-15%
rooftop solar lost in step-up and step-down transformers used in
transmission and distribution of power
higher due to reduced transformer and cable losses

SPV in urban Requires 3-7 acres land per MWp installation Use available roof/terrace space
settlements. Large solar arrays are complex, need matched PV
modules and are prone to string and MPPT losses
Feed local load and meet peak day time demand

Sudhakar Automated monitoring is mandatory Potential to improve local power quality

Sundaray Cost effective: INR 6 - 8 Cr/MW Reduce additional investment and on-going
maintenance for DG sets, batteries and UPS
explores MV/HV grid interface is reliable LV grid interface is a challenge
this lucrative
Different Metering Arrangements
option. The rooftop SPV system can be installed in two configurations, namely (a) as a
standalone system or (b) as a grid interactive system. In urban areas the grid interactive
system is more feasible than the standalone system as almost all locations are
connected by grid and also grid act as storage for an intermittent source of generation.
In the grid interactive system also there can be a number of schemes depending on
the reliability of supply to the loads and the consumer needs.
Wherever the battery is not envisaged, the solar system can be directly connected
to consumer AC bus and the total energy of the solar system will be supplied to
consumer/grid depending upon the requirement of the consumer.

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 Grid-connected SPV Rooftop: An Option for India's Growing Energy Demand

Gross Metering
Gross metering arrangement doesn’t affect consumer’s existing electrical connections.
Electricity generated from rooftop SPV system is directly fed to the grid and consumers
get electricity supply from the utility grid. There are two separate energy meters to
read solar energy generation and the consumer’s electricity consumption from the
utility grid.

Net metering Gross Metering

Net metering arrangement allows consumers to use solar electricity for meeting end
use loads. In this case simple energy meter is replaced by a bidirectional meter.
The flow of energy in a grid interactive rooftop SPV system under different operating
conditions is given below:
ƒƒ AC electrical output of inverter consumed by loads or AC current is fed back to grid
ƒƒ For generation > consumption, |PV-Load|= Net Export
ƒƒ For generation < Consumption, |PV-Load|=Net Import
ƒƒ Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) paid to customer based on Net Export Net metering

TABLE 2 : Preferred Metering Arrangement for Specific Needs: A Comparative Analysis

Parameters Gross Metering Net Metering Net Metering with Power Backup
Purpose Sale of electricity to utility Consumption at the consumer’s end Consumption at the consumer’s end and also a
backup source during power outage
Preferred consumer category Commercial & Industrial Residential, Commercial & Industrial Residential
Tariff plan PPA, FiT Energy settlement, FiT Energy settlement, FiT
Energy accounting Two separate meters A bidirectional meter A bidirectional meter
Operating cost Low Low High

Central and State Government Schemes

The PV market in India is driven by a mix of national targets and support schemes at
various levels.
Currently, MNRE is providing 30% subsidy for SPV rooftop systems and Solar Energy
Corporation of India (SECI) is also promoting grid connected rooftop systems (100-
500kWp) under RESCO model.
Apart from central policies, various states have also announced their state specific
policies for rooftop SPV. Different states in India are promoting basically 3 kinds of
rooftop SPV implementation schemes.
ƒƒ Gujarat is the front runner for implementing Gross metered Roof rental model: This
model does not promote self-consumption of SPV electricity
ƒƒ Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh & Uttarakhand have recently launched their policies
promoting net metering mode of implementation: This model promotes
self-consumption of SPV electricity. Tamil Nadu is the first state who started
implementing the policy.
ƒƒ Kerala is promoting off-grid rooftop SPV systems for residential consumers.

Currently, MNRE is providing 30% subsidy for SPV

rooftop systems. SECI is also promoting grid connected
rooftop systems (100-500kWp) under the RESCO model.

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 RE Feature

TABLE 3: State-level Policies

Central / State Scheme System Size Targeted Segment Incentive Electricity Sale/ Grid Connectivity
Utilisation Mechanism
Andhra Grid No limit 3 phase service consumers 30% from MNRE & 20% Self- consumption and Net metering
Pradesh Connected from State Govt.* (*only sale to utility (Agreement is
for projects up to 3kW for INR 3.50 per unit for available)
residential consumers) exported power for 7
years
Gujarat Grid- No limit, total Govt. buildings, institution Roof owner gets paid Sale to utility Gross metering
connected 30 MW in 6 and residential buildings lease rent (N 3.00 per unit)
cities and the project
developer gets feed-in-
tariff (N 11.21) for 25 years

Karnataka Off-grid 0.5 - 1 kW & Any building 30% from MNRE Self-consumption and Net metering
& Grid 5 – 10 kW sale to utility
connected INR 3.40 per unit for
exported power
Kerala Off-grid & Off-grid: Off-grid: Household and Off-grid: 30% @ MNRE + Off-grid: only self- Net metering
Grid- 1kW (10,000 small cottage industries INR 39,000 /kW @ State consumption
connected systems) Grid-connected: All Govt. Grid connected: Net-
Grid- consumers Grid-connected: 30% @ metering
connected: up MNRE
to 3MW
Rajasthan Grid 1 MW capacity Not mentioned FiT Sale to utility under Gross metering
Connected each and total competitive bidding
of 50 MW

SECI Grid 100 – 500 kWp Any building in 30% from MNRE through SECI Self-consumption and Both gross and net
connected (aggregation is 4 cities - Phase I - 5.5 MW sale to utility metering
allowed) 6 cities - phase II - 11.1 MW Maximum chargeable
9 cities - phase III - 10 MW fixed tariff is up to INR
6/ kWh for 25 years
under RESCO model

Tamil Nadu Grid 1 kW 10,000 residential houses 30% from MNRE & 20% from Self-consumption and Net metering
connected State Govt. sale to utility (Agreement is
available)
< 10 kW - 240 V
< 100 kW - 415 V
> 100 kW - 11 kV
Uttarakhand Grid 0.3 – 500 kW All consumers 30% from MNRE Self-consumption and Net metering
connected sale to utility
West Bengal Grid 2 - 100 kW Institutional consumers 30% from MNRE Self-consumption and Net metering
Connected (Govt. departments, sale to utility Connectivity at
academic inst. etc.) LV or MV (6 kV or
16 MW by 2017 11 kV)

Grid-interconnection Arrangements
Based on above mentioned configurations, following schemes of grid interactive roof top SPV system have been
considered:
ƒƒ Grid interactive SPV System without Battery backup (Figure 1)
ƒƒ Grid interactive SPV System with full load Battery backup (Figure 2)
ƒƒ Grid interactive SPV System with Partial load Battery backup (Figure 3)

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 Grid-connected SPV Rooftop: An Option for India's Growing Energy Demand

The above-mentioned grid connectivity

arrangements are described Figures 1–5.
Wherever the battery is not envisaged, the
solar system can be directly connected to
consumer AC bus and the total energy of the
solar system will be supplied to consumer/
grid depending upon the requirement of the
consumer.

Grid-interactive rooftop SPV system without

battery backup
This is a simplest scheme of the grid
interactive rooftop SPV system. In this
arrangement inverter which is heart of the
entire solar system continuously supervises
Figure 1: Grid interactive rooftop
the grid condition and in the event of grid failure or under voltage or over voltage, SPV system without Battery backup
the solar system is disconnected by the circuit breaker /auto switch provided in the Notes: CI-Consumer energy import
GI-Import of energy from grid
inverter. Since there is no power back up in the system, it cannot supply the consumer GE-Export of energy to the grid
load in the event of grid failure. Block diagram of the derived scheme is shown in SE-Export of energy from solar system
SI-Import of energy by solar system
Figure 1. SW-Manual lockable switch for distribution
feeder maintenance by the distribution
company
Grid-interactive rooftop SPV system with full and partial load battery back up
In this scheme when the grid is available, consumer loads will be fed from grid as
well as from solar system with a priority to solar PV system. SPV also feeds to the
grid in case of surplus generation. In this
arrangement battery and inverter cum
charger is also shown. The DC generated
from solar is first converted to AC and then it
is connected to other equipment/grid. When
grid fails automatic disconnection from
the grid side takes place and solar is
connected to battery system and AC
consumer load. Block diagram of the
scheme is shown in Figure 2.
Under grid interactive rooftop SPV
system with partial load battery backup
scheme, the basic operation will be same as
given in full load battery backup scheme but
bus splitting is necessary in the event of grid
failure so as to supply critical loads as battery
Figure 2: Grid-interactive rooftop
backup is not sufficient to feed the entire consumer load. In the event of grid failure
SPV with full load battery backup
or under voltage or over voltage, inverter will disconnect the grid supply as also the (based on Configuration-I in Figure 4)

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 RE Feature

non-emergency loads. Solar and battery

system will be feeding emergency loads
only. Battery system will be charged if
battery is not fully charged.
In case where battery is also
envisaged, the scheme of connection
for solar PV system will depend upon
the way the battery is charged. There
are two possible ways of charging
battery. First one is where there is AC
coupling i.e. first the DC produced by
solar is converted into AC and battery
is connected through a charger which
converts AC into DC. In this arrangement
as long as grid is available the solar
Figure 3: Grid interactive rooftop SPV with partial load battery backup
system, consumer, and battery system
(based on Configuration-I in Figure 4)
will be interactive up with grid. In case of
grid failure, rest of the system (solar PV
system, battery system and consumer
load) would be disconnected from grid
and solar will be connected to battery
and AC loads through another route.
This scheme is envisaged in Europe
where feed in tariff is employed.
However the only difference proposed
here is regarding the positioning of
the solar meter(SM). In the scheme
in vogue in Europe for feed in tariff
the SM is towards the grid side and
does not record the energy drawn
by the consumer /battery during grid
failure. In the suggested scheme as per
configuration-I, during grid failure also it
measures the solar generation including
Figure 4: Configuration-I for grid interactive SPV system with battery backup1
the energy drawn by battery and the
1
Report of subgroup-I on Grid Interactive Rooftop Solar PV System, 2009, Central Electricity Authority, New Delhi
consumer load.
In the second arrangement
(Figure 5), solar system directly charges
the battery through charge controller
i.e. DC coupling. In this arrangement
the AC system is not involved to charge
the battery and battery will always be
connected to solar system. In case,
battery is discharged due to any reason
whatsoever solar system will first charge
the battery and the excess generation
from the solar will be fed into the grid.
This scheme would not reflect the true
gross generation produced by the solar
PV system. AU
Sudhakar Sundaray is a Research Associate at
Renewable Energy Technology Applications, TERI.
E-mail: sudhakar.sundaray@teri.res.in
Figure 5: Configuration-II for grid interactive SPV system with battery backup

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