Bengaluru: At least 40% drop in solar installations due to meter crunch

The number of solar panel installations in Bengaluru has dropped by at least 40 per cent over the last three months, according to service providers and installers in the domain.

Though more people are evincing interest in green energy, service providers have said that a shortage of bidirectional meters has slowed down the process and they are not able to complete installations at many sites.

“The bidirectional meters help synchronise the system and record the actual use of power. Without the meters, we cannot operationalise the solar panels. Over the last three months, though many clients are approaching us, we have not been able to complete many installations owing to the shortage of these meters,” said K L H Raya, secretary, Karnataka Renewable Energy Systems Manufacturers Association (KRESMA).

He added that the number of installations had come down by at least 40 per cent and many other projects that were in progress were stalled.

The lack of clarity as to when the meters would be available is creating problems in providing clients with an estimate, the installers said.

“Of the six projects I am handling, I have been able to procure meters for only one of them. The other projects will remain stalled indefinitely. Owing to this shortage, we are not able to commit to a timeline and hence many clients are refusing to give us projects,” said K S Deshpal who runs Prolight Systems, a company that installs solar lighting systems across Karnataka.

While meters are available in other states, stringent norms set by the Bescom have restricted installers from using them, they said. “Every meter has to be submitted to Bescom for testing and has to be procured from empanelled vendors listed by Bescom only. They were not open to our suggestion of procuring meters from other states and submitting them for testing,” Raya said.

Senior Bescom officials told DH that the chip shortage, owing to import problems during the pandemic had resulted in such a crisis. “So far, we were able to meet the needs by utilising the meters that were stocked up. There was an acute shortage of chips and other materials used for manufacturing such meters and hence the supply was affected,” he said.

Yet another official said that they are expecting the supply of meters soon. “We are in talks with the manufacturers. While a few one-phase meters are available, three-phase meters will soon be supplied. At least 500 meters are expected to arrive in the next few days,” he said.