The Union Government has come out with a Standards & Labelling Programme for solar panels, which will entail rating of solar panels through star labels to indicate quality and energy efficiency. The star labelling scheme prepared by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) for PV modules will be voluntary for the first two years from January 1, 2024, to December 31, 2025, for which no labelling fee will be charged.
While launching the programme in Delhi, Union Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy, RK Singh, said that the move will make it easier for citizens to make an informed and judicious decision while purchasing and deploying solar photovoltaic modules, known commonly as solar panels.
The Minister said that the programme will enable citizens to know which brands of solar panels are more or less efficient, adding that the citizens are currently at the mercy of the installing vendors. The Minister explained that India's programme for star labelling has already resulted in emissions reduction of almost 58 million tonnes of CO2 per annum, projecting that the star enabling of solar panels will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 30 million tonnes per annum by 2030. The scheme aims to contribute to the larger goal of enhancing the share of renewable energy and reducing emission intensity of GDP by 45% by 2030.
Exhorting all solar module manufacturers to get themselves empanelled, the Minister didn't rule out the possibility of mandating the program a few years down the line to boost quality local manufacturing. Union Power Secretary, Pankaj Agarwal, said that the star labelling programme will bring in product differentiation to a market in which he described products as fully commoditised as of now.
Director General of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), Abhay Bakre, expects the addition of at least another 200 GW of solar panels, both from ground-mounted and solar rooftops, stating that the program aims to enhance the efficiency of solar PV modules by 2% over its existing levels. Owing to performance improvement, BEE expects electricity generation to increase by 33 GWh/year with an offset of around 27,000 tons of CO2 emissions per annum.
Speaking about the impact, Bakre said that on a typical 10 square-metre roof area, a progression from 1-Star to 2-Star solar panel will result in additional electricity generation of around 12%, while the increase as compared to 1-Star solar panel can be as high as 29% - 35% for 4-Star and 5-Star panels. As of now, 15 appliances are in mandatory regime, i.e., the appliances cannot be sold in the market without the label; and 19 appliances are in voluntary regime, where the market is in development stage.
(Edited by : Sangam Singh)
First Published: Oct 20, 2023 10:49 PM IST
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