Bhubaneswar, July 7: The state government has come up with fresh guidelines to encourage use of renewable energy resources, mainly solar power, in a big way among households.

According to the new guidelines formed by the government, anyone who wants energy supply system through solar power need not have to install solar photovoltaic panels by himself, but could just submit an application to the authority and get a connection.

This means that the applicant will submit an application form for the connection to the Odisha Renewable Energy Development Authority (Oreda), following which other government agencies will verify the application and provide the connection within 90 days.

The empanelled solar power plants of the state government will supply the power to the consumers. Earlier, the power plants were selling the generated energy to respective electricity authorities of the state government only, which was then supplied to the consumers.

To calculate consumption and charge consumers accordingly, the authorities will install meters in the households. "We have kept all such provisions in the Odisha Renewable Energy Policy, 2016. The policy was made to encourage the use of solar power at the bottom level," said an Oreda official.

Besides, to make the process easy, the state government has segregated the work, providing a timeframe and assigning roles to various stakeholders. Accordingly, Oreda will receive the application and forward it to Discom. It will then go through a process and the consumer will be engaged with the channel partner for installation of the equipment.

After installing panels and net meter at the consumer's facility, the Discom will verify the settings and provide go-ahead certificate. The state government has made provisions to provide subsidy to consumers as per the regulations made by the ministry of new and renewable energy.

Besides, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has been asked to undertake awareness drives at various parts of the city to sensitise residents about the new guidelines and the process for getting solar power connections.