India's plan to ease crippling power shortage

[Desi Cartman]

FOR centuries Hindus have revered the sun god, Surya, as a source of health and prosperity, building lavish temples and holding festivals in his honour across a country with more than 300 days of sunshine a year. Now India is putting its faith in the sun in a more literal sense by revealing what experts describe as the world's most ambitious plan to develop solar energy over the next three or four decades. Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister, will chair a meeting today to decide whether to approve a National Solar Mission designed to curb India's carbon emissions and ease its crippling power shortages. It proposes boosting India's solar power generation capacity from almost zero to 20 gigawatts (20 billion watts) by 2020, 100GW by 2030 and 200GW by 2050, according to a draft seen by The Times. The entire world can generate about 14GW of solar power today. India's plan also proposes reducing the price of solar power to the same level as that from fossil fuels by 2020, according to the draft, dated April 29. Solar power in India currently costs about 15 rupees (40c) per kWh, compared with an average 3.5 rupees per kWh for electricity from the national grid, which is largely produced by coal-fired thermal power plants. Other targets include forcing all government buildings to have solar panels by 2012 and developing micro-financing to encourage 20 million households to install solar lighting by 2020. The plan also outlines a system - similar to Germany's - of paying households for any surplus power from solar panels fed back into the grid. To achieve these and other goals, the mission proposes that the Government invest 920 billion rupees ($23 billion) in developing, manufacturing and installing solar technology over the next 30 years. The mission is primarily designed to improve India's energy security as it has abundant supplies of coal - the dirtiest of the fossil fuels - but has to import 70 per cent of its crude oil and half its natural gas. It is also meant to ease a chronic power shortage that has left 400 million Indians without electricity, causes daily blackouts in cities, and represents one of the biggest obstacles to economic growth. India now has the capacity to produce 150GW - less than a fifth of China's - and demand outstripped supply by 9.5 per cent between 2008-09, and by 13.8 per cent during peak hours, according to the Power Ministry. Indian officials also hope that the mission will help to ease the pressure from Western governments at international talks for a new UN climate pact in December. Environmental campaigners have welcomed the plan, saying that solar energy is India's most realistic alternative power source, as it does not have the space for large wind plants. Siddharth Pathak, chief climate change campaigner for Greenpeace in India, said: "India's putting a very strong argument in front of developed countries that it has huge potential for renewable energy." However, some government officials remain sceptical about risking so much money on new technology, rather than spending it on providing all Indians with electricity from conventional sources. Link :hmmm:

[cowboysfan]

the important part of solar power is manufacturing the mirrors locally to reduce costs.i feel this is viable if the government is fully behind the project(massive subsidies in the beginning).

[DomainK]

I think the government should encourage societies/buildings/colonies to create electricity from solar power. If the flat owners contribute for the expenditure in the beginning for the installation, they will find the monthly payments for electricity will be peanuts. The installation can also be done with a loan from the government that can be paid back by the flat owners in installments over a period of time. Even then the monthly installments can be much less than what they pay to a Reliance Energy or some other company.

[kabira]

^how would one do that? is it feasible to produce power inside societies??

[DomainK]

^how would one do that? is it feasible to produce power inside societies??

Depends on how much surface area can be exposed to the sun. I am saying this because I remember reading a story sometime back where a society has been fulfilling their power requirements through solar power. The cost is peanuts compared to electricity bills.

[Ram]

Solar power is only good enough for companies to flaunt your ‘green’ credentials – the sort of thing when you come across a single panel of solar cells on a company’s terrace and they have a even bigger banner claiming how the entire building is ‘environment friendly’.. But, if we really want to satisfy the needs of our people without burning more holes in the ozone, nuclear is the way.

[graphic23]

Solar power is only good enough for companies to flaunt your ‘green’ credentials – the sort of thing when you come across a single panel of solar cells on a company’s terrace and they have a even bigger banner claiming how the entire building is ‘environment friendly’.. But, if we really want to satisfy the needs of our people without burning more holes in the ozone, nuclear is the way.

Given that India is a tropic region, and a BIG portion of the country has sunlight throughout the year, I'd think that even with the seemingly low conversion efficiency of the solar panels, we should be able to knock off a significant portion of our hydro/nuclear electricity consumption. Even if not for major cities, I think the farms should be the first place where these should be implemented - they should have their power "reservoir" - I'm not sure about other states in India but particularly in AP, the power cuts are HUGE problem to all the farmers. I'd imagine its the same in other parts of India as well. I remember reading somewhere that Modi in Gujarat had started this in farms around the state - I think thats a really good idea.

[Laaloo]

I missed at least 5 days of cricket when India toured Oz in 07/08 due to electricity. But thank god for Star Cricket :D. The highlights package which they provide is bloody awesome.