In today’s environment, Sustainable Energy Technologies are something that is drawing the attention of people, both from a social point of view as well as from the prism of investment. More and more people are looking at ways to contribute at reducing one’s carbon footprint, as well as reducing their tax outgo, Vefes offers an innovative solution to achieve this by digitally owning a green alternate asset class i.e. A solar panel, also known as Digital Solar Token that generates green energy to reduce your carbon footprint as well as avail tax benefits by offsetting depreciation on these solar panels against other sources of income.
Vefes, a startup founded by Kaustubh Vagal, a Mumbai-based technocrat, along with his team, seeks to disrupt the Energy Ecosystem by developing Innovative Solutions using AI-based Patented technology.
While sharing his journey, Kaustubh Vagal says, “For a sustainable future, solar panels have to be of the people, by the people, and for the people. Thus, we are working round-the-clock to generate a carefree source of income and lead the productive management of your solar panels.
How does it work?
Vefes has partnered with Namitech, to develop a state-of-art solar power park located at Solapur in Maharashtra. The 25 MW solar power park is an INR.110 crore project with an average asset ticket size of Rs. 30,000 that can be purchased at a discount rate by availing Early Bird Discount Offer on VEFES website. Phase 1 of the park is set to be commissioned by the end of September and the complete park will offset 31.6 million kgs of carbon footprint every year for the next 25 years. These solar panels will be rented to the Solar plant for which the solar panel owner will receive a periodic variable rent based on the green energy generated.
Vefes was incepted with the idea of digitalizing solar ownership by providing the solar panel owner a hassle-free experience in easy and simple 3 Steps by digitally managing the entire process of sourcing, renting, monitoring, maintenance, and payment of rentals as well as developing a secondary marketplace for these panels to provide liquidity to the solar panel owners. Solar power parks are something that is gaining huge traction across the globe. Catering to the same, VEFES aims to create an open access renewable sustainable energy space where people could have ownership of solar assets, which, without a doubt, are the next big thing from the investment point of view.
Safety
The solar panel sourced by Vefes will be identified by a Unique Serial Number assigned by the manufacturers and will be individually invoiced to the solar panel owner by a GST invoice, thereby assigning ownership to the solar panel owner. These solar panels will be backed by a Performance Warranty from the manufacturer and are protected by an insurance policy for risk of damage due to fire, flood, theft, etc. Vefes will subsequently rent out these solar panels to the solar park on behalf of the solar panel owner. Further, the sale of this green energy is assured by a long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the end-user.
Minimum Risk & High Return
This is the era of Digitization and people, particularly investors, across the verticals, have become smart. They look for options that can fetch them rich dividends with the minimal risk involved and renting solar panels has emerged as the most preferred option for budding investors who are looking for a green alternate asset class that can help them in fulfilling their agenda of deriving high return with the minimal risk involved.
The state of art solar park uses AI-based power technology to optimise power generation to consumption, which coupled with the location of the Solar park at Solapur has one of the highest solar irradiances which is 1620 unit/KW in Maharashtra as compared to 1320 unit/KW in Mumbai. Thus, ensuring maximum solar generation for your solar panel. This results in relatively stable returns as compared with other asset classes such as Bank Deposits, PPF, etc which also lack stability and are prone to market volatility. The long-term PPA also protects one from falling interest rates as seen in the recent decade and this is what people are rapidly inclining toward solar panels as the IRR and earnings from solar energy are quite high.
Tax Benefit
Every person, be it an entrepreneur, salaried-class individuals, or investors, everyone likes to save tax, and owning and renting out solar panels entitles you to claim depreciation on these panels under section 57 (ii) of the Income Tax Act, 1961. On account of the higher depreciation in the initial years, you are eligible to claim a set-off on the excess depreciation against other sources of income, thereby reducing your net tax outgo during the initial period of ownership, which will help you recover your initial cost of solar panels in a shorter time frame. Immediate benefits can be availed to high taxpayers such as HNIs, Professionals, etc. if they Purchase Panels by September 30th so as to avail full depreciation.
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