Very soon bengaluru residents can rent out their rooftop space to a third party to set up a solar plant and get paid a monthly rent for their troubles. Meanwhile that is, if a proposal by bangalore electricity Supply Corporation Limited (BESCOM) to the karnataka electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) on using vacant rooftops to generate solar energy and incentivise the owner, is accepted.
Accordingly a report with several models to encourage the installation of solar panels on rooftops in the city was drawn up by the BESCOM earlier this week. Perhaps the report which is titled 'Decision on Various Models and Guidelines for Solar Rooftop Photovoltaic Plants allowed to be installed on rooftops of the consumers’ buildings' was made public by BESCOM on december 9. In the report BESCOM recognises a consumer owned model, utility-owned model, and a third-party owned model.
Moreover BESCOM is hoping to introduce a third-party owned model to encourage more rooftop solar plants in the city. In the third-party owned model, a developer/investor can install, own and operate solar plants on the rooftop by paying a monthly rent for the space used. Apparently in this case, the consumer is not the owner of the solar unit installed on the rooftop of a building, but the consumer simply buys energy from a developer who installs and operates the rooftop solar unit for a fixed period.
