Solar Power a boom for Electricity generation in India
India is densely populated and has high solar insulations, an ideal combination for using solar Power in India. The illustration of history of Solar Power shows how solar power has evolved through government’s policies as well as increasing financial benefit as traditional energy sources have become more expensive and costs of going solar have dramatically decreased.
In the solar energy sector, some large projects have been proposed, and a 35,000 km2 area of the TharDesert has been set aside for solar power projects, sufficient to generate700 GW to 2,100 GW.  Applications of Solar Technology: Solar energy refers primarily to the use of solar radiation for practical ends. However, all renewable energies, other than geothermal and tidal, derive their energy from the sun. Solar technologies are broadly characterized as either passive or active depending on the way they capture, convert and distribute sunlight. Active solar techniques use photovoltaic panels, pumps, and fans to convert sunlight into useful outputs. Passive solar techniques include selecting materials with favorable thermal properties, designing spaces that naturally circulate air, and referencing the position of a building to the Sun. Active solar technologies increase the supply of energy and are considered supply side technologies, while passive solar technologies reduce the need for alternate resources and are generally considered demand side technologies.  Solar Power in Gujarath , Maharastra and Rajasthan: Gujarat has been a leader in solar power generation and contributes 2/3rd of the 900 MW of photovoltaic’s in the country. The State has commissioned Asia’s biggest solar park at Charanka village. The park is already generating 214 MW solar power out of its total planned capacity of 500 MW. The Shri Sai Baba Sansthan Trust has world's largest solar steam system. It was constructed at the Shirdi shrine at an estimated cost of Rs.1.33 crore, Rs.58.4 lakh of which was paid as a subsidy by the renewable energy ministry. 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 seven months and the system has a design life of 25 years. Next to Gujarat, Rajasthan is India's sunniest state, and many solar projects have been proposed. The 40 MW photovoltaic Dhirubhai Ambani Solar Park was completed in April 2012. A 250 MW compact linear fresnel reflector (CLFR) plant is under construction, consisting of two 125 MW sections. APPLICATIONS: 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 set for the Tenth National Five Year Plan (2002–2007). As of 2004, more than 2,700 villages and hamlets. Developments in cheap solar technology are considered as a potential alternative that allows 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, loss, long-distance, centralized power delivery systems and yet bring cheap electricity to the masses. Solar lamps and lighting: By 2012 910,504 solar lanterns and 861,654 solar powered home lights have 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. 20 million solar lamps are expected by 2022. Agricultural support: 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 per day from a total head of 10 meters. By 30 September, 2006, a total of 7,068 solar PV water pumping systems had been installed and by March 2012, 7,771 had been installed. Solar driers are used to dry harvests before storage. Solar water heaters: Bangalore has the largest deployment of rooftop solar water heaters in India. These heaters generate an energy equivalent of 200 MW every day . Bangalore is also the first city in the country to put in place an incentive mechanism by providing a rebate of 50 on monthly electricity bills for residents using roof-top thermal systems. These systems are now mandatory for all new structures. Pune, another city in the western part of India, has also recently made installation of solar water heaters in new buildings mandatory. Solar water heaters facing sun to maximize gain.  Challenges and Oppurtunities: Land is a scarce resource in India and per capita land availability is low. Dedication of land area for exclusive installation of solar arrays 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 set of individual rooftop power generation systems, all connected via a local grid. However, erecting such an infrastructure, which does not 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, because PV is projected to continue its current cost reductions for the next decades and be able to compete with fossil fuel. Some noted think-tanks recommend that India should adopt a policy of developing solar power as a dominant component of the renewable energy mix, since being a densely populated region in the sunny tropical belt ,the subcontinent has the ideal combination of both high solar insolation and therefore a big potential consumer base density. In one of the analyzed scenarios, India can make renewable resources such as solar the backbone of its economy by 2050, reining in its long-term carbon emissions without compromising its economic growth potential. By V.MAHESH 10H71A0218 3rd EEE |
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TECHNICAL ARTICLES(session-1)
