PRESENT SCENARIO OF USE OF SOLAR ENERGY IN

INDIA & SCOPE IN FUTURE

INTRODUCION

Sources of energy

The historical as well as present day civilisation of mankind are closely

interwoven with energy and there is little reason to doubt but that in the future our

existence will be ever more dependent upon this thing called energy. This is also

proven with the consumption of energy country likewise one person of United nation

of America (USA) consumes five time more energy than one person of India. There

are many sources of energy available and can be categorised as:

Fig: sources of energy

SOURCES OF ENERGY

CONVENTIONAL ENRGY SOURCES (FUELS)

NON-CONVENTIONAL ENRGY SOURCES

SOLID- Coal, coke, coke

anthracite etc.

LIQUIDS- Petroleum and its derivatives

GASES- Natural gas, Blast furnace gas etc.

Solar energy.

Nuclear energy.

Energy stored in water.

Wind energy.

Tidal energy.

Geothermal energy.

Thermoelectric power.

So it is clear that the conventional energy sources are limited and they produces the

energy on burning of them which is not desirable because of several hazards, but it is

also discussed that for the growth of mankind energy is important so, it is necessary to

be focus on the non-conventional energy sources.

Sun as the source of energy

The sun is a sphere of intensely hot gaseous matter with a diameter of 1.39*10^9m

and is, about 1.5*10^11m away from the earth, the sun rotates on its axis once about

every four weeks. The sun in effect is a continuous fusion reactor with its constituent

gases as the “containing vessel” retained by gravitational forces. Several fusion

reactions have been suggested as the source of energy radiated by the sun, the one to

be considered the most important is the process in which four hydrogen atoms

combine to form a one helium atom; the mass of the helium nucleus is less then that

of four protons, some mass having been lost in reaction and converted to energy.

Since the energy getting from the sun is totally free of cost so the utilisation of solar

energy is very beneficial hence there have been significant development in the field of

solar energy science and technology is taken great interest in the recent years and

continuous in these days also. For developing countries like India, providing energy to

its citizens in an efficient and cost effective manner is a highly challenging task. In

spite of significant harnessing of the fossil fuel reserves and hydel power, the gap

between supply and demand of energy is ever increasing. One of the possible options

o bridge this gap is by making the extensive use of solar energy. Solar energy can be

used both directly and indirectly. Sun causes the wind to blow, plant o grow, water to

be lifted from oceans to return through rivers, waves on water bodies to be formed

and temperature to between surface and bottom layers of oceans. All can work as the

renewable energy source. The various solar energy applications are as follows:

1. Solar water heating

2. Solar air heating

3. Solar crop and timber drying

4. Solar water distillation

5. Solar cooking

6. Solar passive and active heating of buildings

7. Solar refrigeration and air conditioning

8. Solar power generation

9. Solar electricity generation by solar cell etc.

INDIAN ENERGY SCENARIO

India is a country occupying 2% of the world's land mass and currently generating

about 2% of the global electricity, mostly using low grade coal of which it has about

5% of the world reserves. India has, however a share of 16% in the world's

population. To achieve a modestly high level of economic growth, the domestic

generation capacity needs to be increased at least tenfold, to about 900 GW. Even

with full utilisation of all existing commercially exploitable domestic hydrocarbon,

hydroelectric and non-conventional resources, this level of increased generation

capacity cannot be sustained for more than a few decades. For a large country like

India, bulk imports of fuel or energy are neither affordable nor strategically prudent.

To meet energy demand solar power can play an important role.

Power Generation in IndiaAs on March 31, 2005

Installed Capacity Million Watts

Coal 67791

Diesel 1201

Gas 11910

Total 80902

Solar and Renewable

Energy

3811

Nuclear 2770

Hydro 30936

Grand Total 118419

SOLAR POWER IN INDIA

India is both densely populated and has high solar insolation, providing an ideal

combination for solar power in India. Much of the country does not have an electric

grid, so one of the first applications of solar power has been for water pumping, to

begin replacing India's four to five million diesel powered water pumps, each

consuming about 3.5 kilowatts, and off-grid lighting. Some large projects have been

proposed, and a 35,000 km² area of the Thar Desert has been set aside for solar power

projects, sufficient to generate 700 to 2,100 gigawatts.

Annual insolation

With about 301 clear sunny days in a year, India's theoretical solar power reception,

just on its land area, is about 5 Ph/year (i.e. = 5000 trillion kWh/yr ~ 600 TW). The

daily average solar energy incident over India varies from 4 to 7 kWh/m2 with about

2,300–3,200 sunshine hours per year, depending upon location. This is far more than

current total energy consumption. For example, even assuming 10% conversion

efficiency for PV modules, it will still be thousand times greater than the likely

electricity demand in India by the year 2015.

Present Status

1. Installed capacity

The amount of solar energy produced in India is merely 0.5% compared to other

energy resources. The Grid-interactive solar power as of June 2007 was merely

2.12 MW. Government-funded solar energy in India only accounted for

approximately 6.4 megawatt-years of power as of 2005.

2. Still unaffordable

Solar power is currently prohibitive due to high initial costs of deployment. To spawn

a thriving solar market, the technology needs to be competitively cheaper — i.e.

attaining cost parity with fossil or nuclear energy. India is heavily dependent on coal

and foreign oil — a phenomenon likely to continue until non-fossil / renewable

energy technology become economically viable in the country. The cost of production

ranges from Rs 15 to Rs 30 per unit compared to around Rs 2 to Rs 6 per unit for

conventional thermal energy.

3. Government policy

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) have initiated schemes and

incentives — like subsidy, soft loan, concessional duty on raw material imports,

excise duty exemption on certain devices/systems etc. — to boost the production and

use of solar energy systems. The Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency

(IREDA) provides revolving fund to financing and leasing companies offering

affordable credit for the purchase of PV systems. An Expert Committee constituted by

the Planning Commission has prepared an Integrated Energy Policy which envisions a

10 million square meter solar collector area, to be set up by 2022, and capable of

conserving electricity equivalent to that generated from a 500 MW power plant. The

state of West Bengal has initiated to make the use of solar power mandatory in new

multi-storied buildings. However the Indian government support is insignificant

compared to the support solar energy receives by governments in Europe and East

Asia.

4. Solar Funds and Investments

With high deployment price as the main hurdle before a solar market, various

organisations have developed innovative funding schemes to catalyse solar's

attractiveness. One of the most successful example is the solar loan programme in

India, sponsored by UNEP in partnership with two of India's major banking groups -

Canara Bank and Syndicate Bank, and their sponsored Grameen Banks. It was a four-

year $7.6 million effort, launched in April 2003 to help accelerate the market for

financing solar home systems in southern India. Foreign Direct Investment up to

100 percent is permitted in non-conventional energy sector through the automatic

route. The Multilateral Development Banks like World Bank and Asian Development

Bank are also helping India but, the funding from MDBs on solar energy

enhancement is negligible compare to other clean energy support in India. Investment

by private companies is a trend that has just started. (Examples include Signet Solar,

U.S.-based Cypress Semiconductor, SunTechnics Energy, etc.)

5. Thar desert

In 1996 Amoco/Enron Solar Power Development planned to build a 50 MW solar

photovoltaic plant in the Thar desert near Jaisalmer in Rajasthan state. Two other

projects were proposed, one a 50 MW photovoltaics plant and the other a 200 MW

solar chimney. None of these have been completed. The Rajashtan government,

however, has set aside a 35,000 km² area of the Thar desert for solar power.

6. PV manufacture in India

Current PV manufacturing in India includes:

BP-Tata joint venture.

Moser-Baer signed up for a thin film Si plant provided by Applied Materials.

Solar Semiconductor Pvt in Hyderabad, AP.

7. Solar engineering training

The Australian government has awarded UNSW A$5.2 million to train next-

generation solar energy engineers from Asia-Pacific nations, specifically India and

China, as part of the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate

(APP). Certain programmes are designed to target for rural solar usage development.

Applications

1. 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 there are about 80,000 unelectrified

villages in the country. Of these villages, 18,000 could not be electrified through

extension of the conventional grid. A target for electrifying 5,000 such villages was

fixed for the Tenth National Five Year Plan (2002–2007). As on 2004, more than

2,700 villages and hamlets had been electrified mainly using SPV systems.

Developments on cheap solar technology is considered as a potential alternative that

allows an electricity infrastructure comprising of a network of local-grid clusters with

distributed electricity generation. That could allow bypassing, or at least relieving the

need of installing expensive, and lossy, long-distance centralised power delivery

systems and yet bring cheap electricity to the masses.

2. Agricultural support

A. Water pumping

Solar PV water pumping systems are used for irrigation and drinking water. The

majority of the pumps are fitted with a 200–3,000 watt motor that are powered with

1,800 Wp PV array which can deliver about 140,000 liters of water/day from a total

head of 10 meters. By 30 September, 2006, a total of 7,068 solar PV water pumping

systems have been installed.

B. Harvest processing

Solar driers are used to dry harvests before storage.

3. Cooling

Another e.g. is the cost of energy expended on temperature control — a factor

squarely influencing regional energy intensity. With cooling load demands being

roughly in phase with the sun's intensity, cooling from intense solar radiation could be

an attractive energy-economic option in the subcontinent.

Challenges and Constraints

1. Land scarcity

Per capita land availabiity is a scarce resource in India. Dedication of land area for

exclusive installation of solar cells might have to compete with other necessities that

require land. The amount of land required for utility-scale solar power plants —

currently approximately 1 km² for every 20–60 megawatts (MW) generated — could

pose a strain on India's available land resource. The architecture more suitable for

most of India would be a highly distributed, individual rooftop power generation

systems, all connected via a local grid. However, erecting such an infrastructure —

which doesn't enjoy the economies of scale possible in mass utility-scale solar panel

deployment — needs the market price of solar technology deployment to substantially

decline so that it attracts the individual and average family size household consumer.

That might be possible in the future, since PV is projected to continue its current cost

reductions for the next decades and be able to compete with fossil fuel.

2. Slow progress

While the world has progressed substantially in production of basic silicon mono-

crystalline photovoltaic cells, India has fallen short to achieve the worldwide

momentum. India is now in 7th place worldwide in Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Cell

production and 9th place in Solar Thermal Systems with nations like Japan, Europe,

China, and the US currently ranked far ahead. Globally, solar is the fastest growing

source of energy (though from a very small base) with an annual average growth of

35%, as seen during the past few years.

WAY FORWARD FOR SOLAR ENERGY PLAYERS IN INDIA

Market Analysis & Opportunities:

India had an installed solar power capacity of 1700 MW in 2007 which amounted to

roughly 1% of its total power generation of 130,000 MW. India is currently ranked

7th in the world in Solar PV cell production. But considering India’s geographic

location and climatic conditions, this is a huge market waiting to be tapped.

India receives bright sunlight almost throughout the year especially in West and

Central parts of the country. Due to global warming and rising CO2 levels, average

temperature in India is set to increase by 4 degrees by 2050. Given Government’s

recent policy announcement which gives thrust to green and renewable energy, there

is a commercial opportunity which can be exploited. Some of the incentives given by

the government are:

• Subsidy of Rs 12/unit on medium scale operations (1-5 MW capacity)

• 100% depreciation of equipments used in 1st year itself

• Other tax benefits like zero excise duty

These measures though very limited as compared to other countries like USA or

Germany, the world leaders in solar energy, but still it is a step in the right direction.

So it is no surprise that many big companies have announced sizeable investments in

this field. At present the main players are

• Tata BP Solar

• Moser Baer

• Central Electronics Ltd.

• SELCO

• BHEL

Many more are expected to join like DuPont, Dow Chemicals and surprisingly even

Google.

Improvement in PV technology, which is touching efficiencies of 30%, and

development of newer technologies especially STEG (solar thermal electricity

generation) are driving the energy costs down.

Till now, use of solar energy in India is limited to rural areas for lighting purposes.

But innovation can play a major role in expanding the scope of applications.

INDIA - A LONG RACE IN SOLAR POWER

India, the world's second-most populous country, is facing a looming energy crisis.

Soaring oil prices, and continued dependence on a few countries for oil, has led to the

use of renewable energy sources to secure energy. Given that this is a tropical country

rich in sunlight, solar energy offers the most practicable solution to overcoming

growing energy demand. The daily average solar energy incident over India varies

from 4-7 kWh per square meter, depending upon the location.

India still is not among the world's top 10 solar energy generators. But at the current

pace of 20 percent annual growth, India could emerge as the fourth largest market for

solar energy after Germany, Japan and China in the coming years. So far, around 1.4

million solar Photovoltaic (PV) systems, together amounting to about 110 MW peak

solar photovoltaic module capacity, have been installed - largely for off-grid and

agricultural pumping applications. The country has some of the best quality silica

reserves in the states of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh. With over 50,000 villages in

India without electricity, solar power has enormous potential to meet rural electricity

needs, improving the lives of millions of Indians and meeting critical agricultural,

educational and industrial needs.

It is perhaps the only country in the world with an independent Ministry for renewable

energy, known as the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy [MNRE].

To keep pace with the global rise in the PV industry, Government of India (GoI) has

instituted solar industry programs on both the demand and the supply side. On the

demand side, GoI announced a Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) providing financial support up to

INR 12 per kWh for Solar PV projects promising a 10 year commitment with a cap of

50 MW. Several state governments followed suit by announcing FiT incentives with

caps ranging from 50MW to 500 MW, the most prominent among them being West

Bengal, Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab and Tamil Nadu. The government of Gujarat

(located in western India) recently announced a policy to target 500 MW in the state.

The Feed-in-Tariff will be US$ 0.27/kWh for a period of 12 years.

The maximum size per project is 5 MW to enable more customers. Developers will

also have access to an 80% accelerated depreciation benefit under the Income Tax

Act. The state has already received proposals worth 2,000 MW. In response to this

policy, Aston field Renewable Resources Limited signed a deal for 200 MW and is

already in talks with global majors from Europe and USA for technology tie-ups.

TATA-BP Solar (a joint venture between the TATA group and BP Solar) announced

that it is setting up a 5 MW project. In addition, more than 2,500 MW worth of

applications have been submitted to state governments of Rajasthan, West Bengal,

Punjab, Haryana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

On the supply side, during August 2008, GoI announced a semiconductor policy with

cabinet-approved incentives to attract foreign investment to the semiconductor sector,

including manufacturers of semiconductors, displays and solar technologies. GoI will

bear 20 percent of capital expenditures in the first 10 years if a unit is located within

one of the Special Economic Zones (SEZs), including a major economic zone in

Hyderabad called "Fab City". The minimum investment was set at INR 25 billion for

semiconductor manufacturers and INR 10 billion for other micro- and nanotechnology

organizations. The solar industry has been the chief beneficiary of these

announcements under this incentive-based economic policy.

PROGRAMMES CUNDUCTED BYINDIAN RENEWABLE

ENERGY DEVELOPMENT AGENCY (IREDA):

IREDA has been set up to support various new and renewable sources of energy

projects and schemes on large scale by way of extending soft loans. The agency is

responsible for financing such projects through internal resources, equity and

mobilization of funds from external agencies.

The Ministry has been recognized on the basis of end user applications of renewable

energy systems and devices during the year 1993-94. In order to lay emphasis on

generation of power, generation of energy from urban/municipal and industrial wastes

and universalisation of rural energy programmes of Biogas and improved chulhas

systems and commercialization and market orientation of various NRSE programmes.

This ministry is investing and working on the following solar energy programme.

Solar Energy Programme:

Includes provision for solar thermal energy programme, solar photovoltaic Energy

programme includes research and development, demonstration and extension of solar

thermal energy technologies and inter-alia envisages support in the form of soft loans

for solar thermal systems and promotional measures for solar cookers. The solar

photovoltaic programme covers R&D, utilization and demonstration of various

photovoltaic systems and devices. Subsidy is provided on solar lanterns, home

lighting systems, streetlights and solar pumps. The preparatory activities for setting up

a 140 MW ISCC Power Plant at Mathania in Rajasthan with WB/KFW assistance are

being continued and necessary approval of Government of India has now been

accorded to the project. The pilot scheme to augment and supplement grid power by

installing 25 -100 KW SPV power systems is being continued. The Solar Energy

Centre has been established with the objective of research and development, testing

and standardization, prototype development, technology transfer, demonstration and

field testing, consultancy and advisory service and development of manpower in the

area of solar energy.

LARGEST SOLAR ENERGY PROJECT PLANNED FOR I NDIA

OF CAPACIY OF 5GW

Fig: Solar energy project of 5GW at Madhopur, near bhuj (Gujarat)

The world’s largest solar energy project is currently in its planning phases, and it

looks like it’s going to be absolutely enormous. Planned for Gujarat, India, it’ll be

producing 5 gigawatts of power when all is said and done. That’s a serious amount of

energy.

The plan is to build an array that’s five times the size of the current largest solar

project in the world. It’ll cost about $475 million to construct, and all the production

and manufacturing will be done on site, employing local workers and using local

materials. The current largest solar array in the world produces 900 megawatts of

power, so this 5 gigawatts plan gives you an idea of its scope.

BRIGHT FUTURE OF SOLAR ENERGY IN INDIA

The above table signifies that how the role of solar energy will play very

important role in future for the generation of energy and about more than 50% energy

can be produced using it in future, since the conventional sources are vanishing so it is

necessary to pay more attention on renewable energy sources and specially on solar

energy.

Fig: (i) present energy production, (ii) future energy production

It is also said that country specially developing nation such as India should pay more

and more attention. Since India is a tropical nation. It has enormous possibilities of

tapping solar energy. It is also available everywhere so it is becoming very popular in

rural and remote areas, also, non-polluting system is a great advantage of solar

energy. The improvement on the energy production using solar energy is started in

India, in this way the world’s largest solar plant is established in madhopur, near bhuj.

Also more than 70000 PV systems are generating more than 44MW. More than 3000

solar water pumping systems are working in India and considerably more

improvement is taking place.

So, there is no doubt to say the scope of power generation using solar energy is very

bright and to becoming a developed nation the consumption of solar energy have to be

done.

Fossile fuel

Nuclear

Hydro

Solar & renewable