About Solar Power In India 

Solar   power  plants  are  a  necessity  at  places  in  India like remote  hilly  areas   and  islands  for  providing   electricity   to improve   the   standard   of   living   of   the   people. Financial constraints    in   the   public    sector   and   non - remunerative characteristics  of  economics  act  as  disincentives to private entrepreneurs  , which   are   impediments    to    the    national programme of solar  electrification  of  villages.  Despite these constraints, the  Ministry  of Non-conventional Energy Sources, Government of India is attempting to electrify as many  villages as   possible   with  the   solar   photovoltaic   system.Constant endeavour     towards     improvement     in     technology    and competitiveness   among  players in  the fields  of manufacture, supply,and installation are leading to reduction in costs,but not at the sharp rate  that  is  competitive with  conventional power. However, it appears  that  direct  conversion  of solar power to electricity is cheaper in India than in Germany.

Electrification of remote villages

Besides  food , shelter , clothing , and    employment , the   next priority in villages is affordable energy for  cooking and lighting. The   first  important  task , a   gigantic  task , will  be to build  a network for cooking  with   LPG (liquified  petroleum gas) to do away with the drudgery and  unhealthy practice of cooking  with firewood/agricultural  residue by millions of families in India.The second important one  will   be  to provide electricity to improve the living conditions to act as an essential catalyst in alleviating poverty. However, there is  a serious  problem of extending  the power line  to  the  unelectrified  80 000  villages  in the country, which are  located  far  away  from the grid. Extending  a  line to these villages will  be  very  expensive, and  villagers will  find it difficult  to  bear    the  tariff  burden.  Moreover, 20 000 villages have been identified as unapproachable from the grid  line and will  have  to  depend  on   alternative  sources of power. These alternative  sources  could  be  solar  or  wind energy, biomass, biogas, or  micro-hydel  energy, which  may be locally available to  be  harnessed  in  a  useful  manner. Incidentally, only   these sources   have    been   found    to    be     technologically     and commercially  viable until now , especially   in  villages  that  are situated beyond a certain distance from the grid line.

Application of solar power

A solar power plant is a good option for electrification in areas that are located away from the grid line or where other sources are   neither  available  nor  can  be  harnessed   in   a   techno economically  viable  manner.  A   solar power plant of the size 10–100 kW (kilowatt) , depending   on   the   load   demand, is preferable particularly   with  a  liberal subsidy and low-interest soft loan  from  financial  institutions. The  idea  is  to  raise the quality of life of the people subjected to poverty in these areas. This coupled  with   a   low-gestation period , simple operation and maintenance  are  resulting   in   installation of solar power plants in remote areas of many states that need electrification. In contrast, extremely high cost of solar power plant installation is  an obstacle  to  grid-connected applications in urban areas. Instead  of   a  centralized  power   generation and distribution, individual DLS (domestic lightingsystems)  are  also  common in   many   rural    unelectrified   houses. The   initial   thrust   for centralized plants with a distribution  network to supply off-grid and  quality   power ,  i.e.  power   at    the   right    voltage  and frequency, came from  a demonstration unit in  Sagar Island in West  Bengal. The plants   in   Sagar   Island    started  with the unique feature of training people  to operate  and maintain  the plants, besides generating  an  awareness  through interaction with prospective consumers who at a later stage could take up the management on a co-operative basis. Following the same pattern, biomass-based power plants have also been set up in that area. Thus participatory involvement  of  the local people has ensured sustainability of the programme. The SPV (solar photovoltaic)  mode   of   electrification   started   in  1998   after   a   system   on   a   trial basis was commissioned in Kamalpur village in 1996. The four important components  in  a  solar power system are solar modules, battery, inverter, and charge controller, besides  other  BOS (balance of system)/components.  These four components incur more than two-thirds of the total cost.