World's production and use of energy over the past two
decades have shown striking changes. Use of electricity has risen
phenomenally resulting in a remarkable difference in the pattern of energy
consumption. The initial options that we had for switching fuel resource
presented larger challenges in terms of global warming coupled with almost
dwindling fossil fuel resources.
When we look at the world's energy resources, oil, natural
gas and coal seem to be still riding the crest and the contribution of
renewable seems marginal at this juncture.
Solar energy seems to enjoy a better
edge over the others at this juncture due to vigorous pursuit to transform it
into an attractive and economic option. Power consumption in India has been
increasing fast due to population growth and economic development. India has
tremendous energy needs and faces an uphill task in meeting these requirements
through traditional means of power generation.
The Indian economy faces increasing challenges because
energy supply is struggling to keep pace with demand, and there are energy
shortages of 10-13% daily almost everywhere in the country. Because India has so
many black-outs, many factories and households use emergency generators and
inverters as back-ups. This back-up power could be supplied by solar energy.
Solar has the potential to transform the Indian
economy in the same way as the Information Technology (IT). India is in a
unique position to introduce clean energy solutions on an enormous scale to
provide affordable energy for everyone – especially the poor. From an
energy security perspective, solar is the most secure of all sources, since it
is abundantly available. Theoretically, a small fraction of the total incident
solar energy (if captured effectively) can meet the entire country’s power
requirements. It is also clear that given the large proportion of poor and
energy un-served population in the country, every effort needs to be made to
exploit the relatively abundant sources of energy available to the country. The
National Solar Mission has targeted to deploy 20 million solar lighting systems
for rural areas by 2022.
India is blessed with about an estimated 5000 TWh of
solar radiation. This vast resource can be tapped to meet the growing energy
demand. Even if a tenth of this potential is utilised, it could solve the
country’s power problems. India
could lead the world by embracing solar power, if favourable policies
and business models are evolved and implemented nationwide.
India should take full advantage of this golden
opportunity because solar energy has particular relevance in remote and rural
areas, where around 289 million people live without access to electricity.
Solar energy is the most cost-effective option for India to reduce energy poverty
without having to extend national grid services to provide power for individual
homes and buildings. Solar energy to power computers to assist learning in
schools and hostels, Management Information System (MIS) to assist better
management of forests, powering milk chilling plants, empowering women Self
Help Groups (SHGs) involved in tussar silk
reeling, cold chain management for Primary Health Centres (PHCs) are
some examples of new areas, being tried successfully in the country.
A State/UT wise list of grid solar power projects
commissioned so far is as follows:
|
S.No.
|
State / UT
|
Capacity (kWp)
|
|
1
|
Andhra Pradesh
|
100
|
|
2
|
Arunanchal Pradesh
|
25
|
|
3
|
Gujarat
|
5000
|
|
4
|
Karnataka
|
6000
|
|
5
|
Kerala
|
25
|
|
6
|
Madhya Pradesh
|
100
|
|
7
|
Maharashtra
|
1000
|
|
8
|
Punjab
|
2325
|
|
9
|
Rajasthan
|
4950
|
|
10
|
Tamil Nadu
|
5050
|
|
11
|
Uttar Pradesh
|
375
|
|
12
|
Uttarakhand
|
50
|
|
13
|
West Bengal
|
1150
|
|
14
|
Andaman & Nicobar
|
100
|
|
15
|
Delhi
|
2142
|
|
16
|
Lakshadweep
|
750
|
|
17
|
Puducherry
|
25
|
|
18
|
Others
|
790
|
|
|
Total
|
29957
|
Launching the National Action Plan on Climate
Change on June 30, 2008, the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh said “our vision
is to make India’s
economic development energy-efficient. Over a period of time, we must pioneer a
graduated shift from economic activity based on fossil fuels to one based on
non-fossil fuels and from reliance on non-renewable and depleting sources of
energy to renewable sources of energy. In this strategy, the sun occupies
centre-stage, as it should, being literally the original source of all energy.
We will pool our scientific, technical and managerial talents, with sufficient
financial resources, to develop solar energy as a source of abundant energy to
power our economy and to transform the lives of our people. Our success in this
endeavour will change the face of India. It would also enable India to help
change the destinies of people around the world.”
The National Solar Mission is a major initiative
of the Government of India and State Governments to promote ecologically
sustainable growth while addressing India’s energy security
challenge. It will also constitute a major contribution by India to the
global effort to meet the challenges of climate change. The National Action
Plan on Climate Change also points out: “India is a tropical country, where
sunshine is available for longer hours per day and in great intensity.
Solar energy, therefore, has great potential as future energy source. It
also has the advantage of permitting the decentralized distribution of energy,
thereby empowering people at the grassroots level”.
Solar is currently high on absolute costs
compared to other sources of power such as coal. The objective of the
Solar Mission is to create conditions, through rapid scale-up of capacity and
technological innovation to drive down costs towards grid parity. The Mission has set an
ambitious target to create an enabling policy framework for the deployment
of 20,000 MW of solar power by 2022 and to ramp up capacity of
grid-connected solar power generation to 1000 MW. The Solar Mission has set a
target of 1000 MW by 2017, which may appear small, but its reach will add up to
bringing changes in millions of households .For the first phase,a target has
been fixed to set up 1,100 MW of grid connected solar power plants by March,
2013.
Asia’s first and largest Solar Park
has been set up at Charanka in Gujarat. The
3000 acre state of the art park has generation capacity of 500 MW with training
facilities as well. Incidentally, Gujarat has
taken the lead in solar power generation and has been contributing 2/3rds of total 900 MW
solar power generated in the country. The state government is also working on a solar energy
policy, which is likely to be launched soon.
India is endowed with vast solar energy potential.
About 5,000 trillion kWh per year energy is incident over India’s land
area with most parts receiving 4-7 kWh per sq. m per day. Hence both technology
routes for conversion of solar radiation into heat and electricity, namely,
solar thermal and solar photovoltaic, can effectively be harnessed providing
huge scalability for solar in India.
Solar photovoltaic (PV) industry has demonstrated
unprecedented growth over the recent past, with increased demand for solar
power attracting more and more players into the market. The price of solar
panels has come down considerably. This has made solar technology more competitive.
The Government may consider favourable tax structures as well as provide
financial resources for community solar farms as part of the energy development
programmes.
Solar irradiance, economic installation costs,
Government support and financing conditions in all probability, are likely to
drive the growth of the solar photo-voltaic technology. The falling generation
cost is another encouraging factor for the technology to emerge as the largest
and most stable demand segment. Power cannot be produced at night or cloudy
days is history as concentrated solar power plants and Nano-antennas are being
developed to capture residual heat to overcome this limitation. Remote communities could eventually make
their own solar cells using waste vegetation, thanks to a design developed by
researchers in Switzerland
and the United States.
The technology is inspired by photosynthesis
Most of the solar installations are supported by
incentives. However, until the efficiency of solar cell improves and the cost
of generation competes with that of conventional energy, solar energy can only
have a limited role.
Solar energy is a win-win for India
and the environment, and India
should make it a mainstream component of its energy diversification. There is
really no better economical choice for the country. Renewable energy is also an
attractive investment opportunity because it will provide long-term economic
growth for the country. A favourable renewable energy policy could create
millions of jobs.
As
American economist and author Jeremy Rifkin rightly said, India can usher
in a third industrial revolution by properly utilising its renewable energy
resources. In fact, progress on renewable energy front could determine the
future road map for human sustainability.
Solar Energy has the potential to
re-energise India’s
economy by creating millions of new jobs, achieve energy independence, reduce
the trade deficit and propel the nation forward as a ‘green nation’. In short,
solar power offers too many benefits for India to ignore or delay its
development.
