Solar Energy System Explorations in Relocation sites of Mumbai

In dense cities like Mumbai, going vertical is the only option to maximise the utilization of available land. In such a situation, multi-storied buildings require and utilize a lot of electricity for common building purposes such as elevators and pumping water up into overhead water tanks. In the case of the buildings built by the city and by various developers in Mumbai for housing the slum dwellers, the residents see a very high maintenance expense, mainly dominated by the electricity bill. This proposal recommends exploring the possibilities of installing solar panels to generate electricity that offsets this monthly expense.

Both the state and central Government in India are giving a great push to the using of renewable sources of energy. Therefore, embedding the usage of solar energy to produce electricity for common electrical purposes in buildings, as a policy feature or within the building norms is a possible approach to maximise its usage.

Solar Panel providers have argued that, solar energy is available aplenty and small investments made in installation of these systems will pay off in a short period and prove beneficial in the long run. As an example, currently, a single building in the Indian Oil Colony (a relocation colony that houses slum dwellers in Mumbai displaced by various projects) has a monthly electricity consumption averaging to Rs. 15,692(about $ 250) or a yearly expense of Rs. 1,88,305 (about $3000). Based on a feasibility analysis, a 12kW solar plan will cost about Rs. 9,00,000 (about $14,000) and will not only offset this cost completely, but generate surplus electricity that can give electricity credits to the building via the usage of net metering systems. As such, the project should pay off within a period of 5-6 years.

First unit was built into building 11C, where 86 families reside in apartments in a ground + 7 stories. Due to the placement of the building, the solar panels had to be set up on higher extensions to allow for maximum exposure to the sun for most of the day. This required a lot of civil works for the mount beyond the cost of the panel and its installation.

12kWp – ON grid Rooftop Solar PV plant with smaller modules installed on pre fabricated mounting structure. Additional construction was required to support the mounting structures.

The first unit was inaugurated on 21^st November 2017.

Training for the Solar maintenance was done and to start with 3 young women from the Mahila Milan were trained to do the following:-

1. Clean the panels per the procedure and protocols

2. Take meter readings for in/out power values  on a defined period and keep the records. The Solar panel provider is also an expert in monitoring who gave the training and receives the value updates from these women. This is used to monitor the surplus as well as any abnormalities in usage and maintenance

3. Protect the panels and their peripheral equipments from miscreants and misuse.