S.R.S.D. Memorial Shiksha Shodh Sansthan, Agra, India UNITECH ENGINEER: AN INTERNATIONAL REVIEW A Peer Reviewed Refereed International Research Journal Volume I, Issue I, September 2016, pp. 09-16 www.srsshodhsansthan.org SOLAR ENERGY TO POWER INDIA OF THE FUTURE Mr. Varun Pratap Singh Assistant Professor, College of Engineering Roorkee Roorkee, District Haridwar, Uttarakhand, India Abstract Solar Energy a clean renewable resource with zero emission, has got tremendous potential of energy which can be harnessed using a variety of devices. With recent developments, solar energy systems are easily available for industrial and domestic use with the added advantage of minimum maintenance. Solar energy could be made financially viable with government tax incentives and rebates. Most of the developed countries are switching over to solar energy as one of the prime renewable energy source.the World Bank Group is moving to help India deliver on its unprecedented plans to scale up solar energy, from installing solar panels on rooftops to setting up massive solar parks. This will catapult India to the forefront of the global effort to bring electricity to all, mitigate the effects of climate change, and set the country on a path to become the 'India of the future'. Introduction Solar power in India is a fast developing industry, with a cumulative installed grid connected solar power capacity of 8,062 MW (8 GW) as of 31 July 2016. In January 2015 the Indian government significantly expanded its solar plans, targeting US$100 billion of investment and 100 GW of solar capacity (including 40 GW from rooftop solar) by 2022. Large scale solar power deployment began only as recently as 2010, yet the ambitious targets would see India installing more than double that achieved by world leaders China or Germany in all of the period up to 2015 year end. The rapid growth in new deployments of solar power are recorded and updated monthly on the Indian Government's Ministry of New and Renewable Energy website.
In addition to the ambitious large scale grid connected solar PV initiative India is also continuing to develop the use of solar power for off grid and localised energy needs. By the end of 2015 only 55% of all rural households had access to electricity and 85% of rural households depended on solid fuel for cooking. Solar products have increasingly helped to meet rural needs, by the end of 2015 a cumulative total of just under 1 million solar lanterns had been sold in the country reducing the need for expensive kerosene. In addition a cumulative total of 30,256 solar powered water pumps for agriculture and drinking water had been installed. During 2015 alone 118,700 solar home lighting systems were installed and 46,655 solar street lighting installations were provided under a national programme. The same year saw just over 1.4 million solar cookers distributed or sold in India. In January 2016 the Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi, and the President of France Mr François Hollande laid the founding stone for the headquarters of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) in Gwalpahari, Gurgaon. The ISA will focus on promoting and developing solar energy and solar products for countries lying wholly or partially between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. The alliance of over 120 countries was announced at the Paris COP21 climate summit. One of the hopes of the ISA is that wider deployment will reduce production and development costs and so facilitate increased deployment of solar technologies, including in poorer and more remote regions. Historical Growth of the Solar Market in India The Rural Electrification Program of 2006 was the first step by the Indian Government in recognizing the importance of solar power. It gave guidelines for the implementation of off-grid solar applications. However, at this early stage, only 33.8MW (as on 14-2-2012) of capacity was installed through this policy. This primarily included solar lanterns, solar pumps, home lighting systems, street lighting systems and solar home systems. In 2007, as a next step, India introduced the Semiconductor Policy to encourage the electronic and IT industries. This included the Silicon and PV manufacturing industry as well. New manufacturers like Titan Energy Systems, Indo Solar Limited and KSK Surya Photovoltaic Venture Private Limited took advantage of the Special Incentive Scheme included in this policy and constructed plants for PV modules. 10 P a g e
This move helped the manufacturing industry to grow, but a majority of the production was still being exported. There were no PV projects being developed in India at that stage. There was also a need for a policy to incorporate solar power into the grid. Growth of Solar Energy in India India s government has begun to acknowledge the importance of solar energy to the country s economic growth. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who has said solar energy will transform rural India, launched a National Solar Mission in 2010. Initial growth has been dramatic, albeit from a tiny base. From less than 12 MW in 2009, solar-power generation in the country grew to 190 MW in 2011. By March 2013, it is expected to grow fivefold to 1,000 MW, but the country has a long way to go to reach its goal of increasing solar-power generation to 20 gigawatts by 2020. Across India, there are still thousands of villages with plenty of sun but not enough power. Rajasthan Rajasthan is one of India's most solar-developed states. The total photovoltaic capacity has passed 500 MW, having reached 510.25 MW by the end of the 2012-13 fiscal year. The district of Jodhpur leads with 42 projects totaling 293 MW, followed by Jaisalmer and Bikaner. The French group AREVA Solar is currently engaged in constructing a 250 MW concentrated solar power (CSP) installation, which will become the largest CSP installation in Asia. A 4000 MW Ultra Mega Green Solar Power Project (UMPP) is being built near Sambhar Lake in Rajasthan. Upon completion, it would be the world's largest solar power plant.[citation needed] It is expected to be built in 4 phases, with the first phase likely to be commissioned by the end of 2016 with 1000 MW capacity. The total cost of each phase of the project is estimated to be 70 billion (US$1.0 billion) and the entire project is expected to be completed in 7 years. The present Prime Minister Narendra Modi has put great emphasis on solar projects and is inviting FDI in this sector. Gujarat Gujarat has been a leader in solar power generation in India due to several factors: a very high solar power potential, availability of wasteland, good connectivity, transmission and distribution infrastructure, and efficient utilities complemented by a strong political will and 11 P a g e
an investment, according to a report by the Low Emission Development Strategies Global Partnership (LEDS GP). The robust 2009 Solar Power of Gujarat policy framework, financing mechanism, and incentives have contributed to creating an enabling a green investment climate in the state and have led to ambitious targets for grid connected solar power. The State of Gujarat has commissioned Asia s largest solar park at Charanka village. The park is already generating 2 MW solar power out of its total planned capacity of 500 MW. The park has been functioning on a multi-developers and multi-beneficiaries paradigm and has been awarded for being the most innovative and environment-friendly project by the CII. With a view to making Gandhinagar a solar-power city, the State government has launched a roof-top solar power generation scheme. Under this scheme, the State plans to generate 5 MW of solar power by putting solar panels on about 50 state government buildings and on 500 private buildings. The State has also a plan to emulate this project in Rajkot, Surat, Bhavnagar and Vadodara in 2012-13. The state plans to generate solar power by putting solar panels on the Narmada canal branches. As a part of this scheme, the State has already commissioned the 1 MW Canal Solar Power Project on a branch of the Narmada Canal near the Chandrasan area of Kadi taluka, Mahesana district. This also helps by stopping 90,000 litres (24,000 US gal; 20,000 imp gal) of water/year of the Narmada river from evaporating. Andhra Pradesh Installed photovoltaic capacity in Andhra Pradesh is 793 MW as of 30 April 2016. During 2014, APTransCo has entered into agreements with IPPs to install 619 MW. NTPC also entered into agreement in 2015 with APTransCo to install a 250 MW plant (first phase of the 1000 MW ultra solar power project) at Kadiri in Anantapur district. Maharashtra Sakri solar plant is the biggest solar power plant in the state with 125 MW capacity. The Shri Sai Baba Sansthan Trust has the world's largest solar steam system. It was constructed at the Shirdi shrine at an estimated cost of 1.33 crore (US$200,000), 58.4 lakh (US$87,000) which was paid as a subsidy by the renewable energy ministry. 12 P a g e
The system is used to cook 50 000 meals per day for pilgrims visiting the shrine, resulting in annual savings of 100 000 kg of cooking gas and has been designed to generate steam for cooking even in the absence of electricity to run the feed water pump for circulating water in the system. The project to install and commission the system was completed in 7 months and the system has a design life of 25 years. Osmanabad region in Maharashtra has been blessed with an abundance of sunlight and is ranked the third best region in India in terms of solar insolation. A 10 MW solar power plant in Osmanabad, Maharashtra by RelyOn Solar, generates approximately 18 lakh units per MW which is the highest generation in Maharashtra of any solar power plant. This plant was commissioned in 2013 and the records of one complete year are available. Madhya Pradesh The Welspun Solar MP project, the largest solar power plant in the state, was set up at a cost of Rs. 1,100 crore (US$160 million) on 305 ha (3.05 km2) of land and will supply power at Rs. 8.05 (12 US)/kWh. A 130 MW solar power plant project at Bhagwanpur in Neemuch was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This is the largest solar producer and one of the top three companies in the renewable energy sector in India. An upcoming 750 MW solar power plant project in Madhya Pradesh in the district of Rewa will, when completed, be the world's largest solar power plant, replacing the Desert Sunlight project in California which currently has that distinction. Photovoltaic solar growth forecasts As of August 2016, the forecast for photovoltaic solar installations is approximately 4.8 GW in the calendar year 2016. The country saw about 2.8 GW installed in the first eight months of 2016, more than all of the solar installations in 2015. India s solar projects underway stood at approximately 21 GW with about 14 GW under construction and about 7 GW yet to be auctioned. Solar water heaters Bangalore has the largest deployment of roof top solar water heaters in India. These heaters generate an energy equivalent of 200 MW. 13 P a g e
Bangalore is also the first city in the country to put in place an incentive mechanism by providing a rebate of Rs. 50 (74 US) on monthly electricity bills for residents using roof-top thermal systems. These systems are now mandatory for all new structures. Pune has also recently made installation of solar water heaters in new buildings mandatory. Rural electrification Lack of electricity infrastructure is one of the main hurdles in the development of rural India. India's grid system is considerably under-developed, with major sections of its populace still surviving off-grid. As of 2004, about 80 000 of the nation's villages had not yet become electrified. Of these villages, 18 000 could not be electrified through an extension of the conventional grid. A target for electrifying 5000 such villages was set for the Tenth National Five Year Plan (2002 2007). As of 2004, more than 2700 villages and hamlets had been electrified, mainly using solar photovoltaic systems. Developments in cheap solar technology are considered as a potential alternative that would allow an electricity infrastructure consisting of a network of local-grid clusters with distributed electricity generation. It could allow bypassing (or at least relieving) the need to install expensive, wasteful, long-distance, centralized power delivery systems and yet bring cheap electricity to the masses. India currently has around 1.2 million solar home lighting systems and 3.2 million solar lanterns sold or distributed. In addition, India has been ranked the number one market in Asia for solar off-grid products. Projects currently planned include 3000 villages in Orissa, which will be lighted with solar power by 2014. Solar lamps and lighting By 2012, a total of 4 600 000 solar lanterns and 861 654 solar powered home lights had been installed. These typically replace kerosene lamps and can be purchased for the cost of a few months' worth of kerosene through a small loan. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is offering a 30% to 40% subsidy for the cost of lanterns, home lights and small systems up to 210 Wp. Twenty million solar lamps are expected by 2022. Agricultural support Solar photovoltaic water pumping systems are used for irrigation and drinking water. The majority of the pumps are fitted with a 200 3000 watt motor powered with a 1800 Wp PV array which can deliver about 140,000 litres (37,000 US gal) of water per day from a total head of 10 14 P a g e
metres (33 ft). By 30 September 2006 a total of 7068 solar photovoltaic water pumping systems had been installed, and by March 2012 7771 had been installed. In India, solar power is often built to be complementary to wind power as it is generated mostly during the non-monsoon period in daytime. Solar power plants can be located in the interspace between the towers of wind power plants or nearby areas with a common power evacuation facility. It is also complementary to hydro electricity, which is generated mainly during India's monsoon months. Solar power plants can be installed close to existing hydro power and pumped-storage hydroelectricity plants with the advantage of being able to utilise the existing power evacuation infrastructure jointly and store the surplus secondary power generated by the solar power plants. Bulk raw materials of solar panels During the year 2016, the manufacturing capacity of solar cells and solar modules is 1212 MW and 5620 MW respectively in India. Other than high purity silica wafers or rare earth metal tellurium with cadmium (thin film type), the bulk of the solar panel weight (nearly 80%) consists of flat glass. One-hundred to 150 tons of flat glass is used in manufacturing one MW capacity solar photovoltaic module. Low iron flat glass or float glass is manufactured from soda ash and iron free silica. Soda ash manufacturing from common salt is a highly energy intensive process if not extracted from soda lakes or glasswort plants cultivation on alkali soils. To enable an exponential increase in the installation of photovoltaic type solar power plants, the production capacity of flat glass along with its raw materials needs to be rapidly expanded in the country to eliminate future imports / supply constraints. Conclusion Generating clean renewable electricity is crucial for India where nearly 300 million people about a quarter of its population live without access to electricity. Today, India is one of the lowest per capita consumers of electricity in the world; even when people are connected to the electricity grid, they face frequent disruptions. Add to that the projected economic growth and the increase in population, and the demand for energy in India is expected to double by 2040. India s solar market could be worth billions of dollars over the next decade Project execution, financing, and localization are crucial. 15 P a g e
References "State wise installed solar power capacity" (PDF). Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Govt. of India. 1 March 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2016. "Physical Progress (Achievements)". Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Govt. of India. 31 January 2014. Retrieved 21 February 2014. Krishna N. Das (January 2, 2015). "India's Modi raises solar investment target to $100 bln by 2022". Reuters. Retrieved 2015-01-02. Government looking at 100,000 MW solar power by 2022 "India releases state targets for 40GW rooftop solar by 2022". Retrieved 2016-07-29. "State-wise break-up of solar power target by the year 2022". Retrieved 11 August 2016. "Government working to double generation target from solar parks". Economic Times. 18 July 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2016. "Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Annual Report 2015-2016.". Neslen, Arthur (2015-12-04). "India Unveils Global Solar Alliance of 120 Countries at Paris Climate Summit". AlterNet. Retrieved 2016-08-06. Chittaranjan Tembhekar (26 October 2009). "India tops with US in solar power". Economic Times. TERI(2011): Towards Energy Security, 10 January, accessed on 15 Jan 2011(www.teri.in.org) Singh Manmohan(2010): To create solar Village, Jan, Solar Energy Review, New Delhi Chatterjee, Pramita(2010): For Clean Green Energy, Economic Times, October 1st, pp-7 Delhi International Renewable Energy Conference(DIREC-2010): accessed on 12 Dec, 2010 (http:/www.direc2010.gov.in/) US-India Energy Partnership Summit, Washington DC(2010); Solar Energy Review, New Delhi-India http://www.energymile.com http://www.worldenergyoutlook.org/ 16 P a g e