India to Spend $900 Million on Solar

Indranil Mukherjee/Agence France-PresseA worker arranges the photovoltaic cell components of a solar module panel at a factory near Bangalore.



Ending months of speculation about exactly what it was planning to do to boost the use of renewable sources of energy, India said this week that it will spend about $900 million on solar energy.

The Indian cabinet approved a plan on Thursday that sets out to increase energy production from solar technology to 20 gigawatts by 2022, up from six megawatts today. The government will spend about 43 billion rupees ($922 million) in the first of three phases of the program. The total cost for all three phases could approach $20 billion.

The government had signaled its intention to invest more heavily in solar technology earlier this year, but had been reluctant to share details. Its latest announcement comes less than three weeks before world leaders are set to meet at Copenhagen to discuss climate change.

Though Indian policy makers have softened their tone on the meeting, they are adamant that they will not agree to any mandated reductions in emissions and have said any targets should be calculated on a per capita basis, something that the United States and other Western powers have resisted.


While India’s stated target for solar power appears ambitious — the United States had nine gigawatts of solar energy capacity at the end of last year — there is significant skepticism about whether the country can meet that target.

India has been very slow to add conventional electricity generating capacity. Government officials estimate that they will fall 20 percent short of their target for new power capacity for the five years that end in 2012. Many Indians have only intermittent power and most industrial users build their own captive power plants to ensure that they have a continuous supply of electricity.

Another big challenge will be reducing the cost of solar power to make it relatively competitive with coal, which is India’s main fuel for power plants. In India, power produced by solar cells costs about 2 and a half times as much as power from coal. The Indian government will likely have to subsidize makers of solar equipment for some time if it wants to achieve its target. The country already subsidies fuels like diesel, kerosene and petroleum for drivers and household use.

Indian to launch 20000 MW solar power pla

According to minister for new and renewable energy, India will soon launch an ambitious plan to boost its solar power generation from 3 MW to 20,000 MW by 2022.

Mr Farooq Abdullah told reporters that “The amount which we are going to talk about is huge. I can only say that much.”

Mr Abdullah said that the policy framework, known in official circles as "The National Solar Mission” will address the high cost of manufacturing solar panels as well as the high price of solar power.

He said that "Our job is to bring the costs down. Whether we are going to give concession on import duties, whether we are going to give a sizeable subsidy to purchase solar power, all will be outlined in the mission.”

A rough rule of thumb is that one megawatt of coal generating capacity costs about USD 1 million to build, while solar capacity costs roughly double that.

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Haryana promoting use of solar water heating systems

CHANDIGARH: In a bid to save energy, the Haryana Renewable Energy Development Agency (Hareda) has so far installed as many as 1,412 solar water heating systems in the State resulting in a saving on 18.13 million kilowatt of electricity annually.

"Solar water heating technology has emerged as a cost effective and environment friendly option for water heating applications all over the world," State's power and renewable energy minister, Mahendra Partap Singh said.

He said that installation of 1,000 solar water heating systems of 100 litre capacity each could save one megawatt of power and at the same time mitigate the problems posed by global warming.

"A 100 litre solar water heating system could avoid emission of 1.5 tonnes carbon dioxide annually," he claimed.

Singh pointed out that given the utility of solar water heating systems, the state government had made the use of this system mandatory in industries, where hot water is required for processing including hospitals and nursing homes, hotels, jail barracks, canteens, housing complexes set up by the Group Housing Societies or Housing Boards.

To promote the installation of solar water heating systems in the state, a number of incentives were being given by the State Government that included rebate in the electricity bills.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/pollution/Haryana-promoting-use-of-solar-water-heating-systems-/articleshow/5235939.cms

Samsung launches solar-powered phone

NOIDA: Leading mobile handset manufacturer Samsung launched a low-cost solar-powered mobile phone, and said it was planning to introduce about 20 more models by year-end.

The new handset, launched under its low-cost line of products -- "Guru" -- at a price of Rs 2,799, has a solar panel on the back, which can be used to charge the battery anywhere the sun is shining.

"We have developed this phone keeping in minds the needs of the consumers, especially for people in areas where the electric supply is unstable," said J S Shin, president and chief executive of Samsung, Southwest Asia.

The phone, christened the "Guru E1107", can provide around 5-10 minutes of talk-time with one-hour of solar charging when the handset is turned off and sunlight has adequate intensity.

"Solar charging can give you enough time to make few important calls when there is no electricity or you are not close to a plug point," said Sunil Dutt, country head of Samsung India. The battery will attain full power with about 40 hours of solar charging.

"But that is really not the intention behind the launch of this phone. It is to enable customers to make a call when there is no electricity," said Dutt.

The handset, the 11th model in the Guru series, will be in shops by month-end. The first few batches of Guru E1107 will be imported from South Korea. Samsung has already launched about 20 models this year and plans to take this number to about 40 across categories.

Asked whether the company would consider introducing solar charging features in high-end phones, Dutt said, "We would definitely consider doing so."

Samsung, which has invested about $44 million in developing its mobile manufacturing facility in Noida, also has ambitious plans for the huge Indian mobile market.

"Our market share is in the early double digits currently. We plan to increase it by about 5-6 per cent this year," said a company official.

The company is also planning to introduce in India its solar-powered touchscreen mobile handset, Blue Earth - unveiled at a technology conference in Barcelona, Spain early this year.

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Tax sops mooted for solar water heaters in homes

The ministry of new and renewable energy has mooted a proposal to provide income tax benefits to households that install solar water heaters in a bid to promote the use of alternative energy sources and conserve traditional energy sources.

"The proposal is to provide tax benefits to the extent of the cost of installing one such water heater per household," V Subramaniam, secretary, ministry of new and renewable energy, said Tuesday

The proposal is under the consideration of the finance ministry, he said, declining to give further details.

Currently, the ministry of new and renewable energy provides incentives such as low-cost loans at the rate of 2% to domestic users, at 3% to institutions, and at 5% to community users. It also provides Rs 100 per square metre of the area covered by such heaters as incentives.

The ministry is upbeat about energy savings accruing to the state as a result of increased use of solar water heaters.

"One million solar water heaters installed in a city like Bangalore can save up to 1,000 megawatt of energy consumption," said Subramaniam.

India has a capacity to generate about 1,41,000 megawatt of electricity, and has a target to add 78,577 megawatt of generation capacity in the 11th Five Year plan ending March 2012.

The finance ministry, which is under a lot of pressure due to the widening fiscal deficit as a result of several duty cuts, may also support the ministry of new and renewable energy in promoting the use of alternative energy sources, say experts.

"The outgo on the basis of income tax exemption for using solar water heaters will not be huge, when compared to losses from other revenue streams like reduced duties on petroleum products, which may cost the exchequer about Rs 22,000 crore," said Sujan Hajra, economist at Anand Rathi Financial Services Ltd.

"In other countries as well, benefits are given for using alternative energy sources," Hajra added.