Coimbatore region targets 40,000 households for rooftop solar energy installations

The Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation Limited (TNPDCL) has set a target of covering 40,000 houses under the PM Surya Ghar scheme that incentivises installations of rooftop solar systems.

A senior official of the TNPDCL in Coimbatore told The Hindu on Wednesday that nearly 9,000 houses in Coimbatore, Tiruppur and the Nilgiris districts have installed rooftop solar energy system under the scheme. Almost 6,700 of these are in Coimbatore district.

At a recent meeting with the solar energy system vendors, the TNPDCL shared details of residential electricity consumers whose bimonthly power consumption is more than 500 units. There are nearly 2.12 lakh such consumers, the official said.

The plan is to enable 40,000 consumers to go for solar energy by the end of next financial year. The TNPDCL instals bidirectional meters now for all new service connections. If the consumers opts for solar energy, the meters can be programmed accordingly, the official added.

The TNPDCL organises awareness campaigns to encourage residential consumers and is also organising camps involving banks so that consumers get funds to instal the solar energy systems.

Charging stations for electric vehicles

The TNPDCL has received 132 applications, mostly from the oil marketing companies, to instal charging stations for electric vehicles in Coimbatore, Tiruppur and the Nilgiris districts and 71 of these are functional. The charging stations are coming up mainly along the Highway roads at the restaurants and in petrol bunks, the official added.