Solar panels weigh DHA residents down

Specifications are given to avoid discrepancy and manage the weight 

A majority of the DHA residents woke up to a shock when they received notices from the Defence Housing Authority to either regularise or remove solar panels installed on their rooftops. News travelled quickly and the outrage amongst the residents seemed justified. Why would DHA all of a sudden decide to issue notices to residents who had solar panels? After all, people are encouraged to use alternate energy, this action seemed contradictory.

Residents quickly took to social media to vent. “I have to pay extra, I mean why all of a sudden do I get this notice?” One resident complained on conditions of anonymity, while another resident said, “we pay taxes, why are they sending us notices?” The issue of solar panel installations gained momentum, and the media took note of it.

Residents, primarily were furious at the unannounced verdict of DHA, Shabana who resides in Defence shared her frustration, “please look into it, I mean I got the notice, now where will I get a structural engineer? I asked around, they are charging a lot of money, this is totally uncalled for”.

“We took the initiative to install solar panels because KE is being ridiculous, now why did we receive this notice? Everything was fine a while ago, what changed? How are we ‘violating’ the DHA?” Shahid asked perturbed.

It is curious to know that despite encouraging residents to use alternate energy, the DHA, seems punishing the residents. If one were to examine the facts, things become clear, the notices issued to people were those who had installed the solar panels, without prior approval of the DHA. “You know our laws are clear and it is clearly stated that any alterations and modifications to the structure would have to be approved by the authority,” said Col (retd) Kashif Fazal, the spokesperson of DHA. “We relaxed the rules of refurbishing and restoration of property during the rains though”.

Sameer Ishaq, a resident of DHA, explains that he installed solar panels five years ago. When asked about the outrage of the residents on being penalized, he was quick to point out the importance of DHA and permissions. “DHA correctly has shown concern, you need to understand that it is a structural issue as some frames are very high and add to that the panel, it adds to the weight. I easily got permission from DHA, I have been using the panels for five years now and this is the best way to utilise alternate energy, with all the load-shedding, and we were spared. KE buys surplus electricity from us, all we have to do is apply for a net meter which is connected to the supply line”.

Athar on the other hand said that the cost of getting approval from a structural engineer exceeded two hundred thousand rupees. “From what I understand, the cost of getting the certificate from a certified structural engineer is around 40 to 50,000 rupees, people like to exaggerate, and mind you, DHA does not have any structural engineer on its payroll, so the money is not coming to us”, Kashif clarified.

“We have lived in this house for twenty years, we just added solar panels and lo and behold, DHA issued a letter, please look at it, it looks like a threat, where are we to get an engineer to certify it, exclaimed Mehvish, who was served a notice.  Fazal explains why the need for structural stability is important. “There are two reasons, one is in June of last year two panels fell down and fell in the neighbourhood, luckily no one was injured, or worse, but it was a precarious situation. First of all, with regards to stability, the residents have to ensure that whoever is placing the panels, does so properly, that would be instructed by the structural engineer that how it needs to be fixed. The safety of all residents is the prime responsibility of DHA. If for example, God forbid, a roof collapses, the residents would blame DHA, that DHA did not check the building. This is the reason that we included the clause in the laws of DHA”.

What about residents who recently added solar panels, do they have to pay the penalty and why the hasty notice? This was the primary concern of DHA residents. Kashif clarifies the misunderstanding, “DHA has by laws and regulations where it is clearly stated that if you want to add or alter the structure in any way then follow the stated procedure. We will permit you. They were just informed to get it regularised. We informed them via a letter, about the letter, I personally say that the language of the letter was not proper. We have changed it. The residents were asked to provide certain documents to get the panels (which were installed without permission) regularised. For this, all we needed was the drawing, endorsed by a structural engineer, one was a handwritten or typed application. There is no penalty and there is no fine, I am telling you categorically and the people who were issued notices are also not going to be penalized, all we ask is that get the installation regularised.”

The initial story came to light via social media outrage against the said decision. People had stated that DHA was issuing orders and penalizing people as according to them, it was against the aesthetics of the housing society. “If we do not give the residents specifications, there will be a huge discrepancy, someone might install a 15-foot structure, while someone else would have a two-foot-high installation, designs will of course also vary. There needs to be symmetry, for that we told them the height of the panel should be the height of the staircase so that the roof could be used as well. The panels carry a lot of weight as well, since they are plates and need a frame, the cumulative weight increases. Some people take to social media and spread misinformation, very recently a person posted on social media that he was fined Rs 50,000. When I saw that, I told him to share the letter where he was fined, as we would look into the matter and fire that individual. He said that someone told him about it, but it did not happen to him ‘directly’, now, this is the way fake news is spread”.

Solar panels themselves are not the issue, the core issue is the weight of the structure. High-rise installations could pose a threat to the residents, so notices were issued to address the problem and avert any accidents. The outrage whether in a fit of anger or whether to show support did get the attention. The matter was addressed. At the moment, the storm seems to have passed.