India has once again attracted the world’s attention by grabbing the top third position in REN21’s renewables 2022 global status report, for adding an exceptional solar photovoltaics (PV) capacity and solar energy installation (60.4 GW) that is top fourth in the world by replacing Germany at 59.2 GW.
It was just in 2021 that the country could add around 15.4 gigawatts (GW) of renewable power capacity. With concerted efforts taking shape, the Govt. of India announced ₹19,500 crore to be allocated in order to boost the domestic manufacturing of solar modules under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme.
Meanwhile, Government of India had been keen to provide this aspiring industry a fair and equitable market by imposing a Basic Customs Duty (BCD) of 25 percent on solar cells and 40 percent on solar modules coming in the country.
India has carefully and steadily bagged 5th global position in the world for solar power deployment with current installed capacity of 54GW and expected to emerge as 3rd by 2030. It is to note that this capacity has grown by 20 times from a meagre 2.6 GW back in 2014.
Solar energy is destined to play a bigger role in the fulfilment of India’s dream to reach $5 trillion economy target by the FY 2024-25. As per researchers and industry experts, the private investment opportunities in clean energy sector in India account to $700 billion. Hence, a source of employment with increased efficiency and lesser capital being diverted in imports of fossil fuels.
For a consistent and non-disruptive growth, India needs a way for sustainable and regenerative economic development.
What more?
A promising flight in the direction has been boosted with the World Bank announcing another $165 million as an additional financing to strengthen India’s target for rooftop solar that is lagging behind before it becomes affordable and truly accessible to the Indian households.
As of Dec 2021, India only had 11GWs of installed rooftop solar capacity, expected to add a little around 4GWs by Dec 2022, which is falling severely short of its intended goal i.e., 40GW.
Lack of consistent policy for residentials or MSMEs, consumer awareness, ambiguity on allied facilities like banking of electricity, net metering provisions etc. are the probable reasons for the same.
Therefore, the World Bank is looking to directly finance at least 450 MW of the capacity for rooftop solar in the residential sector and reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 13.9 million tons.
It has so far invested $648 million for the Grid-Connected Rooftop Solar Program since 2017.
Developed Nations and their new-found attraction:
But a different run towards the Renewables has been witnessed in better developed nations like China owns the capacity of 305.9 GW and stands as the winner to be followed by the US at 121.4 GW and Japan having 78 GW as the second and third respectively.
China even has plans to setup a solar power plant in space by 2028.
By 2035, United Kingdom has similar plans of solar power generation 36,000 km above Earth in space while the United States Naval Research Laboratory has successfully worked on solar plant in space using a Boeing X-37 B space plane, as per the Forbes report.
All this happens when the overall share of renewables across the globe has stagnated for a while, growing just marginally to 11.7 percent in 2019.
The world needs help in curbing emissions to limit global warming and increasing temperatures in addition to a swift need for transition from conventional fuels like oil, coal etc. These are finite and bound to finish one day, Moreover, with increasing conflicts and disturbed supply chains, getting hold of this crucial resource will become difficult.
Is there something else that a solar plant could do?
Would you believe us if we told you that a solar plant can dodge missiles? Well, they have been able to withstand an attack.
This came to fore because of the ongoing Ukraine-Russia conflict as Russia attacked a 3.9 MW Merefa solar plant using missiles, damaging nearly 416 solar panels along with four inverters.
The attack was strong enough to produce holes (6 mtrs deep and 11 mtrs wide) in the swampy area of the plant and the images looked horrific.
But as per certain findings, it is a difficult task to bring down a solar plant: removing the damaged panels and reconnecting most of that remains makes the plant capable of producing proportionate amount of energy.
The manager of the plant explains: “Staff was able to disconnect the damaged strings and the 1.8 MW of power is now providing clean, green electricity to the grid”.
As a boon, solar plant was able to be in workable mode even when its dirtier counterparts like thermal power plants would have suffered a huge operational setback.
“If this had been a coal or natural gas plant, things like coolant loops, fuel supply lines, and other critical components would probably mean that even in a multi-turbine plant, little to no electricity would be able to come from the plant for weeks or months”, explains the Clean Technica.
Events like heavy rain have been known to inflict bigger damages.
This security from the damages from war or natural mishaps is an insurance for national energy security, another reason to move to renewables fast in an era of climate change and uncertain weather patterns.