Rooftop solar with MGVCL (Madhya Gujarat Vij Company Ltd)

One company from Vadodara city to the Madhya Pradesh border

MGVCL's area runs from the Mahi river plains of Anand and Kheda, through Vadodara, to the hill districts of Dahod, Chhota Udaipur, Panchmahal and Mahisagar on the eastern edge of the state. If your bill says MGVCL, every solar step, from the feasibility check to the bi-directional meter, is handled by MGVCL staff in your sub-division.

The company groups its offices into circles. Its PM Surya Ghar nodal officer list names five: Baroda City, Baroda O&M (the rural parts of Vadodara district plus Chhota Udaipur), Anand, Nadiad (Kheda and part of Mahisagar) and Godhra (Panchmahal, Dahod and the Lunawada side of Mahisagar). Under each circle sit divisions and numbered sub-divisions, such as Alkapuri, Gotri and Manjalpur in the city or Bodeli, Zalod and Santrampur further east.

Your sub-division name and consumer number are printed on the bill. Keep that bill handy, because the application, the estimate and the meter work are all tied to that sub-division.

Where MGVCL keeps its solar paperwork

The Solar RoofTop page on mgvcl.com, under the Consumer menu, is the most useful single page. It does not run the application itself. Instead it holds the documents that the installer and the MGVCL office work from:

• A nodal officer list by circle and division, with three levels (L1, L2, L3) for PM Surya Ghar issues. MGVCL asks people to go to L1 first, then L2, and only then L3.
• The document lists for residential applications on the national portal, for LT solar rooftop, for society common meters and for HT agreements.
• Specifications for the single-phase bi-directional meter, the whole current meter and the CT-operated LT meter used for solar, plus HT solar meters.
• The GERC net metering amendments, the MNRE operating guidelines, and the empanelled vendor list for PM Surya Ghar.
• A link to the GUVNL payment page for MGVCL (epayment.guvnl.in/SRPayMG/), where the solar rooftop estimate is paid against its SR number.

How an MGVCL application usually moves

For a home, the application starts on the PM Surya Ghar portal, where you pick Gujarat and MGVCL and enter the consumer number from your bill. In practice the registered vendor fills most of it. Shops, offices and factories apply through GEDA's rooftop solar portal, which MGVCL's page links for non-residential projects.

MGVCL then issues an estimate for its metering and connection work, set under GERC rules. Once it is paid, the vendor installs. MGVCL's LT document list shows the split by size: up to 10 kW a self certificate for installation is enough, while above 10 kW the Chief Electrical Inspector's drawing approval and charging approval are needed. The same list asks for an interconnection agreement on stamp paper, the latest bill, the paid estimate receipt and proof of ownership of the premises.

After the paperwork, the sub-division fits and tests the bi-directional meter and the system is commissioned. If something stalls, the installer can tell you the current step, and the circle's L1 nodal officer is the next person to ask.

Vadodara's societies and industrial estates

Many Vadodara homes are in housing societies with a common connection for the pump, lift and lights. MGVCL publishes a separate checklist for solar on such a common meter. The bill must be in the name of the society or RWA, so a common meter still in one member's name needs a name change first. The category must be RGP, and a meter in any other category needs a category change under MGVCL rules. The society also needs its by-laws, a resolution for the rooftop system, and an authority letter for the chairman to sign.

Industrial users sit in GIDC estates around the city, such as Makarpura, Nandesari, Savli, Waghodia and Por, and in Halol in Panchmahal. MGVCL even lists a GIDC sub-division in the city and a Halol GIDC sub-division. For an LTMD connection, GERC counts solar against use only between 7 am and 6 pm over the billing cycle, and for HT the same daytime match is done each day. A plant sized to daytime load works best. On depreciation or tax, ask your CA.

Charotar farms and the eastern hill districts

Anand and Kheda, the Charotar belt, have large village homes with flat concrete roofs and a strong dairy co-operative culture, so milk collection centres and chilling units are common daytime loads that a co-operative may want to cover. Farm pumps are a separate matter, handled under PM-KUSUM through GUVNL rather than rooftop net metering.

Further east, in Dahod, Chhota Udaipur, Panchmahal and Mahisagar, homes are often smaller and many rural sub-divisions serve scattered villages on long lines. A small system of 1 to 2 kW may suit such a home, and that is also the range covered by Gujarat's new state top-up for homes up to 2.18 kW (see our subsidy guide). Ask the installer to check the voltage at your meter and the condition of the service line before design, and make sure the roof can take the structure.