Experts slam omission of water heaters in solar policy

The Delhi government's solar policy, approved by its Cabinet last month, fails to mention solar water heaters or extend to them the same benefits given to other solar installations, which is a grave error, according to industry experts.

“Solar water heaters can result in a savings of about 800-1200 units of electricity per 100-odd litre system,” Jaideep Malaviya, Secretary General of the Solar Thermal Federation of India (STFI) told The Hindu. “The question is, why are they ignored.”

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy stopped the subsidy on solar water heaters in September 2014.

According to Mr. Malaviya, solar water heaters do not any more need the subsidy as much as they need a regulatory push to make them commonplace in the market. “The solar water heaters don’t need the subsidy, they are cheap,” he said. “The stage has come where only if you enforce their use, can the market grow. One way to do this is to make it mandatory for new buildings to have them,” he said.

“Solar water heaters are the most efficient use of solar power, even more than solar lighting, since Delhi receives enough electricity to power its lights,” Mr. Malaviya added. “But heating is a different problem, something that this solar policy has completely missed out on.”

In ignoring the heating aspect of solar power, the Delhi government’s solar policy is ignoring one half of the potential of solar power.