Review of Solar PV Policy Incentives and Regulations Related to Metering and Billing of Grid-Connected Rooftop PV Systems in Indian States
Abstract
The share of rooftop photovoltaic (PV) capacity in India to total PV capacity has been marginal as the rooftop PV sector is falling short of its targeted capacity of 40 GW. This paper reviews solar PV policy incentives and contemporary regulations related to the metering and billing of grid-connected rooftop PV systems in Indian states and Union Territories (UTs) to understand their historical trend and present status. The policy incentive's deployment order and its effect on the PV capacity addition are presented using the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL) policy stacking framework. The review of policy documents shows that the states with the highest PV capacity published more policies between 2002 and 2022 than their counterparts. The Indian states and UTs significantly used market-expansion incentives over market-creation incentives to develop the domestic PV market. The prevailing metering and billing-related regulations in states and UTs are reviewed to understand the regulatory landscape of the country's grid-connected rooftop PV systems. It is observed that the choice of metering and billing mechanism employed differs across states and UTs, with net metering being the most commonly adopted mechanism.
Keywords
Rooftop solar, Policy incentives, Policy stacking framework, Solar energy, Net metering