Rooftop solar for the Morbi and Wankaner ceramic belt

How the cluster grew

The MSME-DI Rajkot district profile, with data from around 2012, recorded 597 functional units in what it called the Thangadh, Wankaner and Morbi ceramic triangle: 150 micro, 297 small and 150 medium. The belt has kept growing since then, so treat that as a dated floor rather than today's count.

The same 2012 profile explains why the industry grew here at all. It says most of Gujarat's fire clay came from the area, which drew fire-brick and then ceramic makers into Morbi and Wankaner talukas. Many of today's plants sit along the highways and village roads around Lalpar, Makansar, Jambudia and Trajpar rather than inside the four small GIDC estates listed in the glance table.

Gas fires the kiln, electricity does everything else

Kilns and spray dryers in the belt are fired with piped gas or propane, and that fuel bill is outside what solar can touch. When gas prices jump, a rooftop plant does nothing for the kiln, and it is better to hear that from the start.

The electricity bill is a different story. Ball mills grind the body slip for hours at a stretch, hydraulic presses cycle all shift, kiln and dryer fans never stop while the line is hot, and glaze lines, compressors and conveyors run alongside them. On a vitrified tile line, the polishing and squaring machines are among the heaviest electrical sections in the plant.

• Ball mills and slip pumps: long, steady motor load
• Presses and hydraulic power packs: high load in every shift
• Kiln, dryer and exhaust fans: continuous while firing
• Polishing, squaring and calibrating lines: large motors, daytime and night
• Air compressors, conveyors, packing and lighting

Why a 24 hour plant uses all of its solar

Because the line rarely stops, a tile plant's daytime demand is almost always bigger than anything its roof can produce. Bigger plants tend to take HT supply, where GERC counts solar only against power drawn between 7 am and 6 pm on the same day. For many factories that window is a limit. For a Morbi plant it seldom bites, since the daytime load swallows the whole output and there is little or no surplus to sell back to PGVCL at the lower surplus rate.

So the real ceiling is roof area and roof strength, plus the regulation's limit of 1,000 kW per rooftop project. Even a fully covered roof will usually offset only a slice of a large plant's monthly units. Plants that want more than the roof allows can ask the installer about captive and open-access routes under Gujarat policy.

Clay dust, kiln heat and the roof itself

Body powder from the press section and dust from raw material yards settle on glass within days in the dry months, and the fine mineral dust is abrasive. Plan cleaning as a routine job with soft water and soft brushes, not a dry wipe that scratches the coating, and leave walkways between rows so the cleaning crew can reach every panel safely.

Heat is the second issue. The roof right above a roller kiln runs far hotter than the rest of the shed, and panels lose output as they get hotter. A careful layout keeps modules over the press, glazing, sorting and warehouse bays, away from ridge ventilators, roof monitors and stack outlets over the kiln hall.

Long kiln sheds were often built with light purlins and thin sheeting. Ask for a structural check of purlin size and sheet condition before anything is clamped on, and replace rusted or brittle sheets first.

PGVCL offices from Lalpar to Wankaner

PGVCL's Morbi circle runs three divisions. The Morbi division lists Town 1, Town 2, Rural, Tankara, Lalpar, Shanala, Pipaliya and Jetpar sub-divisions, which between them cover most of the belt around Morbi town. The Wankaner division has Town, Rural 1 and Rural 2 sub-divisions for the Dhuva and Sartanpar side. The office named on your bill is the one that will inspect the plant and change the meter.