Producing Own Solar Energy is Beneficial

Fed up with constant electricity cuts and government-enforced "power holidays", Indian IT firm Value Labs has turned to the sun beaming down on its head office for help.
In July, it finished building a 13 megawatt solar plant - enough to power 6,000 homes - to keep the lights on and computers humming for more than 3,000 employees at its base in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad.
It is even selling surplus electricity back to the grid.
"We plan to use the entire quantum of power generated from these plants in the coming years for our existing and upcoming campus," said Krishna Reddy, a senior Value Labs executive.
Factories and businesses have installed over 30 MW of rooftop solar panels in the last year, data compiled by New Delhi-based consultancy Bridge To India shows. That is a small amount compared with India's solar capacity of 2,700 MW, but demand may accelerate under Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has made renewable energy a priority.
Bridge to India forecasts compound annual growth will hit more than 60 percent in the next five years, as falling panel prices make installations more alluring.
In a sign that even big business is warming up to alternative energy sources, India's second-largest IT exporter Infosys Ltd is building a 50 MW solar plant in southern Karnataka state to meet 30 percent of the company's power needs.
Bridge To India estimates that commercial rooftop and smaller utility plants have the potential to provide up to 83,000 MW of solar energy, more than half of India's potential solar capacity out to 2024.(credit-Reuters)
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Cost of Renewable Energy Projects

The cost of renewable energy power generation in India is competitive compared to the cost in other countries. In India, the solar power installation cost has reduced significantly over last three years. The installation cost of wind power projects in India is also competitive in comparison of other countries. This was stated by Sh. Piyush Goyal, Minister of state for Power, Coal & New and Renewable Energy (Independent Charge) in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha. The Minister further stated that the India has signed 39 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) / Agreements in the field of Renewable Energy, under which there are a number of Joint Working Groups (JWG). The cooperation also includes issues of developing renewable energy sources in the country. The 12th Five Year Plan targets a cumulative renewable power installed capacity of 55 GW by end of March 2017. Rs.19,113/- Crore has been allocated in the Five Year Plan for the purpose, the Minister added.

Installation of Solar Water Pumps

Image courtesy: agricorner.com

The Government has proposed a programme for installation of one lakh solar pumps for irrigation and drinking water purposes across the country. This was stated by Sh. Piyush Goyal, Minister of state for Power, Coal & New and Renewable Energy (Independent Charge) in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today. He said a total number of 11626 solar pumps have already been installed in the various parts of the country till 31/03/2014. A total of 14788.45 lakh rupees have been sanctioned for solar pumps under “Off grid and Decentralized Solar Applications’’ scheme of Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission to 12 states.

Scheme Approved for 750 MW Grid-connected Solar PV Power Projects

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the implementation of a scheme for setting up of 750 MW of Grid-connected Solar PV Power Projects under Batch-I of Phase-II (2013-17) of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) with Viability Gap Funding (VGF) support from the National Clean Energy Fund (NCEF).

The total VGF requirement for implementation of the scheme is estimated as Rs. 1,875 crore at the rate of Rs.2.5 crore/ MW The actual requirement will, however, depend on the bid prices. This VGF support is estimated to leverage private investment to the tune of Rs. 5000 crore in setting up of the projects.

The VGF scheme will facilitate setting up of the 750 MW grid connected solar power projects, in mainly the private sector on Build, Own and Operate (BOO) basis at various locations, which will help supplement grid power generation in the country. These projects will also lead to an associated development of their surrounding areas with positive impact on the socio-economic conditions of the local population.

The scheme will be implemented through the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI, a Section 25 company set up by the Ministry) in close association with NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited (NVVN). The power generated shall be purchased by SECI at a fixed levelised tariff of Rs.5.45 per kWh for 25 years and sold to willing State Utilities/ Discoms at a fixed tariff of Rs.5.50 per unit for 25 years.

The selection of projects would be done through a process of open competitive bidding for their VGF requirement in order to enable them to supply the solar power to SECI at the fixed tariff of Rs.5.45 per kWh for 25 years.

Background:

The JNNSM was launched by the Government in January 2010. The main objective of this Mission is to create a policy and regulatory environment for large scale diffusion of solar energy technologies across the country as quickly as possible. It has laid down, a long-term goal of adding 20,000 MW of grid-connected solar power by 2022, to be achieved in three phases (Phase-I up to 2012-13, Phase-II from 2013 to 2017 and Phase-III from 2017 to 2022).

Power Generation at Reduced Cost in Coming Years

The cost of power generation from new and renewable energy sources is expected to further reduce in the coming years. The cost of generation of solar power has already come down to Rs. 8 per unit from Rs.18 per unit few years back. This was stated by Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Minister for New and Renewable Energy while delivering his inaugural address on the Stakeholders Workshop on New and Renewable Energy in the Capital today. Dr. Abdullah stressed on the importance of the new and renewable energy sources in providing energy access to almost 40 per cent of the country’s population which lacks energy access at present. The Minister hoped that renewable energy could become the biggest driver of inclusive growth in rural and remote areas.
Highlighting the progress made by India in the field of new and renewableenergy, Dr. Abdullah stated that UPA has given a big thrust to this area and the Jawaharlal Nehru Solar Mission launched in January, 2010 has led to great success in the area of Solar power. India today has become no. 5 in wind power generation and has developed wind turbines capable of generating 8 Megawatt of power.
Apart from senior officials of MNRE and CAG, a range of stakeholders, including regulatory agencies, 11 State nodal agencies, PSUs like NTPC, NVVN, NABARD, Associations in Solar and Wind Energy, NGOs, IIT Roorkee and subject matter experts from the sector are participating in the one day workshop organized by the office of C & AG of India.
Dr Farooq Abdullah highlighted the importance of promoting the Green Buildings concept of saving the energy consumption since almost 40 per cent of the total energy is utilized in the building sector. The Ministry is pursuing promotion of green buildings in a major way and every new Government building to come up shall have a GRIHA rating of 3 and above.
Delivering the welcome address, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India Shri Shashi Kant Sharma said that CAG has planned to undertake an All India Performance Audit of the New and Renewable Energy sector in the near future. Shri Sharma said that this subject has been chosen keeping in view the tremendous growth potential of renewable energy and its growing importance for the economy and well being of the population at large.
Shri Sharma said that the CAG organization possesses a good experience of undertaking Performance Audit, which provides an independent assessment of the extent to which the audited entity, programme or organization operates efficiently and effectively, with due regard to economy.

Nanotechnology Can Produce Cheaper Solar Power

University of Alberta researchers have found that abundant materials in Earth's crust can be used to make inexpensive and easily manufactured nanoparticle-based solar cells. The discovery, several years in the making, is an important step forward in making solar power more accessible to parts of the world that are off the traditional electricity grid or face high power costs, such as the Canadian North, said researcher Jillian Buriak, a chemistry professor and senior research officer of the National Institute for Nanotechnology based on the U of A campus.

photo credit: University of Alberta

Buriak and her team have designed nanoparticles that absorb light and conduct electricity from two very common elements: phosphorus and zinc. Both materials are more plentiful than scarce materials such as cadmium and are free from manufacturing restrictions imposed on lead-based nanoparticles.

"Half the world already lives off the grid, and with demand for electrical power expected to double by the year 2050, it is important that renewable energy sources like solar power are made more affordable by lowering the costs of manufacturing," Buriak said.

Her team's research supports a promising approach of making solar cells cheaply using mass manufacturing methods like roll-to-roll printing (as with newspaper presses) or spray-coating (similar to automotive painting). "Nanoparticle-based 'inks' could be used to literally paint or print solar cells or precise compositions," Buriak said.

Buriak collaborated with U of A post-doctoral fellows Erik Luber of the U of A Faculty of Engineering and Hosnay Mobarok of the Faculty of Science to create the nanoparticles. The team was able to develop a synthetic method to make zinc phosphide nanoparticles Zn₃P₂, and demonstrated that the particles can be dissolved to form an ink and processed to make thin films that are responsive to light.

Buriak and her team are now experimenting with the nanoparticles, spray-coating them onto large solar cells to test their efficiency. The team has applied for a provisional patent and has secured funding to enable the next step to scale up manufacture.

The above story is based on materials provided by University of Alberta. The original article was written by Bev Betkowski.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Journal Reference:

1. Erik J. Luber, Md Hosnay Mobarok, Jillian M. Buriak. Solution-Processed Zinc Phosphide (α-Zn3P2) Colloidal Semiconducting Nanocrystals for Thin Film Photovoltaic Applications. ACS Nano, 2013; : 130819062108005 DOI: 10.1021/nn4034234

Cabinet's approval for setting up of institute for solar research

The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal for setting up of an autonomous "National Institute of Solar Energy" (NISE) to assist the Ministry and function as the apex national centre for research and technology development and related activities in the area of solar energy technologies in the country.

The National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) is to be set up immediately by converting the Solar Energy Centre (SEC),Gurgaon with a long term vision to develop it as a world class institute.

Solar energy technologies are evolving continuously and the proposal to set up the National Institute of Solar Energy is an innovative idea which will accelerate the process to support induction of the latest technologies to ensure maximum cost benefit and lead to early commercialization. Solar power project developers will be motivated to use more efficient and optimized solar components.

A broad based national team in the form of a Review-cum-Strategy Formulation Committee would be set up with representation from industry, the scientific community, financial institutions etc. to prepare a blue print. This committee would look at various models available in the country and outside and prepare a roadmap for the Institute.

In order to enable this Institute to acquire the envisaged stature, reorientation of the present management system, better infrastructure and highly skilled manpower would be required. Public private partnership with future investment coming from both Government and private sector would be important so that the activities can be expanded.

Background:

Setting up of an apex national centre for Solar Energy is a part of the JNNSM, which was considered by the Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change in August, 2009. The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) and other related proposals were approved by the Govt. in November, 2009. While approving the JNNSM, the Govt. also approved specific targets and budget for the first phase of the Mission till March, 2013. This includes R&D in solar energy, including setting up of a Centre of Excellence as an apex centre on different aspects of solar energy technologies. 

Villages Electrified Through Renewable Energy Systems

A total number 3568 villages/hamlets have been electrified through renewable energy systems/devices and an amount of Rs. 158.81 crores have been released during the last three years under the remote villages electrification programmes of the Ministry.       Under the Off-gird Solar Applications Scheme of Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission, so far, 40 stand-alone SPV power plants with aggregating Capacity of 826 kWp and mini-grid concept have been installed. State-wise details are as follows: S. No. States No. of villages Total Capacity in kWp 1. Jammu & Kashmir 14 454.16 2. Jharkhand 12 180.18 3. Madhya Pradesh 8 90.18 4. Utter Pradesh 6 102.06 Details of villages/hamlets electrified through renewable energy systems/devices  and funds released during the last three years under the remote villages electrification programmes of the Ministry. S. No. State Villages/Hamlets electrified during last 3 years  Funds released during last 3 years (Rs. In Lakh) 1. Andhra Pradesh 13 7.4 2. Arunachal Pradesh 51 3. Assam 1017 876.87 4. Chhattisgarh 169 5. Haryana 92 6. Himachal Pradesh 20 7. Jammu & Kashmir 189 3896.75 8. Jharkhand 44 1395.7 9. Kerala 49 10. Madhya Pradesh 327 1490.12 11. Maharashtra 2 501.267 12. Manipur 49 13. Meghalaya 52 14. Nagaland 8 76.05 15. Orissa 726 2904.05 16. Rajasthan 90 842.59 17. Tamil Nadu 30 18. Tripura 441 444.84 19. Uttarakhand 88 197.26 20. Uttar Pradesh 105 1721.14 21. West Bengal 6 1447.61 22. Delhi* 24.96 23. Goa 9.74 24. Gujarat 35.27 25. Karnataka 9.82 Total 3568 15881.42 sources: Ministry of new and renewable energy