India has a deficit of 9% when it comes to meeting the demand of electricity. This is proof for the fact that about 300 million Indians (in remote areas, tribal communities) do not have access to any form of electricity. With these, solar energy turns out to be a savior and inline with ‘go green’ initiatives which the world is turning towards. But how does India fare in this solar power race ?
Solar Power India
Here are some Quick facts on Solar Power harnessing in India
1. As well known recently, Gujarat is the leader of Solar Power generation in India and accounts to nearly 67% of total generated by India. Gujarat has commissioned Charanka solar power plant which when complete in 2014 will be the Asia’s biggest solar power plant.
2. Gandhinagar in Gujarat is soon to be the first solar city in India. This means that majority of the electricity needs of Gandhinagar is from solar energy mentioned above. Apart from this, there are about 500 other buildings (both government and private) on top of which solar facilities are made and subsidies are made.
3. Rajasthan comes next with 20% of total solar power generated in India. Much of the solar power is concentrated on the Thar desert region which forms a good land base for this.
4. The central government added in its plan to produce 20 GW of solar power by 2020. If this happens, the cost of producing electricity would be approximately about Rs 8.00 per unit (kWh) and upon large scale solar plants, the cost can come down upto Rs 3.00. It is at this level, do we fully realize the solar power effectively.
5. Bangalore has the highest number of rooftops solar power panels installed in India. It is primarily used for heating water and works out to be convenient to use. The state government also provides a small rebate for homes using such solar power on their monthly bills.
IndiaCivic Moderator comments:
All said, India has a way to go in achieving the fullest potential. Being the seventh largest country on the planet, we don’t have a scarcity of land like some of the island countries face. However, the government should be in mood to spend for the infrastructure and help small companies and homes adopt to this by providing incentives. This will pay off in the long run.
We also need to think out of the box!. What India has done until now, is just a copy of what other countries have done. We can never be sure that the success formula on one place can be aped into another, so we need to make our own rules, our own formula. What if some company comes forward with government support to take all rooftops for rent and generate solar power in the city itself, so that we can avoid losses during transmission ? Losses during transmission of electricity accounts to nearly 30% in India where the world average is about 15%.
Leaving you with a video from National Geographic on what one of the states in US has done for harnessing this energy.
