LED Based Solar Street Lighting System (Punjab Solar Street Lighting Scheme)

What is the Punjab Solar Street Lighting Scheme?

Punjab Solar Street Lighting Scheme is the state's LED Based Solar Street Lighting System programme, implemented by the Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA) under the Department of New and Renewable Energy Sources. PEDA supplies, installs and commissions standalone solar street lights in villages, on approach roads, at bus stops, in school and dispensary compounds and at other public points where grid street lighting is missing, unreliable or costly to run.

According to the PEDA portal, the Solar Street Lighting Programme was launched by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India, in 1999, and Punjab originally received 30 per cent Central Financial Assistance under it. PEDA states that the central scheme is now limited to the North Eastern States, and that MNRE provides the 30 per cent CFA only for those states. Under the scheme as submitted to the Government of Punjab, 70 per cent of the cost is borne by the beneficiary and the balance 30 per cent is given as state subsidy.

What one unit contains

• A solar photovoltaic panel, which converts sunlight into electricity during the day.
• A battery that stores the day's generation. The current PEDA specification uses a Lithium Ferro Phosphate (LFP) battery.
• An LED luminaire with an electronic circuit that senses dusk through the panel, switches the lamp on, runs it through the night and switches it off at dawn.
• A pole, foundation and mounting hardware.

Cost. PEDA puts the cost of an LED solar street light with an LFP battery at Rs 13,150 per unit, including a five-year warranty and annual maintenance contract. At the 70:30 split, the beneficiary share works out to roughly Rs 9,200 per light and the state subsidy to roughly Rs 3,950, but a panchayat should always confirm the current rate and split in writing with PEDA before depositing money, because the unit rate is fixed through a centralised e-tender and changes with each procurement cycle.

Why does Punjab push solar street lights instead of grid lights?

PEDA lists five practical reasons on its programme page. Solar street lights are independent of the utility grid, so operating cost falls to almost nothing. They need less maintenance than conventional street lights. They are a non-polluting source of electricity. The parts can be carried separately to remote areas where laying a line is difficult. And they save both energy and money for the local body that would otherwise pay a monthly street-light bill to PSPCL.

The scale is already large. PEDA reports 1,19,630 solar street lights installed and commissioned in 5,835 villages of Punjab. The agency calculates that this avoids about 9,553 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year, which it equates to planting roughly 4,30,000 mature trees. For the LFP-battery version specifically, PEDA has recorded 52,340 lights across 2,191 villages, and its published action plan is the supply, installation and commissioning of 3,00,000 solar street lights with Lithium Ferro Phosphate batteries. PEDA has also noted an MNRE allocation of 19,000 solar street lights with lithium-ion batteries routed to it through a centralised e-tender process.

Who is eligible for solar street lights under this scheme?

Bodies that can make a demand:

• Gram panchayats in Punjab, for village streets, gullies, chowks, cremation grounds, water works and school approaches.
• Municipal corporations, municipal councils and nagar panchayats, for wards and public spaces.
• Government departments, boards and corporations for their own premises.
• Government schools, health institutions, anganwadi centres and other public institutions.

Who cannot apply:

• An individual householder cannot apply for a free or subsidised solar street light for a private house, farm, shop or private street. The programme is community infrastructure and the asset stays in public ownership.
• Private colonies, housing societies and commercial complexes are not eligible for the state subsidy component; they can of course buy solar lights commercially, but that is a market purchase and not this scheme.
• A panchayat that cannot deposit or arrange its 70 per cent beneficiary share is not eligible until the share is arranged, because the state subsidy only covers 30 per cent.

There is no income test, caste condition or age condition anywhere in this scheme, because the beneficiary is an institution, not a person.

How to apply for solar street lights in Punjab

1. Pass a resolution in the gram panchayat or local body. Record the number of solar street lights needed and the exact installation points, street by street. A vague demand for "lights in the village" delays the survey.
2. Prepare the site list and the funding arrangement. Identify the source of the 70 per cent beneficiary share; panchayat funds, MGNREGA convergence works, MLA or MP local area development funds, or a departmental budget, and record it in the same resolution.
3. Route the demand through the block or district office. Submit the resolution and site list to the BDPO or the executive officer of the local body, who forwards it with a covering letter to PEDA.
4. Send the proposal to PEDA, Chandigarh. Address it to the Joint Director holding the Solar Street Light Programme at Punjab Energy Development Agency, Solar Passive Complex, Plot No 1 and 2, Sector 33-D, Chandigarh 160020, phone 0172-2663382. Keep a diary number for the submission.
5. Deposit the beneficiary share when PEDA raises the demand. Pay only to PEDA or to the agency PEDA names in writing, and take a receipt.
6. Allow the appointed supplier to survey and install. PEDA procures the lights through a centralised e-tender, so the installing firm is the successful bidder, not a firm chosen by the panchayat. Verify the make, the battery type and the warranty card at the time of commissioning.

How do you check the status of a solar street light demand?

PEDA does not run a public beneficiary-status dashboard for this programme, so the practical route is documentary. Quote the diary number of your proposal in a follow-up letter to PEDA's Solar Street Light Programme wing, and copy the district office that forwarded it. New tenders, allocations and public notices for the programme are published on the Tenders and News Updates sections of peda.gov.in, and reading those tells you whether a fresh procurement round is running. If a written follow-up gets no response, PEDA also lists a Complaint section on its website, and a grievance can additionally be filed on the Punjab government's citizen grievance portal at connect.punjab.gov.in against the Department of New and Renewable Energy Sources.

What are the common reasons a demand does not get lights?

• No allocation in the current round. PEDA installs against a fixed annual quantity procured through e-tender. A valid demand can simply wait for the next round.
• Beneficiary share not deposited. This is the single most common reason a sanctioned demand stalls, because 70 per cent of the cost is not covered by the state subsidy.
• Sites not usable. Poles cannot be fixed where there is heavy shading from trees or buildings, because the panel then does not charge the battery. Shift the point rather than abandoning the demand.
• No site clearance. Where the pole falls on land controlled by the PWD, the canal department or the railways, a no-objection is needed first.
• Theft and vandalism history. Batteries and panels are stolen in some locations. PEDA's five-year warranty and AMC covers defects, not theft, so the local body has to fix mountings securely and keep the FIR route in mind.

Whom do you contact about maintenance after installation?

Every LED solar street light supplied under the current specification carries a five-year warranty and annual maintenance contract, and that cost is already included in the Rs 13,150 unit price. If a light stops working within that period, the panchayat should first raise the complaint with the installing firm named on the warranty card, and simultaneously write to PEDA's Solar Street Light Programme wing at 0172-2663382 so that the complaint is on record with the agency that holds the contract. Keep the commissioning certificate, the warranty card and the supplier's service phone number in the panchayat record book, because these are almost always lost by the time a fault appears in year three or four.

PEDA has issued a public notice warning against fraudulent activities, and the Punjab government has separately warned against online fraud in the name of solar pumps. No agent has authority to collect cash for "getting your village sanctioned". Payments go to PEDA or to the firm PEDA names in writing, against a receipt.

Key facts at a glance

• Implementing agency: Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA), Department of New and Renewable Energy Sources.
• Programme origin: MNRE Solar Street Lighting Programme, launched 1999; central assistance now limited to the North Eastern States.
• Funding pattern under the Punjab scheme: 70 per cent beneficiary, 30 per cent state subsidy.
• Unit cost: Rs 13,150 per LED solar street light with LFP battery, including five-year warranty and AMC.
• Installed so far: 1,19,630 lights in 5,835 villages; 52,340 of the LFP type in 2,191 villages.
• Action plan: 3,00,000 solar street lights with LFP batteries.
• Office: Solar Passive Complex, Plot No 1 and 2, Sector 33-D, Chandigarh 160020, phone 0172-2663382.