Dept to push permits for installment

The Department of Industrial Works will discuss with the Energy Ministry speeding up the granting of permits to install home rooftop solar stations for sale to the national power grid.

Director-general Nattapol Nattasomboon said yesterday that the DIW would allow companies providing an installation service to households to apply for the permit and then it would send staff to inspect their standards. This will take 90 days to complete. 

If they are qualified to install the system, they can apply for a permit on behalf of their household customers. This means the department does not have to inspect the systems of households desiring to install rooftop solar-cell panels to generate electricity for sale to the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) or the Metropolitan Electricity Authority (MEA).

Installation firms that fail to meet the DIW’s standards will not be allowed to obtain the permits for their customers. They must go through the regular process of allowing the DIW to inspect the client’s homes or buildings to ensure that they meet the required safety standards. 

Safety is a vital issue, as installation of solar-cell panels is quite complex and the electricity generated from the panels is to be transferred for sale to the PEA and the MEA. Substandard equipment, or defective installations, could cause considerable damage to human lives and property. The Energy Regulatory Commission can seek compensation for such cases only through a civil complaint. 

The National Energy Policy Council recently raised its target for non-fossil-fuel energy sources to 13.9 gigawatts from 9.2GW under the revised Alternative Energy Development Plan 2012-21. 

It endorsed the revised target for wind power to 1.8GW from 1.2GW, solar power to 3GW from 2GW, biomass to 4.8GW from 3.6GW, garbage-based power to 400 megawatts from 160 megawatts, biogas to 3.6GW from 600MW, and hydropower to 324MW from 1.6GW. 

Of the total 1GW increase in the solar-power target, 200MW will be supplied by rooftop panels on houses and the buildings of small and medium-sized enterprises and the rest by the planned community-based solar power plants. 

Rooftop-panel-based producers are to start feeding the power grid in December.