Solar India-07 to tigger passion for solar power

Bangalore, July 13: Harnessing solar power will witness a new dimension in India with new initiative launched to push forward solar energy development through a first ever platform--Solar India 2007 to be held here on July 19 and 20.

Organised by the Pune based World Institute of Sustainable Energy (WISE) the two day conference would catalyse development of an innovative and forward looking policy package to hasten the development of solar power in the country on a much faster pace compared to the current progress.

WISE in a relese here said a high-level Core Group would be formed to pursue implementation of this policy package and explore regulatory avenues for market expansion through the State Electricity Regulatory Commissions.

Cumulative installation of solar photovoltaic in India remained stagnant at around 16 MW in 2005, whereas power from solar thermal concentrating technology was nil. 'The Solar Generation Report 2006' (EPIA/Greenpeace) predicted cumulative installations of 24,729 MW of solar photovoltaic and 1500 MW of solar thermal power by 2025 for India. This was based on a business as-usual scenario. Compared to this, China was projected to have 86,100 MW of solar photovoltaic and 1500 MW of solar thermal power by 2025 - almost four times as much photovoltaic power than India by 2025.

Stating that the present mindset need to change across the board to take the initiative on a much faster pace it said ''Cobwebs about reliability, economics and viability of this emergent technology would have to be cleared.

WISE said the development of renewable and sustainable energy was critical for ensuring sustainability of development and an energy wise secure future. But efforts in India towards developing the renewable energy sector were inadequate. Some of the major problems faced by the sector were lack of policy support and incentives, dearth of legislative and research support, shortage of qualified manpower, and lack of critical awareness to address the necessity of a rapid transition to a sustainable energy-based economy.

WISE had been formed in 2004 to overcome these vital shortcomings in the sector and to play a critical role in shaping an energy secure future, it added.

WISE established its Centre for Solar Energy in December 2006 to document global best practices in solar energy policy, adopt them to the Indian environment, advocate their implementation in the country, to develop a long-term Solar roadmap for the country and follow up its execution besides dealing in other related issues.

Solar energy was the fastest growing source of energy in the world with an average growth of 40 per cent. In 2005, the cumulative installed capacity of solar photovoltaic crossed 5000 MW. This was projected to increase to 433,000 MW by 2025 with an investment of 102 billion US dollars. Similarly, solar thermal power installations were expected to catapulate from the current global capacity of 355 MW to 36,850 MW in 2025, with investment volumes of USD 16.4 billion US dollars per year.

The development of solar energy in the country had been tardy, WISE said adding the area where discenible achievement had been made was only solar water heating.

Over 24 presentations through eight extended sessions would be made by reputed national and international experts from respective fields, the release added.

UNI