Foreign firms look to increase solar power presence in India

[AMCA]

AMCA, i have seen lots of companies procuring land in western rajasthan for that purpose(solar+wind).The rates of per beegha(132*132 feet) has doubled in that reason within 5 years and there are around 50 companies involved.

But till now its been limited to land procurement, but future of renewable energy seems rosy there.

See Buddy, No Body Cares to Open it as a Business like the Wind turbines, As the Investment will not be satisfied anywhere in the decade unlike that of the Wind Turbine... And The land Problems as usual In India, then Certification of an All weather Solar Panel From the MNRE is another big Headache..... So Unless otherwise we have a full fledged Govt initiative to Promote solar energy to Compliment the Wind, It Would seem Foolish for the Pvt players to Head themselves onto a Solar Investment....

 

[Water Car Engineer]

since it requires lot of space, i guess wouldn't be too successful in India.

Why dont people find a way to put them on the sea?

 

[AMCA]

Why dont people find a way to put them on the sea?

Where will you keep the Grid?? U must need a Floating grid and One needs to research on it extensively To support Offshore Solar Panels...

 

[RajeHind]

I think there is a tacit support from govt., most of the lands acquired by pvt. firms are govt. land, added with some private land. I think companies are acquiring land due to some favorable govt. policies.

it will be premature to come to any conclusion at this point of time, may be it will take decade to fructify and the point which ajtr has made seems correct, just diversify the source(exploit solar energy as well as wind).

 

[AMCA]

I think there is a tacit support from govt., most of the lands acquired by pvt. firms are govt. land, added with some private land. I think companies are acquiring land due to some favorable govt. policies.

it will be premature to come to any conclusion at this point of time, may be it will take decade to fructify and the point which ajtr has made seems correct, just diversify the source(exploit solar energy as well as wind).

As I said..... Solar Energy is Common in Nature than that of Wind.... In India You can Find Wind generating hardly 600KW to 900KW and You need to make us of that energy to the Maximum untill you have no best land to explore for wind farming.... Then comes the Solar part, You cannot Instally Solar Panels where there is a Wind flow of 700KW hours.... Solar energy is Not so difficult to Produce.... It should be the Last Refuge of renewable source of energy

 

[MYSTIC]

still it wouldn't even help to power 1/5 of India...i guess.

Roof tops of every house in the village can accommodate it.

 

[StingRoy]

Solar energy unlike conventional power can help India power its villages more efficiently. Imagine the amount of power lost otherwise in transmission through the grid is saved if you have a local power grid near a village.

India needs these small scale captive power grids powered by solar energy to electrify the villages and rural areas. Small scale projects will be cheap enough to setup near a village and should have no negative environmental impact on land acquisition as well and they can be scaled up to meet future needs much more easily. I see solar is the way to go to reach out to the remote areas of India.

 

[Lord Of Gondor]

I would want to see much more efficient turbines to replace some of our old German vintage ones(they still work!)and come up with materials that do not have much resistance @ all temperatures and are economically viable....These could reduce the amount of power lost during transmission.And these solar panels are extremely costly which makes us look for more Hyde-power.

 

[StingRoy]

I would want to see much more efficient turbines to replace some of our old German vintage ones(they still work!)and come up with materials that do not have much resistance @ all temperatures and are economically viable....These could reduce the amount of power lost during transmission.And these solar panels are extremely costly which makes us look for more Hyde-power.

Replacing the old turbines might be a good idea.
But it will be extremely expensive to replace the power transmission lines throughout the country in order to save the transmission losses. Thats why I believe that localized power generation and consumption is the quickest way to bring electricity to the rural masses.
Solar panels are definitely expensive, but they have an inherent advantage of being very close to the consumption point unlike other sources of generation even including wind.

Hydel may again be cheap and non-polluting, but any such project always has atleast 10 years of protests and legal wrangling to clear before they make any headway. This route will be slow and painful and by that time, the solar projects would have recovered the money invested

 

[Lala_Peace]

But govt bears 50% of the cost for your effort in Making your House Powered with Solar, My House is Completely solar....

Hi..good to know that you have a home completely powered by solar. Could you share, how much it costs? Like per square meter cost!!!

 

[AMCA]

Hi..good to know that you have a home completely powered by solar. Could you share, how much it costs? Like per square meter cost!!!

Let me tell you this.... We do not have gas , we are totally dependent on Wood stoves, Solar water heaters.... And We powered our house for around 2 lakhs and Govt bears 50-60% of cost.... And I too Make Solar cells, which can produce a few microamps of electricity

 

[jha]

Solar Energy needs much more investment than any other sources..

And for all who are saying that "our whole desert can be used for this purpose "..
A lot of different activities take place in our desert ( if you know what i mean )..No way Solar power plants can be erected in their neighborhood..

 

[Veeru]

Moser Baer commissions India's largest solar plant

Moser Baer Clean Energy Ltd, an arm of Moser Baer Projects Pvt Ltd (MBPPL), has commissioned the country’s largest solar plant in Tamil Nadu. The 5-Mw plant is estimated to have cost the company around Rs 70-75 crore.

The technical expertise for commissioning was provided by the EPC (engineering, procurement and commissioning) arm of Moser Baer Solar Ltd. International Finance Corporation and IDBI bank have provided debt for the project. US-based private equity fund Blackstone recently invested $300 million (Rs 1,350 crore) in Deepak Puri-promoted MBPPL to pick up a ‘significant’ minority stake.

According to industry sources, 1-Mw photovoltaic solar farm has been commissioned in Maharashtra, West Bengal and Punjab and couple of 3-Mw solar farms have been commissioned in Karnataka.

The solar farm has been commissioned using amorphous silicon Thin Film technology, best suited to the Indian climatic conditions, and is connected to the 110-kilovolt-ampere local grid. The project had been awarded by the Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency and is being implemented under the Generation Based Incentive scheme of the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy. The project awarded on the basis of a global bid is the first of its kind in the solar farm category to be commissioned in India under the first phase of the National Solar Mission, according to a company release.

Ratul Puri, director, MBPPL, said, “As per official estimates, India receives solar radiation of about 5,000 trillion kWh (kilowatt-hours) per year. This equates to 4-7 kWh/sqm/yr, more than India’s total energy consumption (848 billion kWh – as projected by the Central Electricity Authority). It is evident that India has immense potential and we need to ramp up rapidly in the right direction.”

The panels installed at the Sivaganga Project in Tamil Nadu were procured from Moser Baer Solar Ltd, and they were used as they are best suited in ramping up grid-connected solar farms in high ambient temperature region like India.

Moser Baer commissions India's largest solar plant

 

[Veeru]

Lanco targets 300 MW solar power in 2 years

Lanco Infratech, engaged in infrastructure construction, said on Monday it aims to generate 200-300 megawatts(MW) of solar thermal power over the next two years.

Last week, Lanco emerged as one of the biggest winners in an auction to build solar power projects in India, with a maximum project capacity of 100 MW.

Lanco also offers turnkey engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services to other solar power developers and is looking to build 300 to 500 MW of solar thermal and solar photovoltaic (PV) plants over the next 2-3 years, it said in a statement.

Solar thermal is a technology that concentrates the sun's rays to heat water into steam and drive a generator, while traditional PV modules directly convert sunlight into electricity, and make up the largest chunk of the solar market.

Lanco is one of several companies looking to grab a pie of India's lucrative solar market, as the country moves forward with an ambitious plan that seeks to significantly scale up production from near zero to 20 gigawatts by 2022.

Lanco, which is seeking to secure fuel for its ambitious capacity addition plans, last week agreed to buy much sought- after coal mines owned by Australia's Griffin Coal.

Lanco targets 300 MW solar power in 2 years - Reuters -

 

[Veeru]

Tata Power to develop 25 MW solar power project at Gujarat

This plant is likely to be one of the largest of its kind in the country and is targeted for commissioning by December 2011

Tata Power Company Ltd is developing a 25 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) power project at Mithapur, Gujarat under the State's Solar Power Policy 2009. A Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for the project was executed with Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited. This plant is likely to be one of the largest of its kind in the country and is targeted for commissioning by December 2011. The project is being set up through a subsidiary Company.


Spread over 100 acres of land, the solar plant will be located along the coast of Gujarat. Crystalline Silicon Photo-Voltaic Technology, which is modular, proven, and widely deployed, is the choice of technology for this project.


The Company had set up its first solar power plant of 100 kW, way back in 1996 at Walwhan in Lonavla and is currently executing a 3 MW solar photo-voltaic plant at Mulshi, one of the largest grid-connected solar projects in the State of Maharashtra.


The Company's strategy emphasizes the development of clean energy generation from renewable sources to balance the carbon emissions from fossil fuel based generation capacity while contributing towards energy security of the country.

Tata Power to develop 25 MW solar power project at Gujarat