India to improve solar energy convertibility

Bangalore, Jan 6: India has joined the core group of countries to develop the technology and share expertise for improving the Solar Energy Convertibility efficiency, Union New Renewable Energy Secretary V Subramanian said.

Speaking to newspersons here, Mr Subramanian said the rate of solar energy convertibility into power now stood at 13 per cent. The core group of countries, comprising the United States, South Korea, Japan, China and India, have come together to work on improving the energy convertibility efficiency and sharing its dividends. ''An improvement of two per cent of energy convertibility into power will be a major achievement,'' he opined.

Mr Subramanian said through unconventional energy sources, including wind, co-generation, mini-hydel and bio-mass, over 9,000 MW of power was being generated and another 1,000 MW of power was targetted to be added by March this year. ''The growth in this sector is about 10 per cent annually.'' He said Tamil Nadu stood first in terms of power generation through wind mills, followed by Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.

UNI