EMPIRE OF THE SUN
We’re racing forward on the solar power front, building parks set to be among the biggest in the world. Can we keep up with our targets? A look at
Eight minutes and 20 seconds. That’s how long it takes for sunlight to travel to Earth. And India has never been better prepared to receive it.
As part of the world’s largest renewable-energy expansion plan, India is banking on sunshine to meet an ambitious target. In four years, it expects to have 175 gigawatts (GW) of energy coming from renewable sources — 100 GW of this to be solar power. In twelve years, the plan is for 40% of all India’s power to come from renewable energy, up from 18% today.
Meeting the 2022 deadline is expected to cost ₹125 billion (₹8.5 trillion), but if we make it, India will be the biggest solar energy generator after China and the US, a daring, expensive dream for a nation whose solar programme started much later.
It’s also a goal India can no longer put off. Electricity consumption has skyrocketed — we now use twice as much energy as we did in 2000, and eight times as much as in the 1970s. “The estimated fuel costs to power India are enormous, and it’s devastating for the environment,” says Divya Charen, a senior analyst specialising in power companies at credit-rating agency India Ratings and Research. More than half our power currently comes from burning coal and natural gas – which pollute, and will eventually run out. BRIGHT SPARKS
When China started its solar journey a decade ago, the goals were size, speed and efficiency. Unlike the US and Germany, which encouraged rooftop panels to harness sunlight piecemeal, China introduced subsidies, began manufacturing photovoltaic cells on an industrial scale, and covered swathes of land and water in solar parks.
China is now the world’s largest solar power generator. Last year alone, it added 53 GW — more than half of all new global solar capacity in that year. It’s also home to the world’s largest solar park, a 1.5 GW project in the Tengger Desert.
The numbers might look different in the coming years. Falling subsidies suggest China’s solar growth will be slower in 2018. Of the world’s 10 largest parks under construction, only 1 is in China. Five are in India, two of them (See box: Walking on
sunshine) bigger than China’s biggest. By 2022, India expects to have 38 solar parks selling power to state-owned companies to supply to end-users. “Unlike hydroelectric dams, solar parks are easy to build; there are fewer problems with geological sensitivity, losing forest cover and displacing people,” Charen says. SPACE BAR
India’s biggest parks are being built in Karnataka, Telangana, Rajasthan, Guj-
arat... sunny regions with vacant, arid land. But across the country, farms, hospitals, campuses, malls and offices are setting up their own solar power systems.
“Panels are getting less expensive, making the sun’s energy more viable to use,” says Rahul Jigjinni, director of Gruntech Projects, which sets up rooftop and ground-level solar power systems in India.
Urban homes and residential societies, however, haven’t been as enthusiastic. “Institutional projects are easier, there are few decision makers,” Jigjinni explains. “It’s harder to get 150 homeowners to agree to invest ₹60 to 80 lakh in an electrical system that takes 10 years to break even.”
Even if they were enthusiastic, space is an issue. In vertical cities such as Mumbai and Gurugram, there often isn’t enough sky-facing space to install enough panels to generate power for all residents. Also, battery packs to store solar power are expensive and need regular replacing. CLOUD CONTROL
In the solar industry, size matters, but so does technique.
Grandiose central government plans fumble at the state level. Often, power grids are unable to access, transmit or cope with intermittent supply from solar parks. “Power distribution companies have not been guided on the mix of coal and power use for grids,” Charen says.
In regions where excess solar power is
being generated, there aren’t enough ways to store it. A series of Green Energy Corridors, with high-voltage lines and renewable energy management centres, are being planned to fix this. Both are delayed.
We need five times more transmission lines in 2018-19 than we installed in the previous year, to keep the power flowing.
A major concern is India’s scattered state policies for rooftop systems that are connected to the electricity grid. “An office complex or mall may use much of its power in the day, while homes tend to use more electricity after sunset, when everyone’s home but the sun isn’t shining,” says Jigjinni. “Institutions with rooftop panels also harness solar power on holidays.”
Net-metering systems — which offset units contributed to the grid against units drawn from it — are a good way to promote rooftop solar use. Customers pay lower bills and recover their costs faster.
“But states have varied polices about it. Some limit the amount of energy you can send to the grid, some don’t want to ‘buy’ from rooftop systems at all,” Jigjinni says.
Charen believes it’s going to be hard to meet the 2022 target. “The total land required to power all of India by the sun isn’t much — an area two to three times the size of Goa,” she says. “Everyone agrees that solar energy is a good investment. But it’s not clear whether we’ll be able to raise those trillions for our growth ambitions. And there’s too much left to do.”