The land required for a 1 MW power plant setup is around 4.5-5 acres for Crystalline technology. This is only a rough benchmark and may vary based on technology and efficiency of panels.
The useful life of a typical Solar Power plant is considered to be 25 years. This is the duration for which long-term PPAs are signed and financial models are built. However, Solar Power plants can run beyond 25 years while producing a lower output. Many Solar Panel manufacturers guarantee an output of 90% at the end of 10 years and 80% at the end of 25 years.
Total project cost per MW would be in the range of Rs.6.5 Crores.
4-6 months.
There is no subsidy available for utility-scale SPV plants. Various states offer a bouquet of incentives (such as exemption from Open Access charges, feed-in tariffs, tax benefits, accelerated depreciation etc.) to solar power projects that are set up under their state schemes.
No maintenance is required except for an occasional wiping of the solar panel to keep it free of dust, dirt, debris, or snow to allow the batteries to charge properly for optimum performance.
Modules are fixed in the open since they have to face the sun. But rain water will not affect the working of the module, since the actual conversion of sunlight into electricity is done by the solar cells placed inside the module which is sealed and made water proof.