Solar in India: Top 5 uses
WRITTEN BY NILESH JADHAV | 07 APRIL 2011
POSTED IN
EDITORS BLOGS

A one-size-fits-all approach
doesn¡¦t work when it comes to deriving full benefits of solar energy. Each
country has its own variabilities such as climate, socio-economic structure,
terrain, skills, etc., and therefore, each area can benefit the most from
different types of solar or solar applications.
In India, solar energy has loads
of potential due to the high solar irradiation and more than 300 sunny days a
year. The top five most beneficial uses for solar energy in India are (in
reverse order) grid connected power plants, solar thermal, rooftop PV, solar
irrigation pumps and rural micro-grids.
No. 5: Grid connected power plants
India needs to improve its grid infrastructure drastically to
realize the real benefits of grid integrated solar plants.
Although the
recently announced national solar mission policy in India aims to establish
about 20GW of grid-connected solar power base by year 2022, it may prove to be
one of the least beneficial uses for India. Around 16% of India¡¦s 600,000
villages are un-electrified. Due to lack of last mile connectivity in
electrified villages, in reality about 42% of the rural households are not
connected to the electricity grid at all. Power transmission losses are
currently about 23% in India and it will defeat the purpose if out of the 20GW
solar power generated, 4-5GW will be loss in grid transmission! These factors
will be aggravated as solar power plants (CSP or PV) need to be setup in open
barren lands that would be far from the main grid. India needs to improve its
grid infrastructure and move towards high efficiency and smarter grids if the
real benefits of grid integrated solar plants are to be realized.
No.4: Solar thermal applications (direct utilization of heat)
Solar thermal
technologies have a natural advantage in India due to the fact that the average
radiation is 4.5 to 6 kWh/m2/day, with an average of 300 clear days in a year.
Solar thermal applications are simple in design, inexpensive to manufacture, and
have short payback periods. The use of solar dryers in agriculture can reduce
wastage and improve the income of farmers. If hostels, hotels and other large
institutions were to use solar energy for cooking, their savings on fossil fuel
could be substantial. Also, solar box cookers can help families who do not have
access to a clean energy source for cooking and reduce indoor pollution. Several
industries that need low to medium heat energy can easily reduce their carbon
footprint by replacing at least some of their fossil fuel usage by solar thermal
technology. Solar water heaters have great potential in India as the technology
is well matured and some state governments have mandated the use of solar
heaters on all new buildings.
No.3: Roof-top PV (replacing diesel generators)
In urban India
today, diesel generators (DG) are used by small commercial enterprises as well
as large buildings (private and public such as malls, hotels, hospitals and
nursing homes) to generate electricity during grid outage. The exact installed
capacity of captive generation from diesel and furnace oil in the country is
unknown, but it is said to run into tens of thousands of MW. The gap of 10-20%
of electrical power is mostly met by installing DG sets that cost at least 20
times more. This is an area where roof-top PV (RTPV) systems can achieve cost
parity in near future. Cell phone towers in India (250,000 in total) use diesel
for power and back-up. It¡¦s a segment can be easily replaced by solar PV systems
of 3-5 kW power. The estimated potential of roof-top PV systems in urban India
is at least around 140-150MWp
with unit area required for RTPV assumed around 10 sq. meters per kWp.
No.2: Solar irrigation pumps
Almost 70% of
India¡¦s population depends on agriculture either directly or indirectly. Most
electrical consumption in this sector goes towards operating pump sets for
irrigation. There are about 21 million irrigation pump sets in India, of which
about 9 million are run on diesel and the rest are grid-based. The grid-based
systems also often have power available only for a few hours and that too in the
nighttime. Water demand for irrigation is correlated to bright sunny days and
hence, solar-based pumps make sense. It will make the agricultural activity more
productive and safer by utilizing more day-time hours. If it is assumed that a
moderate 50% of the total diesel pumps in India (of the 9 million pump sets) are
replaced by solar PV, the total potential for savings in diesel fuel will be
approximately 185 million tons per year and a 470 million tons CO2
abatement.
No. 1: Rural micro-grids
Grid transmission losses and inverter costs can be avoided by
using solar powered micro-grids.
Due to the
inadequacy of the grid, the alternative for villagers currently is kerosene,
which is expensive, subsidized and has adverse environmental and health effects.
By bringing the generation of electricity closer to the site of consumption,
grid transmission losses can be avoided by using solar powered micro-grids. The
electrical needs of rural households are relatively small (0.5-2.5 kWhr per day)
and a micro-grid system of 20-35 kW would suffice a small village. Instead of
having a 500 MW of power plants supplying to the state grid, the same capacity
can be spread over to meet the needs of about 14,300 villages, each having a
solar or hybrid solar-biomass micro-grid of 35 kW. Planning a micro-grid with DC
power distribution will obviate the need for an inverter and hence can be very
cost effective with lower capital requirements and much less losses.
Written by
Nilesh Jadhav--Contributing Editor -
India
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Labels: CSP, PV
Cells & Modules, India, Grid, Solar
Plants, Applications, Utilities, Solar
Thermal
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