How To Empower India With Big Solar Energy Plans

Posted on April 12, 2012

Posted By: Darshan Goswami

Solar energy can be the source of many benefits for India and the environment. Solar energy has the potential to re-energize India's economy by creating millions of new jobs, achieve energy independence, reduce the trade deficit and propel India forward as a "Green Nation." Solar Energy offers too many benefits for India to ignore or delay its development.

India is the Sun's most favored nation, blessed with about 5,000 trillion kWh of solar energy every year. India should tap this vast resource to satisfy its growing energy demand. Time is of the essence. Even if a tenth of this potential were utilized, it would be the end of power problems in India. India's deserts and farm land are the sunniest in the world, and thus suitable for large-scale power production. India can lead the world by embracing the power of the sun, if smart business models and favorable policies can be developed and implemented nationwide as quickly as possible. For more details, please read my two papers, "How Concentrated Solar Power Can Meet India's Future Power Needs," and "Solar Farming Potential in India."

The Indian Government should embrace favorable tax structures and consider providing financial resources to fund projects to put up community solar farms as part of their energy development programs. "India can be a great power, ushering in a game changing third industrial revolution by utilizing its renewable energy resources and collaborating with power producers and suppliers", says American economist and author Jeremy Rifkin. India can become the Saudi Arabia of clean Solar Energy.

Despite the worldwide recession, the photovoltaic (PV) industry has demonstrated unprecedented growth over the past years, with increased demand for solar power attracting more and more players into the market. The price of solar panels fell 47 percent in 2011, according to Bloomberg. This has made the business case for solar more competitive because the PV in some parts of the world has already reached grid parity and it will soon be below the $1/Watt cost target for most of the world, sometime in 2012. This is making solar technology more competitive with traditional energy sources. Solar energy is a Win-Win situation for India and the environment. India can be a great power using more renewable energy, specifically Solar Energy. India should make Solar Energy a mainstream component of energy diversification. There is really no better economical choice for India.

Why India needs Solar Energy Now?

India has tremendous energy needs and an increasing difficulty in meeting those requirements through traditional means of generation. Electricity consumption in India has been increasing at one of the fastest rates in the world due to population growth and economic development. Indian economy faces increasing challenges because energy supply is struggling to keep pace with increasing demand, and there are continues energy shortages between 10%-13% percent of daily need almost everywhere in the country. Because India has so many black-outs, many factories and homes use emergency diesel generators as back-ups. This back-up power could be more cheaply supplied by Solar Energy.

The Solar Energy has the potential to transform the Indian economy in a way the information technology (IT) and auto industry transformed the Indian economy in the 90s. India is in a unique position to introduce innovative, clean energy solutions on an enormous scale to provide affordable energy for everyone, especially the poor. To meet these future energy challenges India should use Renewable Energy resources for all future energy demands including Solar and Wind.

India should take full advantage of this golden opportunity because Solar energy has particular relevance in remote and rural areas, where around 289 million people live without access to electricity in India today. Solar energy is the best cost-effective option for India to eliminate energy poverty without extending national grid services to provide power for individual homes and buildings.

Renewable Energy is the most attractive investment because it will provide a long-term economic growth for the country. The favorable renewable energy policy could create millions of jobs and an economic stimulus of at least $1 trillion and perhaps much more if all indirect economic (ripple) effects are included. "India is the Saudi Arabia of renewable energy sources and if properly utilized, India can realize its place in the world as a great power," said Jeremy Rifkin.

How Solar Energy can work for India

India needs a plan with the same spirit, boldness and the imagination of the Apollo program that put astronauts on the Moon. It's just like the case of personnel computers that were very expensive but with mass production and usage the cost of the computers has come down dramatically. The technology is well established and available today. All that is needed now to make this concept a reality is political commitment and appropriate investments and funding to harness the Solar Energy resource to reduce the India's dependence on fossil fuels. One step toward achieving this goal would be to start a nationwide Solar initiative to facilitating growth in large scale deployment of 100 million solar roofs and large utility-scale generation installations within the next 20 years. India can become a major player and international leader in the Solar Energy for years to come.

The role of the government in establishing the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM), which was launched in late 2009, was crucial. The present JNNSM target of producing 10% of its energy - 20,000 MW by 2022 is very low. JNNSM should take bold steps with the help of Central and State Governments to play a major role in realizing India's Solar Energy potential.

The U.S.-India Energy Dialogue, which facilitates discussions on renewable energy and energy efficiency, can be a very useful tool to spark investments in Solar Energy. This can lay the foundation for an energy independent future - one in which the Government of India takes advantage of the vast amounts of energy available from the Rajasthan Desert sun (instead of oil from the Arab nations) to power its future energy needs. In addition, Solar Energy would not only create millions of jobs, but also sustain India's positive economic growth, help lift its massive population out of poverty and combat climate change.

Solar Energy also has the advantage of permitting the decentralized distribution of energy, particularly for meeting rural energy needs, thereby empowering people at the grassroots level. Solar electricity could also shift about 90 percent of daily trip mileage from gasoline to electricity by encouraging increased use of plug-in hybrid cars. For drivers in India this means that the cost per mile could be reduced by one-fourth (in today's prices).

All new energy generation in India could be renewable by 2030, and all pre-existing energy production could be converted to 100% renewable energy by 2050 without great expense while maintaining a reliable power supply. Just imagine houses in villages and cities producing energy through solar power and then selling the same energy to the distribution companies, this will give level-playing field to the rural areas in terms of industrialization. In the coming years government must play a decisive role in India's bright Solar Energy future, on both state and national levels by providing feed-in-tariff (FIT) scheme, tax credit and other support in order to realize significant solar plant capacity in India. It would be a serious miscalculation, if India missed out on this singular opportunity.

Solar Powered Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

As Electric Vehicle (EV) enter the mainstream States, corporate planners and municipalities must play a critical role in laying the groundwork toward clean technology within the nation's transportation infrastructure. The develoyment and integration of public charging stations should be made with daily commuting and typical driving habits in mind.

Carmakers in the world market are also moving quickly into the emerging electric vehicle market with several models expected to hit showrooms in 2012. There is growing number of solar companies that are partnering with carmakers to provide solar-powered charging stations both at work and in the garage. SunPower has forged an alliance with Ford, which recently unveiled a "Drive Green for Life" program that will use a 2.5-kilowatt rooftop array to charge the new Ford Focus electric vehicle due to hit the streets in 2012. SunEdison has joined the Pecan Street smart grid demonstration project in Austin, Texas, where it will lead the development of home PV charging stations for the Chevy Volt.

Thousands of these solar-powered recharging stations can be sprouted up across India, just like the present Public Call Office (PCO) giving birth to the "Green Revolution." Many of these recharging connections can be deployed at highly concentrated areas including shopping malls, motels, restaurants, and public places where cars might be parked long enough to get a jolt of needed power for Electric Vehicles.

Many customers who drive electric cars will be able to recharge their vehicles for free while shopping at the stores that are participating in the company's pilot program. This will help bring more customers to the stores. For example, in USA, IKEA and Kohl's, as with many other companies, the EV charging initiatives are part of broader sustainability strategies. Other firms adding charging stations include Lowe's, which is working with GE, and Walgreens, which has made the biggest commitment so far with an initiative to install charging stations at 800 stores.

Conclusion

Solar energy represents a bright spot on India's economic future. If India makes a massive switch from coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear power plants to Solar Energy, it is possible that 70 percent of India's electricity and 35 percent of its total energy could be solar-powered by 2030. This would require the creation of a vast region of photovoltaic cells in the Southwest and other parts of the country that could operate at night as well as during the day. Excess daytime energy can be stored in various forms such as molten or liquid salt (a mixture of sodium nitrate and potassium nitrate), compressed air, pumped hydro, hydrogen, battery storage, etc., which would be used as an energy source during nighttime hours.

Solar Energy will be competitive with coal as improved and efficient Photovoltaic (PV), Concentrated Solar Power (CSP), and Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV), enter the market. I predict that solar farming advancements and growth would empower India's rural economies. To take advantage of low cost renewable Solar Energy, companies will move their operations from urban areas to rural areas due to cheaper land and labor within the solar belt.

I personally think there are no technological or economic barriers to supplying almost 100% of India's energy demand through the use of clean renewable energy from solar, wind, hydro and biogas by 2050. It's time to recognize that our energy must ultimately come from renewable resources, and we must accelerate the deployment of renewable energy. India can ramp up its effort to develop and implement large utility scale Solar Energy farms to meet India's economic development goals. Solar energy will create energy independence and bring potentially enormous environmental benefits. Both issues have a direct influence on national security and the health of the Indian economy. India needs a radical transformation of energy system to the efficient use of renewable energies, especially Solar Energy.

By using renewable resources India can realize its full economic potential and achieve its key social, political, and environmental objectives. The Indian Government should develop favorable government policies to ease the permitting process and to provide start-up capital to promote the exponential growth of Solar Energy to make India's bright future. All that is required is the political will for the eventual shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy. India could potentially increase grid-connected solar power generation capacity to over 200,000 MW by 2030, if adequate resources and favorable policies can be developed.

Solar Energy is a game-changing program for India. India should accelerate and encourage the domestic development of Solar Energy now. It is a question of whether we have the societal and political will to achieve this goal to eliminate our wasteful spending and dependence on foreign sources of energy and save our planet. Solar energy has the potential to re-energize India's economy by creating millions of new jobs, achieves energy independence, reduces the trade deficit and propels India forward as a "Green Nation." Solar Energy offers too many benefits for India to ignore or delay its development.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the writer and are not intended to represent the views or policies of the United States Department of Energy.

Authored By:

Darshan Goswami

Darshan Goswami has over 35 years of experience in the energy field. He is working for United States Department of Energy (DOE) as a Project Manager in Pittsburgh, PA, USA. He retired as a Chief of Energy Forecasting and Renewable Energy from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in Washington, DC. Earlier, he worked for 30 years at Duquesne Light Company, an electric utility company in Pittsburgh, PA, USA.

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Comments

April, 13 2012

Harry Valentine says

India has tremendous potential for future economic growth and development, especially if the Government of India relaxes the plethora of obsolete economic regulations. For India to realise benefit from the tremendous potential for future solar power conversion, the price of solar conversion will have to decline much further. Large scale solar development will likely occur over the long term in India, rather than over the short term.

Subsidy-free and affordable solar power that combines PV technology, storage batteries and LED lighting is already appearing in numerous villages that are off the main power grid. There is a potentially huge market for this kind of subsidy-free solar power technology across India. India needs to encourage further development of subsidy-free solar power conversion, including allowing private and independent micro-grids to develop.

Private, subsidy-free and regulatory-free development of electric power would offer great long-term benefit to India, provided that various levels of government bureaucracies across India actually allow for such development.

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April, 17 2012

bill payne says

Solar green?

Google 'solar pollution riots china'

IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION OF PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY OF NEW MEXICO FOR APPROVAL OF RENEWABLE ENERGY RIDER NO. 36 PURSUANT TO ADVICE NOTICE NO. 439 AND FOR VARIANCES FROM CERTAIN FILING REQUIREMENTS

PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY OF NEW MEXICO,

Applicant )

Case No. 12-00007-UT

http://www.prosefights.org/pnmrider/pnmrider.htm#pnmset3

THIRD SET OF INTERROGATORIES

INTRODUCTION

Intervenor William H Payne requests, pursuant to 1.2.2.25 NMAC, that you answer the following Interrogatories and produce all documents which are responsive in any way to the Interrogatories or in any way to the specific Requests for Production of Documents. Your responses must be made in accordance with the STAFF'S FIRST SET OF INTERROGATORIES AND REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS TO PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY OF NEW MEXICO. If you have any questions about any of the Interrogatories or Requests for Production, please contact Willaim H Payne at bpayne37@comcast.net or 505-3409225 cell. Please serve responses to bpayne37@comcast.net and have the certificate of service filed with the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission Records Bureau.

The Los Lunas Solar Energy Center

1 What is the size of each of the 78,000 Solar Panels?

2 Who is the panel manufacturer and what is the part number?

3 What inverter is used with the system?

4 What was the cost of the panels?

Documents please.

5 What was the cost of the inverters?

Documents please.

6 What was the cost of the hardware for the Los Lunas Solar Energy Center photovoltaic (PV) system?

Documents please.

7 What was the installation cost of the Los Lunas Solar Energy Center system?

Documents please.

8 What is the purpose ofthe Los Lunas Solar Energy Center?

9 Is the PNM utility-scale solar energy facility at the Los Lunas Solar Energy Center connected to the grid?

10 What is the CAPACITY FACTOR of the Los Lunas Solar Energy Center by month from its start of electricity production through March 2012?

Please provide a plot similar to the ITRON SGIP Figure 3-1.

11 How many kWh [kilowatt HOURS] of electricity per month from from its start of electricity production through March 2012 does the Los Lunas Solar Energy Center produce?

Table presentation please.

12 What is the average peak output [kW] of the PNM utility-scale solar energy facility at the Los Lunas Solar Energy Center for each hour [24] for each month of the year from from its start of electricity production through March 2012?

Table presentation please.

13 How much as been spent of maintenance from its start of electricity production through March 2012?

Documentation please.

14 What is the estimated system removal, safe disposal, and site clean-up cost in April 2012 of the Los Lunas Solar Energy Center?

Detailed breakdown of costs please.

_____ And finally, while we’re on the topic of energy, here’s a submission from Fellow Reckoner, V. Forbes, who writes in from our old home state of Queensland, Australia. This one ought to inspire a few responses. Writes Mr. Forbes...

Generating electricity from solar panels in cold, cloudy Northern Europe is like growing pawpaws in Iceland — it can be done, but who would be so silly as to try?

Germany was silly enough to try. Germany gets about an hour of useful sunshine per day in winter — solar power is weakest just when they need it most. But they have installed about half of the world’s solar panels. Germany’s Q-Cells, once the world’s biggest manufacturer of solar panels, just went broke. So did four other German solar companies.

Sunny California also tried, but despite a half billion dollar loan from US tax payers, solar panel manufacturer Solyndra went broke. Solar Trust of America, recently offered $2 billion in loan guarantees by US tax payers, has also filed for bankruptcy.

All the European PIIGS have tried — and the waste of taxpayer funds on failing green energy schemes is a major reason for their parlous financial state.

The only sensible participant in the solar industry is China — they make panels very cheaply using coal or nuclear power and sell them to green dreamers.

The reason green energy creates so much red ink is pretty obvious — it just needs one day’s observation of the sun.

Full strength solar energy is available around midday for maybe 8 hours each day, providing the skies are clear, and there is no dust on the panels, and you are in a tropical zone. For the other 16 hours of the day, most electricity must come from reliable energy sources like gas, hydro, coal or nuclear. This about doubles capital and operating costs for no increase in output. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Google 'hybrid owners one and done'

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April, 17 2012

Anumakonda Jagadeesh says

No doubt Solar Energy may have potential as an alternative energy source in India. There has been much hype given to Solar PV under Solar Mission. As usual the targets fixed are rarely met.

On the other hand WIND and BIOFUEL have great promise.

India should concentrate on Offshore Wind Farms and Biofuel from Care free growth plant like AGAVE. Mexico is leader in Biofuel from AGAVE.

India being an AGRARIAN ECONOMY, it makes sense to tap Biogas from Wild growth plants like OPUNTIA.

Until the Efficiency of Solar Cells improves and cost of solar power generation comes down, Solar PV will have limited success in India. On the other hand Solar Thermal may find good use.

Dr.A.Jagadeesh Nellore(AP),India E-mail: anumakonda.jagadeesh@gmail.com

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April, 17 2012

Malcolm Rawlingson says

You will need to cover a great deal of India in Solar panels to make the amount of electricity required. Where do all the people go? Where is all the food grown if the land is covered in solar arrays? While I will not dispute your number of 5000 trillion KwH of electricity available it is about as useful as saying that the Sun emits more energy in a second than all of mankind has used in its entire existence on earth.

Both are true but the problem is how to harness a source that is so widely dispersed. The energy density is very low compared to nuclear and fossil fuels which makes its collection a major and some would say insurmountable problem.

India has plans to build 63000 MW of nuclear power plants. How much land area would need to be used in order to create the same amount from solar panels. And of course I will ask the age old question - what does one do at night when visible light and solar photovoltaic output drops to zero. Burn candles?

Malcolm

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April, 17 2012

Don Hirschberg says

It is revealing that the author writes this:” This is making solar technology more competitive with traditional energy sources.” Isn’t “More competitive” hype for “it isn’t competitive?”

Of course India is a special case, having about 16% of the world population and hundreds of millions of people without electric service. They don’t have electric service because over many decades India has not been able to build enough of the least expensive power stations nor been able to increase coal production to fuel ever more power plants.

The immediate energy problem in India today is opening new coal mines, improving coal transporting rail capacity and securing coal deals in other countries to provide supply to present and new coal burners.

Even in the most favorable locations solar on a yearly basis can hardly ever have more than about a 40% capacity factor. If Solar alone is not competitive, how about solar with storage?

Alas, Indians have already reproduced themselves beyond solutions. Do the arithmetic.

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April, 17 2012

Rajendera Kapoor says

I left India 33 years back, although I visit it often, just came back after 10 days vacation over there and visited BHEL, the government sector producer of Turbines with colloboration with Siemens. I wonder how Darshan Goswami is in position to perdict about India that how the Solar Power Development with $1.00 per watt cost is so good? Working for US Government and previously utiity companies, I wonder if he knows what has happened to lands costs in India, how much more agricultural production is needed to put the food on the table, what is condition of water and rivers etc. etc. With 4 times population of USA with 1/4th or 1/3rd of land, India is 12 times as populated. Yes, we know meridian passes through Allahbad and they can produce power, but where is the land and where is the education, where every one's roof can have solar panels? talking of solar farms for 130 mile wind loads? Come on give me a break Darshan, do something that you know about or put together a viable project in India with space and sale to grid and all and I will finance it for you, just have payback of less than 7 years including all teh insurance and warranty costs, can you do it, we will pay you six figure US salary for the duration of project and let you maintain and operate it also within the feasibility that you are saying is possiblem you are a PE, take the challenge?

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April, 18 2012

Anumakonda Jagadeesh says

Rajendera Kapoor: I agree with you. Solar energy breakthrough in India is a long way to go. As I advocated Wind and Biomass ,biofuel and Biogas are more matured. Once we were pioneers in Biogas and Now China overtaken. India has resources but lacks resourcefulness in some areas. Will any Nation keeps millions of hectares as waste land? Why not grow fast growing plants like Agave,Opuntia etc., Even the simple Box Type Solar Cooker which is more than 50 years old is yet to penetrate in rural areas. While Science is Universal, Technology is culture specific. We need to have technologies that can be replicated at local level with local resourcefulness. Can't We Indians design simple solar water heaters,solar driers,solar disinfection systems for safe drinking water,Solar LED lights etc., Why should we adopt foreign designs which are expensive.I designed many Renewable Energy Gadgets .

There is a Notion among Indians( Some Policy Makers) that Rural is bad, urban is better and foreign is the best. I will prove that it is wrong in many cases. During 80s the Then DNES under Demonstration Program imported Small Wind Turbines at an exorbitant cost and put them across the country. Needless to say that they were a failure. On the other hand an 'uneducated' person using trunk of palm tree as Tower and redesigning the Automobile generator by changing the windings besides making wooden blades fabricated a Wind Battery Charger. Wind blade design is very complex and only few Companies like LM are pioneers in this. This wind turbine is near Mandapam, Tamil Nadu on the sea coast. It has been working for more than 15 years. This is where the ingenuity lies. If Funds are provided to such GENIUSES in rural areas by providing axis to good workshop and expert guidance they will come out with the best designs. Dr.A.Jagadeesh Nellore(AP),India E-mail: anumakonda.jagadeesh@gmail.com

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April, 18 2012

Dharmappa Barki says

India has already embarked on its much-hyped Solar Mission and taken oath to install 20 GW solar power (both PV and thermal) by 2022. As an energy security scheme it has its roots in brilliance. But you must by now be aware of India and its performance; you show me a scheme and I will show you a scam!

India boasts of 'Geeta' - a great 'Quality Manual' for life. But is there quality life in India? India's Solar Mission turned out to be yet rhetoric of a sort. Recently I paid a visit to Gujarat-Modi's Solar Park in Charanka. Indeed, a great solar dream coming true as a reality. Modi must be commended for this unprecedented move. If I were to be a non solar person, I would have held my enthusiasm for long; but the apathy of the quality of most solar power plants is so conspicuous and entrenched over there. I was in utter shock: Forget about how many years or hours (pun intended) the solar panels will perform, the very survival of the solar arrays was in question as the basic foundations on which the solar mounting structures are built, to fix the solar panels, were already showing the signs of fast sinking while some of them were already either sunken or on the way to show their inability to ‘sustain’ and surpass the next monsoon season. I am already told that in one of the solar power plants (name withheld) has stopped generating energy as the solar panels have broken miserably due to the ‘sheer’ stress arising out of foundations randomly failed to withstand the structural loads. The callousness of poor civil work was showing up. The solar arrays are supposed to withstand a wind load of, at least 150 Kms/hour. I am afraid that a slightest wind would make the entire array fly off into skies.

What about solar panels? India’s premier, veteran solar companies themselves also have resorted to import cheap (yes, cheap in quality) solar modules from China throwing the ‘Domestic Content Clause’ of JNNSM guidelines to air. The power degradation is so fast that these solar panels will see their ‘premature’ death much before their warranty period.

In the midst of these basic lapses, the havoc of high voltage stress in the megawatt size power plants is the least that our ignorant developers/EPC contractors would have expected. The Potential Induced Degradation (PID) is something grossly Indian PV manufacturers have to seriously handle and settle to. But will they? If so, by when? The short-sighted corporate giants did not know that setting up solar power plant is not a child’s play. They did not see the solar power plant is supposed to work for 20-25 long years to make the project viable. It’s unfortunate to know that companies who knew nothing about solar except its spelling dared to bid for JNNSM projects. What is most intriguing is that everyone including the bureaucrats, politicians keep talking about the falling solar module prices just like broken gramophone records. What they fail to understand is that the ‘falling’ of module price is in direct proportion with the quality. Also, the prices have fallen because of the backlogs and inventories created by the global recession and the retraction of German euphoria and its stalled FIT programs. It’s not because of technological breakthroughs. It’s foolish to bet so much on such weak trends as much as it is stupidity to expect further fall in price of modules to match grid parity (first of all comparing solar power generation to fossil fuel based tariffs in itself is wrong, the subject that needs elaborate debate and hence out of the current scope of writing).

Who says solar would replace the so-called conventional energy? As long as we perfect a clean, low-cost storage devices this is a distant reality. Until then let us be wise by having a proper mix of clean tech energies together with judicious mix of fossil fuel based energies. Asking for more than this is like trying to grow India’s King-fruit-mango in cold countries such as Norway or Germany or trying to grow apples in tropical countries like Africa, India and so on. Let us not blame the technologies; blame its mis-handlers. Solar technology is and will be the answer to the world energy crisis.

It’s worth mentioning E.W. Dijkstras quote here: "The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than the question of whether a submarine can swim."

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April, 19 2012

Alok Misra says

Mr Jagdeesh Some tieago when I said that 69000 MW of energy by solar is required immediately you were the one saying that it is some ring projections. Imadea model to build 500 MW of solar in four cities and my projections state that we require an Infra Co to undertake it. N breakthrough is possibile without these Infra Cos.They need to do all the work and recover revenues also just like Road building is going on. India is not US and we are not a very responsive administration by any yardstick. No body wants toi stand in que and beg for subsidies . Our paper work terrifies all those who want to work here.We have supplied lot oftechnocrates around the world who could have worked here. We are masters in frustrating people and tire them out. Only a Big infra co can tackle these problems. High quality Technocrates dio not want to stand before Babus and start begging for this or that.

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April, 20 2012

yew yew says

Louis Marc Michaud Atmospheric Vortex Engine http://vortexengine.ca/index.shtml

There are very sufficient statements at the web site referenced. Vortex engines are baseload wind , grid ready, integrative ecotechnics. Solar or wind sprawl fragment terrain.

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April, 21 2012

Anumakonda Jagadeesh says

Alok Misra:

I still stand on my statement. Against the set targets in Solar how much has been achieved in India is anybody's guess. Culture in US and developing countries is diametrically opposite as far as business and ethics are concerned in many cases. While corruption may be a hobby in the west, it is a way of life for many Indians especially some politicians and bureaucrats. The situation you portray prevails in many developing countries. I was in Sri Lanka for a wind project as Consultant and the situation there is in no way different from India. That is why a Cynic from US remarked," You Indian Guys are better than Bill Gates in Creating Windows'(you can't even think of number of clearances needed for a power project in India).

There is hue and cry from Wind Turbine manufacturers and businessmen in Wind in India on the slashing down of Accelerated Depreciation in Wind from 80% to 15 %( From April 1, 2012). Now the race to grab incentives started in Solar.

It has become the order of the day in Renewables in India to ask first about incentives rather than having a long term goal in Renewables Business!

Now that the Accelerated Depreciation is down, I am sure the Wind Turbine manufacturers will look for ways and means to lower the cost of Wind generation including the cost of the wind turbine in order to survive in the market.

In India the main driving force for Wind has been the Accelerated Depreciation. In the race to avail it before March 31 and September 30 even marginal wind sites were selected and wind turbines installed. You find the same capacity Wind turbine produces power very differently (some cases even 50% variation) from Site to site.

I have had been advocating since the beginning to link up the incentives with power generation.

There were Wind Farm cooperatives in Denmark,Germany,Netherlands,US,Australia and UK. I feel Wind Farm Co-operatives can be set up in India too so that wind becomes mass based. Hitherto the Depreciation benefits were given to Big Industries and Business houses. I suggest a WIND FUND can be created and the contributions from Individuals paying Income tax can be exempted from Tax under Section 80C

Dr.A.Jagadeesh Nellore(AP),India Wind Energy Expert E-mail: anumakonda.jagadeesh@gmail.com

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April, 21 2012

Anumakonda Jagadeesh says

Alok Misra:

In continuation of my previous comment,I have the following to add:

Another area which has great promise in India is OFFSHORE WIND FARMS.

Economics and benefits

Offshore wind power can help to reduce energy imports, reduce air pollution and greenhouse gases (by displacing fossil-fuel power generation), meet renewable electricity standards, and create jobs and local business opportunities.

COST COMPARISON OF ONSHORE AND OFFSHORE WIND FARMS

Onshore Investment of about $1.5 million per MW Levelized cost of 6-7 cents per kWh O&M – 1-3% of capital costs May be built in smaller units

Offshore Investment of $2.3 million per MW Levelized cost of about 10-11 cents per kWh Higher O&M – 40$ per kW and 0.7 cents per kWh variable Large turbines and farms required

In spite of the higher costs and the uncertainties involved in offshore wind, research in this sector has been significant, and the main reason is the potential offered by offshore wind turbines, especially in lands close to water.

At the end of 2011, there were 53 European offshore wind farms in waters off Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom, with an operating capacity of 3,813 MW,[ while 5,603 MW is under construction.

USA, China, South Korea, Taiwan, France and Japan have ambitious plans to go in for offshore wind farms on a massive scale.

Length of coastline of India including the coastlines of Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal and Lakshadweep Islands in the Arabian Sea is 7517 km. Length of Coastline of Indian mainland is 6100 km.

Thorough Wind studies have to be carried out along the coast to identify the prospective offshore wind farm sites. Based on these studies a Pilot project can be started by MNRE which will help as a Demonstration project.

Accurate wind measurements at the site are the constraint. Many a time wind data is extrapolated to the hub height at sites where the wind turbines are to be erected. In the US in California wind farm developers used to monitor (anemometers,Anemographs) in the past at the sites where wind turbines to be erected (Now Wind Masts). This gives more or less reliable wind data and hence the turbine output.Unfortunately in some cases Wind Farm developers can't wait for years to measure the wind data(In some cases to avail the tax benefits quickly) and hence correlate the nearest wind mast data. That is why there will be variation in the output. Moreover terrain also plays an important role in wind energy production. Remote sensing measurement techniques enable measurements to hub height and beyond. There are resource measurement technique using sodar and lidar which need to be adopted in India along with at least 75 meter Windmasts.

Put the WIND to WORK: To get inexhaustible, pollution-free energy which cannot be misused.

Dr.A.Jagadeesh Nellore(AP),India Wind Energy Expert E-mail: anumakonda.jagadeesh@gmail.com

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May, 15 2012

Larry Page says

There are many electric vehicles today that made the car manufacturers think of what they should do in the near future. The use of electricity to power up cars is really becoming a trend today. But where to get such electricity to charge the car batteries of the electric vehicles? This leads to the charging stations. Many of which are now available for use. This will utilize the use of EVs in the world.

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October, 18 2012

siddharth kambe says

Sitting in India in the solar manufacturing sector, I am seeing growth on the mW as well as kW scale. 2 years ago it was just hype, but we are seeing traction on every product especially in private sector.

siddharth KB Electronics www.kbelectronics.co.in Solar Chargers MPPT, Solar Pump Controllers, Solar A/C Controllers, Smart Battery Chargers, Power Converters

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