Sun to shine India

Growing power needs and sustainability concerns have impelled India to resort to clean energy alternatives. In last couple of years, the nation has added significant power generation capacity through solar energy. It still offers immense potential to realize nation’s goal to generate 175GW from renewable sources and provide power to all at affordable tariff

India has shifted its focus from generating energy from conventional resources to renewable ones. Solar energy appears to be its favourite. According to government data, solar power installed capacity in the country has increased significantly from just 3.7 MW in 2005 to about 4060 MW in 2015, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of more than 100 per cent over the decade. In 2016, the capacity has crossed the 8000MW mark. The progress in the sector is commendable but the nation needs to make concentrated and incessant efforts to achieve the target within deadline. The target of the government is to touch the 100GW mark by 2022.

Policy reforms

Union Cabinet recently gave its ex-post facto approval to the proposal of Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) for ratification of International Solar Alliance (ISA)’s Framework Agreement by India. ISA was launched jointly by the Prime Minister of India and the President of France on November 30, 2015 at Paris on the side-lines of the 21st CoP meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The ISA will strive to bring together more than 121 solar resource rich nations for coordinated research, low cost financing and rapid deployment. The Agreement was opened for signature on the sidelines of 22nd CoP meeting at Marrakesh, Morocco. Till now, 25 nations have signed the Framework Agreement. ISA Headquarters has been set up in Gurugram. India has already committed the required support for operationalisation of the ISA. The alliance will put India globally in a leadership role in climate and renewable  energy issues. According to the government sources, India would take many other initiatives to scale up the energy generation capacity through solar energy. These include a scheme for development of 25 Solar Parks, Ultra Mega Solar Power Projects and canal top solar projects. Some of them are already being implemented pan India. Solar projects would also contribute in saving energy. For this: the government plans to distribute over 100,000 solar pumps for farmers. Government of India is also promoting solarization of all the 55,000 petrol pumps across the country out of which about 3,135 petrol pumps have already been solarized.

Learning together

All the states need to gear up to expedite the work to improve power generation capacity through solar projects. It is to be noted that just seven states, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, and Punjab contribute to about 80 per cent of total installed capacity. Other big states such as Maharashtra, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are lagging behind. The state governments must pull up their socks to compete with the states that are leaders in the domain. For example: Gujarat had come up with an innovative solution of canal top solar power plants that not just solved the land acquisition issue for implementing solar projects. It also prevented loss of precious water in the canals through evaporation. According to data journalism website India spend, the canal-top solar panels were installed in Gujarat in 2012. The canaltop idea was first tabled at a 2011 Vibrant Gujarat Summit by the then Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi. The idea was revolutionary because it solved the most crucial problem of setting up solar power plants: land acquisition. The government could easily utilise the area above the canals, saving the government the cost, time and inconvenience associated with land acquisition. The idea worked and bore fruits for Gujarat which became a leading state in generating power through solar. Gujarat alone has a canal network of 80,000 km. Using even 30 per cent of this network for canaltop solar projects, according to GSECL estimates, 18,000 MW of power could be produced in just Gujarat – almost equal to the current coal-based installed capacity of Delhi, Rajasthan and Telangana – and 90,000 acres of land, or twice the size of Kolkata, could be saved. In other words, installing solarpanels over 30% of Gujarat’s canals could be used to meet nearly a fifth of India’s solar power targets by 2022. Other countries are also using innovative ways to use the potential of solar power. For example: Solar roads may not be a popular
idea in India yet but it is catching the attention of the renewable energy experts in many global cities. The panels used in such roads are made up of a modular system of specially engineered solar panels that can be walked and driven upon. At present, China and Germany are the world leaders in harnessing the potential of solar energy. Their total installed capacity through solar is 43,530 and 39,700 MW respectively. India is currently way behind. However, the country has perfect conditions to generate more power from solar and it has set its target accordingly. If all goes as planned, the nation has all possibility to become a world leader in solar energy.