MOTHER NATURE Mother Nature September 2017 | Page 3

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Mother Nature Aug /Sep 2017
Solar energy in India is on wings
With about 300 clear and sunny days in a year, the
calculated solar energy incidence on India's land area
is about 5000 trillion kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year (or
5 EWh/yr). The solar energy available in a year
exceeds the possible energy output of all fossil fuel
energy reserves in India. The daily average solar-
power-plant generation capacity in India is 0.20 kWh
per m2 of used land area, equivalent to 1400–1800 peak
(rated) capacity operating hours in a year with
available, commercially-proven technology.
Solar power in India is a fast growing industry. As of 30 June 2017, the country's solar grid had a cumulative
capacity of 13.11 GW. India quadrupled its solar-generation capacity from 2,650 MW on 26 May 2014 to
12,289 MW on 31 March 2017. The country added 3.01 GW of solar capacity in 2015-2016 and 5.525 GW in
2016-2017, the highest of any year, with the average current price of solar electricity dropping to 18% below
the average price of its coal-fired counterpart.
Andhra Pradesh Installed photo-
voltaic capacity has 1867 MW on 30
April 2017.
Rajasthan is one of India's
most solar-developed states
With its total photovoltaic capacity
reaching 1,784 MW by the end of March
2017. Rajasthan was second in the
country after Andhra Pradesh has in-
stalled capacity as on 31 March 2017
Tamil Nadu was the state with
the highest installed solar-
power capacity in India on 21 Sep-
tember 2016, when the 648-MW
Kamuthi Solar Power Project was dedi-
cated. With this plant, the total installed
capacity in Tamil Nadu is 1,692 MW as
on 30 April 2017.[23] This is 21 per-
cent of the installed renewable energy
in the state; the other 79 percent is wind
power.
Gujarat has been a leader in solar-power
generation in India due to its high solar-
power potential , availability of vacant land, connectiv-
ity, transmission and distribution infrastructure and utilities.The
state has commissioned Asia's largest solar park near the
village of Charanka in Patan district.[30] The park is generating
2 MW of its total planned capacity of 500 MW, and has been
cited as an innovative and environmentally-friendly project by
the Confederation of Indian Industry.
To make Gandhinagar a solar-power city, the state government
has begun a rooftop solar-power generation scheme. Under the
scheme, Gujarat plans to generate 5 MW of solar power by put-
ting solar panels on about 50 state-government buildings and
500 private buildings.
It also plans to generate solar power by putting solar panels along
the Narmada canals. As part of this scheme, the state has com-
missioned the 1 MW Canal Solar Power Project on a branch of
the Narmada Canal near the village of Chandrasan in Mehsana
district. The pilot project is expected to stop 90,000 litres (24,000
US gal; 20,000 imp gal) of water per year from evaporating from
the Narmada River.