For the actual end user or off taker of the electricity be it a utility a consumer or a company there are two archetypes of solar investments.
Opex model solar.
In this model solar system installation company will install complete system at their own cost through an agreement for 10 25 years.
The capital expenditure capex model or the operating expenditure opex model.
Both the options can be availed under two models.
What is opex model.
Consumer owns the system.
And you will have to pay per unit cost on monthly basis.
Today we have a network of private farms across india through which we supply large corporates with clean energy as per their needs.
Opex operating expenses model is also called power purchase agreement.
In the opex model a 3rd party energy service company esco invests the capex and the operator pays monthly for the energy usage.
When you are considering buying solar power you would generally find two options in the market investing into a rooftop solar plant or buying solar power under a power purchase agreement ppa.
A capex model which means acquiring the solar panels and benefit from the produced electricity or an opex model which means the paying for the panels over time.
Levelised cost of solar is as low as 4 5 unit.
The responsibility of ensuring 24x7 power availability including site operation maintenance refueling lies on esco s shoulder.
In the opex model an investor or project developer sometimes called renewable energy service company resco invests the capex and consumer pays for the energy consumed supplied by the solar power project delicately developed for a particular consumer.
Cheaper than grid electricity which ranges between 10 12 unit.
Capex means capital expenditure.
This opex model is famous in many countries including us where half of rooftop solar pv installations are owned by opex developers.
Any expenditure investment done by company to purchase major goods or machinery is know as capex opex.
This model is getting highly popular in india and many opex.
It is successful model internationally and remains so in india also as the consumer has not to incur upfront capital costs.
Capex and opex models.