Subsidy on Solar Water Heating System (Chandigarh)

What is the Chandigarh solar water heating subsidy?

Subsidy on Solar Water Heating System is a scheme of the Department of Science & Technology and Renewable Energy, Chandigarh Administration, that cuts the upfront cost of putting a solar water heater on a Chandigarh rooftop. The department promotes solar water heating by paying 25 percent of the total system cost for domestic systems of up to 300 litres per day (LPD) capacity. Field implementation is handled through the Chandigarh Renewable Energy and Science & Technology Promotion Society, better known as CREST.

The design of the scheme is unusual and worth understanding, because it removes the waiting that spoils most subsidy schemes. The resident does not pay the full price and then chase a refund. Instead, the customer pays only 75 percent of the system cost to the installing agency, and the Department of Science & Technology releases the remaining 25 percent to the agency after the system has been physically verified at the customer's premises. The saving is therefore visible in the price you are billed on day one.

Chandigarh has pushed solar water heating harder than most Indian cities. The Administration has made solar water heating systems mandatory in several building categories, hospitals and nursing homes, hotels and guest houses, canteens and larger residential buildings — and pairs that mandate with this subsidy so that owners are not simply handed a cost. The scheme is often searched locally as the Chandigarh solar water heater subsidy or solar geyser subsidy.

How much is the benefit and how is it paid?

• 25 percent of the total system cost for a domestic solar water heating system.
• Covered up to a 300 LPD system for the domestic category.
• The customer pays 75 percent to the agency; the department pays the balance 25 percent after verification.
• Both flat plate collector and evacuated tube collector systems are covered, at the rates fixed in the department's rate contract for that year.
• The subsidy is released subject to availability of funds in the financial year.

Because the department works off a rate contract, the price you pay is not negotiated afresh with every vendor. The department fixes a per-system or per-square-metre rate with the empanelled agencies, and your 75 percent share is calculated against that contracted rate. This protects buyers from being overcharged and then told the subsidy has been "adjusted".

Who can get the solar water heating subsidy in Chandigarh?

You can get the subsidy if:

• You are a resident of Chandigarh installing the system at a premises in the Union Territory.
• You order the system from an agency that is on the rate contract of the Department of Science & Technology.
• The system is a domestic solar water heating system up to 300 LPD for the 25 percent domestic benefit.
• The system is actually installed and available for physical verification by departmental staff.
• Housing societies, group housing blocks and institutions installing systems through the same rate-contract route are also covered under the department's arrangements.

You are not eligible if:

• The system was bought from a vendor not on the department's rate contract. This is the condition that disqualifies most walk-in buyers, and it cannot be cured after purchase.
• The installation is outside Chandigarh. A system at a house in Mohali, Panchkula or Zirakpur cannot claim the Chandigarh subsidy.
• You are claiming the domestic 25 percent rate for a system larger than 300 LPD; larger installations are dealt with separately.
• The system cannot be physically verified because it has not been installed, has been removed, or is at an address different from the one on the application.
• You have already drawn the subsidy for the same premises and the same system.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the Chandigarh solar water heating subsidy

1. Confirm the current rate-contract panel. Call or visit the Department of Science & Technology at Paryavaran Bhawan, Sector 19B, and ask for the list of agencies on the running rate contract. Agencies listed by the Administration have included M/s Surya Shakti, M/s Inter Solar System (P) Ltd. and M/s Merloni Termo Sanitari India Ltd., but the panel changes when the contract is renewed.
2. Choose the system size. For a household, size the system by daily hot water use; the 25 percent domestic subsidy runs up to 300 LPD.
3. Place the order with the empanelled agency and pay only 75 percent of the contracted system cost. Insist that the invoice records the capacity in LPD and the collector type.
4. Get the system installed by the agency on your roof, with the storage tank and pipework connected to your existing supply.
5. Submit the application form and invoice to the Department of Science & Technology, along with residence proof and the electricity bill of the premises.
6. Allow the physical verification. Departmental staff visit the premises to confirm the system is installed and working; the 25 percent balance is released to the agency after this check.

How do I check the status of my subsidy?

Because the balance is paid to the agency rather than to you, the practical status check is twofold. Ask the installing agency whether the department has released its 25 percent claim for your installation, and confirm independently with the Department of Science & Technology on 0172-2703982 or 0172-2703968, quoting the date of installation and the address of the premises. Keep a copy of the invoice and of the application you submitted; without them neither office can trace the case.

CREST also runs the Chandigarh solar portal at solar.chd.gov.in, which is primarily the single-window portal for rooftop solar power net metering. It is the department's public face for solar programmes and carries the current notifications, contacts and empanelment information worth checking before you order a water heating system.

Why do solar water heating subsidy claims fail?

• Agency not on the rate contract. Buying first and asking about the subsidy afterwards is the classic mistake, and it cannot be reversed.
• Invoice missing the capacity or collector type, so the department cannot compute the subsidy against its rate.
• Address mismatch between the invoice, the electricity bill and the site actually inspected.
• System not installed at the time of verification, or dismantled before the inspection.
• Funds exhausted for the financial year, since release is subject to availability of funds.
• Oversized system claimed at the domestic rate, beyond the 300 LPD domestic limit.

Is a solar water heater worth it in Chandigarh?

A solar water heating system in Chandigarh substitutes for an electric geyser through most of the year, and the winter months when hot water demand peaks are also the months when the city's clear skies keep collectors working. With 25 percent of the cost carried by the Administration, the payback compresses sharply against a conventional geyser running on grid electricity. For hospitals, hotels, guest houses, canteens and larger residential buildings, the system is in any case mandatory in Chandigarh, so the subsidy is money left on the table if the purchase is not routed through an empanelled agency.

Where do I complain or ask a question?

• Department of Science & Technology and Renewable Energy, 1st floor, Paryavaran Bhawan, Madhya Marg, Sector 19B, Chandigarh
• Phone: 0172-2703982, 0172-2703968
• CREST, Paryavaran Bhawan, Sector 19B, Chandigarh
• Chandigarh solar portal: solar.chd.gov.in

Nothing in this scheme requires payment to an agent. The only money that changes hands is the 75 percent you pay the empanelled agency against a proper invoice.