Sri Lanka faces solar setback

By Rathindra Kuruwita.

Secretary of the National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka and Chairman of the Power and Energy Council NCCSL, Dr. Lakmal Fernando, has said the price of roof-mounted solar systems is set to increase by over Rs 200,000 due to the VAT hike taking effect from 01 January 2024.

Previously, those systems were exempt from VAT Dr. Fernando said.

“These systems come in two types: single-phase and three-phase. A single-phase system currently costs about a million rupees. Its price will go up to around 1.2 million rupees with VAT. A three-phase system costs about 1.3 million rupees and is expected to increase by about 260,000 rupees,” he said.

Dr. Fernando emphasised that the government’s official policy was to derive 70 percent of energy from renewable sources by 2030. Over the last decade, there had been a significant increase in the utilisation of those systems, resulting in the production of approximately 750 megawatts of electricity from rooftop systems, he said.

“We save about 82 million dollars annually thanks to rooftop solar units.There is currently considerable interest in solar power generation. However, with these impending price hikes starting from 01 January, many individuals may be discouraged.