Delhi’s rooftop solar push meets a city running short of roof space

In the congested bylanes of Hauz Qazi in Old Delhi, I climb three floors before reaching the terrace above Uday Thakur's house. It is a constricted space. The sun is shining, but there is little room to do much with it. 

Thakur points to the rooftop, where a mobile tower is already installed. Seven family members live in his 70-square-yard house, so the prospect of adding solar panels to the terrace does not excite him.

He says his monthly electricity bill is around ₹ 1,500–₹1,700, which is manageable with the existing subsidy. If a solar installation does not offer a clear additional benefit, he sees little reason to surrender rooftop space.

His concerns also point to a larger issue: the value of a rooftop cannot be measured only in square feet. In a crowded neighbourhood, it can have other uses, generate rental income, or be shared by several households. A solar installation has to compete with these existing priorities.

Uday already earns rent from a mobile tower. If solar panels occupy more of the roof, he worries about losing that income. The electricity subsidy that his household currently receives also means that the potential savings from rooftop solar  is not compelling enough.

Uday Thakur on the roof of his house. (Visual: Manish Jalui, Arkatapa Basu)

Uday’s reluctance highlights a problem that Delhi's new rooftop solar scheme will have to confront- the city and its older neighbourhoods.

A scheme for solar

The Delhi government has promised eligible households rooftop solar installations at zero upfront cost, targeting 2.3 lakh households by March 2027, according to Mint. However, in a city where many people live in compact homes, a key question remains: can the scheme reach households that have little roof space or no exclusive access to a rooftop at all?

A 2021 Indian Express report found that more than 60% of Delhi's households live in one- or two-room dwelling units. The numbers point to a wider urban reality: space is already at a premium, and installing solar panels is not necessarily a household's first priority.

This serves as a reminder that a scheme can be financially attractive on paper and still fail to persuade people when it runs into the realities of their homes.

The delay 

In West Delhi's Subhash Nagar, 58-year-old Vikram Dhawan has been more willing to give the scheme a chance.

Dhawan lives with his wife in a house measuring around 50 square yards. He has signed up for the scheme, attracted by the promise that he will not have to pay the upfront cost of installing solar panels. But the installation is yet to happen.

Dhawan says he has followed up on his application several times. Each time, he has been told that a vendor has not been selected.

For a scheme that is meant to encourage households to switch to solar, the delay raises a basic question: what happens after a resident applies?

The government's March 2027 target leaves a limited window for applications to translate into installations. Vendor selection, site assessments, installation, and the process of connecting systems to the grid will all have to move at pace if the deadline is to be met.

Dhawan's experience is different from Thakur's. One is unconvinced about giving up space, while the other is waiting for the process to move forward. 

Do people know?

In CR Park, Residents' Welfare Association President Pradeep Kumar Sarkar believes the scheme has potential, but says awareness remains a major problem.

Pradeep Kumar Sarkar says there needs to be a proper campaign. (Visual: Manish Jalui)

Sarkar, an architect and former professor at the School of Planning and Architecture, says there has not been enough momentum among residents to explore rooftop solar. Many, he believes, continue to assume that installing a system requires a substantial investment.

"There is no campaign as such," is how he describes the lack of awareness among residents.

Even in his three-storey house, the decision is not straightforward. The property is jointly owned by members of his family, and there is uncertainty over whether another floor might be constructed. Installing solar panels now could mean disturbing or relocating the system later.

The scheme needs to respond to the needs of the city. (Visuals: Manish Jalui, Arkatapa Basu)

These are the kinds of practical questions that do not always feature in the announcement of a new scheme. Who has the right to use the roof? What happens when a property has multiple owners? Who bears the cost if the system needs to be shifted or repaired?

In Delhi, where houses are often divided into separate floors and ownership is shared among family members, rooftop access can be complicated. The person paying the electricity bill may not control the roof, while the person who owns the roof may have little incentive to install panels for someone else's benefit.

Sarkar says residents need clearer information about financial benefits, installation requirements, and long-term costs. Without that, even a scheme offering substantial government support may struggle to generate interest.

A problem of all cities

Dr Debajit Palit, Centre Head at the Centre for Climate Change and Energy Transition at Chintan Research Foundation, Delhi, highlights the need to think beyond the individual household when planning its solar transition.

Dr Debajit Palit talks about how to tackle the transition beyond the individual households. (Visual: Manish Jalui)

The problem, he says, is not unique to the capital. Across urban India, people increasingly live in apartments and multi-storey buildings where individual households do not necessarily have access to rooftops.

One way forward, according to Dr Palit, is to look at the space available across residential societies and use it to generate electricity for common facilities.

In apartment complexes, for instance, solar panels installed on shared rooftops could help meet the electricity needs of lifts, corridor lights, and other common services. Residents could benefit through lower shared electricity expenses, even if they cannot install panels for their individual flats.

This would require residents' welfare associations and building managers to take the lead in assessing available roof space and deciding how the generated electricity could be used.

Dr Palit also points to the possibility of smaller solar setups on suitable balconies. Such installations could offer another option for households that do not have access to individual rooftops, provided there is adequate sunlight and the systems can be installed safely.

Solar panels installed on a roof. Visual: Manish Jalui

These ideas would need technical and regulatory support, along with a workable arrangement for installation, maintenance, and use of the electricity generated. They are not a substitute for rooftop solar everywhere, but they could help address the limitations of a model that assumes every household has its own usable terrace.

The broader point is that Delhi will have to find ways to use whatever space is available. A one-size-fits-all approach may not work in a city where housing patterns vary sharply between neighbourhoods.

Delhi's rooftop solar scheme has two clear attractions: households can reduce their dependence on grid electricity, while the government can expand clean-energy generation. But the distance between announcing a scheme and getting panels installed on rooftops is considerable.

The Delhi government's March 2027 target will depend on how effectively these different problems are addressed. It will require not just funding and vendors, but also communication with residents, clarity over rooftop access, and solutions for homes that cannot accommodate individual systems.

Delhi's challenge is not the availability of sunlight. It is finding the space, the arrangements and the incentives to turn that sunlight into electricity. For a city where even a small terrace has to serve several purposes, the success of the solar scheme depends on whether the government can look beyond the individual rooftop and find ways to make the transition work for more of its residents.

 

[Edited by Nazim. Production by Arkatapa Basu]