The distributed solar photovoltaic project model as opposed to the Solar Park model, mooted a few years ago, has helped save more than Rs 500 crore for the Telangana government. The State, which has already set up about 3,600 MW of solar power projects in the State, thereby becoming the leader in the country along with Karnataka, has managed to do so by taking up the deployment through the distributed solar power project model. G Raghuma Reddy, Chairman and Managing Director of TS Southern Power Distribution Company Ltd, said, “Telangana has more than 25 lakh agriculture pump sets, and the demand goes up during the farming season. A demand-supply gap assessment was made across all the districts and based on the gap, tenders were floated, and projects implemented.” The best part of the exercise was that no additional network was created as the existing transmission and distribution networks could be used. Secondly, there was no power loss as the power generated was consumed locally, Reddy explained. When some of the PPA were signed, the price was at Rs 6.90 per unit. This has now come down to Rs 2.40 for solar power and 2.64 for wind energy. Therefore, this poses some operational challenges.