How to Set Up Solar Plant in Own Land in India

Solar Power industry in India is gaining more and more prominence with each passing day. The domestic/off-grid industry is picking up speed too. For the whole detail please read this article properly.
The useful life of a typical Solar Power plant is considered to be 25 years. This is the duration for which long-term PPAs are signed and financial models are built. However, Solar Power plants can run beyond 25 years while producing a lower output. Many Solar Panel manufacturers guarantee an output of 90% at the end of 10 years and 80% at the end of 25 years.

The land required for a 1 MW power plant setup is around 4.5-5 acres for Crystalline technology and around 6.5-7.5 acres for Thin-Film technology. This is only a rough benchmark and may vary based on technology and efficiency of panels.

External factors which are beyond the control of a Solar developer can include the following:

• Number of sunny days
• Solar Irradiation
• Day Temperatures
• Air Mass

The output also depends on the following internal factors all of which are within the control of a Solar Developer:

• Plant Location
• Usage of Solar Tracking systems
• Quality of equipment used
• Workmanship of the EPC contractor
• O&M activities

A certain set of permissions need to be obtained and documents need to be submitted in order to setup a Solar PV plant. While these may vary from state-to-state, in order to get a Solar PV Project Accredited by AP State Load Dispatch Center (AP SLDC) for REC mechanism, the following are the statutory clearances and environmental clearances to be furnished.
While these are the documents that AP SLDC requires for REC project accreditation, these are typically the clearances/documents required in general for a Solar PV project.

Total project cost per MW would be in the range of Rs.6.5 Crores-Rs.8 Crores depending on the kind of technology you are using, whether or not you are using tracking systems, the kind of EPC Contractor you choose for power plant system etc. CERC recently announced the benchmark tariff for setup of Solar PV and Thermal Plants in India.

However if the tenders of your area are available then you just can rent your land to them.

Solar plants can be categorized into 2 broad categories – Grid Connected and Off-Grid plants. The usual Govt. support available for an Off-Grid plant is a Capital Subsidy of 30% on the project cost upto a maximum size of 500 KW. This can be claimed by the Manufacturer/Supplier/EPC Contractor (should be an MNRE accredited supplier) on behalf of the customer.