Rooftop Solar PV Awareness Workshop - Federation of OMR residents Association
Citizen consumer and civic Action Group (CAG) and ASAR Social Impact Advisors, in collaboration with the Federation of OMR residents Association (FOMRRA), organized a Rooftop Solar PV Awareness Workshop on Saturday, March 29, 2025, at Casagrand Amethyst, Sholinganallur. The event was held from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM and was attended by 19 residents from the Old Mahabalipuram Road.
Kirubakaran, CAG explaining rooftop solar PV systems to the participants.
Workshop Overview
Researchers from CAG—Subramani, Kirubakaran, Manikandan, and Meenakshi Chaturvedi—along with consultants Aleena and Prabhakaran, were present at the workshop.
The session saw participation from 19 representatives of various gated community associations, collectively representing over 500 dwelling units from Siruseri, Sholinganallur, Pudhupakkam, Thoraipakkam, Navalur, and Semmencherry. Participants introduced themselves, their associations, and shared the amenities available in their communities, along with their objectives for attending the workshop. It was observed that the most common service connections in these associations fell under the commercial tariff category (LM51 or LT V), resulting in significantly high electricity bills due to their substantial power requirements.
Subramani provided an overview of CAG and its ongoing rooftop solar awareness initiatives. Kirubakaran delivered a detailed presentation on the fundamentals of rooftop solar PV systems, covering system types, capacity planning, space requirements, investment costs, available subsidies based on tariff categories, payback period estimations, and key guidelines for installation.
The event was covered by The Hindu Downtown Adyar, helping CAG’s rooftop solar awareness initiative reach a wider audience.
Participant Queries
During the session, participants raised several practical and policy-related questions, including:
- Reluctance of certain vendors to undertake installations under the subsidy scheme
- Delays in net meter provisioning by Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation Limited (TNPDCL)
- Reasons behind delays in loan disbursements
- Possibility of adopting the Renewable Energy Service Company (RESCO) model for townships, particularly those under LT-V tariff
- Conditions under which residential common services fall under LT-I D or LT-V categories
- Feasibility of coupling diesel generators with solar PV systems
- Whether existing Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) would be affected by future policy changes
- Delays and shortages in net meter availability, which remained a common concern across attendees
Next Steps and Conclusion
All participants expressed interest in rooftop solar installation and requested CAG’s support in conducting site visits to assess feasibility and provide recommendations. During the session, it was revealed that two associations had already installed solar systems, which were currently non-functional. One had an off-grid setup and is now planning to switch to an on-grid system. They sought CAG’s assistance with the necessary procedures and were advised to submit a formal request for further follow-up, subject to availability.
CAG also plans to organize a follow-up meeting exclusively with gated community associations to discuss specific challenges in greater detail as part of a case study.
Participants thanked CAG for the informative session and appreciated the initiative. For further details, CAG has prepared an SOP for rooftop solar installations. You can access the English version here and the Tamil version here.