UK’s former energy minister Lord Barker has said solar’s future lies in a combination of private wire PPAs and a government-backed net metering scheme.
He said submissions to DECC’s feed-in tariff consultation had proven that there was a desire to see government subsidies shifted away from large-scale ground-mounted solar to rooftop installations.
He forecasted that in the absence of subsidies, large-scale solar developers would now seek to build out solar parks on the back of signing direct wire power purchase agreements (PPAs) with utilities and other companies.
I find this an interesting combination, the combo of Net metering and private PPAs, as together they have the power to accelerate both rooftop and grid-connected, utility-scale solar power sectors. How is this so?
Well, Net Metering makes rooftop solar far more viable, something we have discussed on many other places at Solar Mango. And in the absence of Net Metering, the business case for rooftop solar does look quite mediocre.
Similarly, for utility-scale, grid-connected solar power plants, private PPAs provide a mechanism that makes such power plants far more feasible, rather than depending only on PPAs with the government.
Source: Solar Power Portal
Yes, this is the good combination
India should also look for this combo for growth in both centralised and distributed solar segments