Banyan Environmental Innovations (P) Limited

Achieve Your Mission: 

​If you are planning to Go Solar for cooking, Water Heating or Electricity Generation for your home, office for Industry, Congratulations. You are a rare citizen of the world trying to save the planet from catastrophic climate change. Particularly if you are in the Indian States with high Solar Radiation, http://www.nrel.gov/international/images/india_ghi_annual.jpg ( See Map) e.g. Tamilnadu, Andhra, Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan -  it is very likely that your system investment will pay you rich dividend in long run, give you free electricity for 15-20 years if well maintained. You will also be setting an example for the rest of the world. If 200 Crore citizens ( 2 billion people) adopt 5kw solar system each, we would reduce Carbon Di Oxide Emissions by an estimated 12 billion tons/year, that could definitely make this planet more livable.

Calculate your Solar Benefits: 

​You will not only save on electricity bills but will also reduce harmful Green House Gases like Carbon Di Oxide Emissions, as you would have replaced Electricity from Burning of Coal/ Fossil Fuels with Renewable Energy. As a simple thumb rule for most parts of India, you would save 1 Kg of Carbon Di Oxide Emissions for Every Unit you generate from your own solar system. Thus from a 5kw Solar System that may give you 20 Units per year x 300 days a year = 6000 units of Solar Electricity, you would save 6000 Kgs of Carbon Di Oxide Emissions. That is your contribution to save our planet for the coming generations. A 5KW Solar System Owner would have left this planet clean for the next generation to enjoy. If you wish to be more precise in your contributions you may visit this site of Central Electricity Authority of India http://www.cea.nic.in/ for latest on the Grid Emissions Factor. 

Know Your Present Power Tariff: 

Besides saving the planet, you will save very significantly from electricity bills which follow a Telescopic Tariff in most part of India. It means higher the monthly consumption higher is your tariff. http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/power-tariff-shock-for-highend-consumers/article8767090.ece?css=print . As an example in Telangana, your first 100 units/month will cost you  Rs 3.30 /Unit, where as it will increase to Rs 7.38/Unit if you use over 300 Units/month due to Air Conditioners or large house. Check your bill for this detail, you are very likely to see this. Otherwise visit the latest Tariff Order from your states' Electricity Tariff Regulator, who regularly publish this tariff on their website. http://www.nrldc.org/weblinks.aspx  http://www.tnerc.gov.in/ 

System Size, Specifications and Guarantees: 

If you need 20 Units a day, you probably need to have a 5kw system installed on your roof, for which you may need around 50 square meters of space, that is nearly 540 square feet. You may upsize of down size this based on your daily/monthly or annual electricity consumption. For a medium sized house needing daily consumption of 10 Units of Electricity, 10 kWh/day, a 2.5 kw system may also be enough. However if you are planning a Solar System that is Grid Connected ( connected to the Electricity Wires/ Power Network), a larger system will be better as any surplus electricity will be delivered to the Electricity Supplier in your city/ state based on Net Metering Policy which is getting very common across India. In this Net Metering system, you will be charged for the units consumed by you and paid for the units you have delivered to the GRID. http://mnre.gov.in/file-manager/UserFiles/state-power-policies/Telangana-Solar-Power%20Policy.pdf Please note that you may not get paid at the same rate of electricity as the one charged to you.

Get a Good Estimate of your Savings: 

As a simple example demonstration, let us say you have installed a 5KW system generating 20 units/day x 300 days a year x saving you at an average of Rs 16/unit a total saving is Rs 96,000/Year in electricity bills. If you are using power from Diesel Generator sets due to any reason than your cost of electricity generation is Rs 16/unit. In case of an Industry with Tariff of Rs 6.55 as in Rajasthan http://rerc.rajasthan.gov.in/TariffOrders/Order203.pdf and many other states, you will save Rs 39,300 /year due to Solar System of 5KW as an example. http://www.tserc.gov.in/file_upload/uploads/Tariff%20Orders/Current%20Year%20Orders/Retail%20Supply%20Tariff%20Order%20for%20FY%202015-16.pdf A Non Domestic or Shop Owner or Commercial Consumer in Telangana would save Rs 9.1/Unit thus his annual saving will be Rs 54,600 /year. If you know the Tariff in the bills you know how much you will save per year. If you are an advertiser and you invest in 5KW system your annual savings will be 6000 x 11.90 Rs/unit = 71,400 Units/year.

Know Your Government Subsidies: 

Under Jawaharlal National Nehru National Solar Mission ( JNNSM) http://mnre.gov.in/file-manager/UserFiles/Scheme-Grid-Connected-Rooftop-&-small-solar-power-plants.pdf Government of India has elaborate subsidy schemes that are under effect and can be availed by many Solar Projects in various categories. 30% Government Subsidy for Solar Systems is available from State Nodal Agencies like New and Renewable Energy Corporation of Andhra Pradesh - (NREDCAP http://nredcap.in/SolarEnergy.aspx) for Andhra. Please note that Net of Government Subsidy price of a 5KW system could vary from installer to installer and may be as low as Rs 3.00 lacs or less. 

Free Electricity for 20 Years:  

Thus for a 5kw System let us say your cost of system net of the subsidy is Rs 400,000 (  ( 5970 $), it will take you 400,000/96,000 ( annual saving) = 4.17 Years to recover your investment if you are replacing a Diesel Generator, thus getting Free Electricity for nearly 20 years considering most of the Solar Systems are expected to generate good electricity for 25 years without any drop in generation. This saving for you is expected to be 19.2 lacs for a 5kW system. However your payback will reduce as an advertiser to Rs 400,000/ 71,400 ( annual saving) = 5.6 Years giving you  Free Electricity for 19.4 years worth Rs 13.85 lacs. Accordingly you can calculate savings for your application, Industry or College, base don the tariff you are paying.

Have a Choice of Few Quotes: 

IT is highly recommended that you have a few quotations from the best suppliers in the country or systems made using parts from the best suppliers in the country, which are Vikram Solar Pvt Limited http://www.vikramsolar.com/ , SWELECT Energy Systems Limited http://www.swelectes.com/  & Emeral Energy Solutions Pvt Limited http://www.emeralenergy.com/ . These are among the best rated Channel Partners of MNRE. http://mnre.gov.in/schemes/decentralized-systems/solar-rooftop-grid-connected/ . This will help you in comparing the costs or with and without battery solutions, how subsidy is being claimed, your upfront investment, system Guarantees, Fine Print etc. The best solution that suits your budget, preferences and expectations will become obvious.

See a Reference Site: 

Seeing a Reference solar site as a good practice, will also help you in understanding the issues involved in installations, site related and supplier related issues. The price may be some what higher for a reputed maker, but his guarantee system will reflect that. You may very likely get a performance guarantee meaning that the system will generate minimum so much of electricity after 10-15-20 years without loss of performance beyond 10% or 15%. Where as cheap systems may not guarantee any long term performance in the 15-20 years you are supposed to get Free Electricity.

CAPEX or OPEX Model of Financing: 

There are many innovative financing options now available from some of the Solar System Suppliers. A Company is also paying for the entire upfront investment on your behalf and selling you electricity at a price lower than your current tariff. For example if your Diesel cost is Rs 16, he will install a system and sell you electricity @ Rs 14/unit. In case of Advertisement he is willing to sell at Rs 10/Unit and in case of Shop Owner, he is willing to sell you @ Rs 8.1/unit saving you Electricity bills from first day of the commissioning. You of course have the option of paying your full Solar System as a surest way to go forward.

Go for it:

Lastly I would strongly urge you to take the plunge and invest in this long term winning solution for your own economic being, and planets health.