Chennai RWA shines in TN’s solar race

Bollineni Hillside in Chennai has bagged an award for the biggest solar rooftop installation in Tamil Nadu in the category for resident welfare associations

Bollineni Hillside Phase I in Perumbakkam off Old Mahabalipuram Road sprawls across 45 acres and consists of 1295 dwelling units. For ease of administration, the community is cleaved in the middle, the north side servicing a half of those dwelling units and the south side the other half.

Both segments have a separate STP-WTP unit. These units are eminently useful, but are a criminal guzzler of energy, a fact that sticks out painfully when the EB bill arrives. Sajeev Kumar, president of Bollineni Hillside Residential Township Owners Association (BHRTOA), estimates the community’s monthly electricity bill at ₹10 lakh. “Electricity expense is one of the top three expenses,” he points out.

The effort to whittle down that expense was launched recently, when the community had an operational solar power system in the end of January, 2026. The installation: a 97 kW solar system at one STP-WTP unit, and another 97 kW solar system at the other unit; a whopping 194 kW system in total. The decision to go solar first at these units was shaped by the consideration of significant savings on the EB bill as well as quicker recovery of the investment cost.

By virtue of going solar at this scale, BHRTOA has bagged an award from Tamil Nadu Solar Energy Developers Association (TNSEDA) for the biggest solar power installation in the RWA category across Tamil Nadu.

K. Thirugnanam, secretary, BHRTOA and an advocate, observes that the exercise synergies the various skillsets (BHRTOA president Sajeev is an IT professional) found within the community. To illustrate, he points out a retired senior official from the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board who is a resident of Bollineni Hillside was informally consulted to navigate regulatory nuances, particularly those pertaining to load thresholds and fixed charges that increase for installations exceeding 100 kW. Hence, the split into two units, each racking up 97 kW.

BHRTOA president Sajeev Kumar underlines the toughest part of the effort: settling on a vendor. Our vice-president Senthil Prabhu visited many RWAs that have gone solar, including those in Coimbatore.