The government? Ah, the government.
Like it or not (we know it is Not), the government has a role to play in solar power generation and use, even where the investments are made and power plants are owned by the private sector, and even when the power is generated right on your rooftop.
The government plays a role for the following reasons:
- For Rooftop Solar – Even if you have solar panels on your roof, you still need to depend on the grid for some or most of your electricity needs, so you need the government owned utilities to cooperate with you.
- For Offsite Captive Power Plants – If you are putting up solar power plants outside your premises and transporting it to your factory, you are using the electricity grid owned by the government utilities. So you need their cooperation once again.
- For Sale of Power to State Utility – In many instances, companies put up solar power plants to sell power to the government utilities; in these cases, they will need the government yet again, as the government is in this case their customer!
Besides the above, as solar power plants are electrical power generation systems, you need approvals on specific aspects of installation and maintenance. This is another area where you need to deal with government agencies.
In India, power generation and distribution was privatized by the Electricity Act of 2003. At the same time, unlike many other private sectors, power generation still has strong dependencies on government infrastructure, and such dependence is unlikely to go away anytime soon.