Indian Solar Market Potential
NOVONOUS has released a new report titled "Analysis of Solar Energy Industry in India & Its Future Prospects". Due to technical potential of 5,000 trillion kWh per year and minimum operating cost, Solar Power is considered the best suited energy source for India. Today the Solar power, has an installed capacity of 9.84 MW which is about less than 0.1 percent of the total installed renewable energy of India. Currently total installed renewable energy stands at 13,242.41 MW as per MNRE.
India's power sector has a total installed capacity of approximately 1,46,753 Megawatt (MW) of which 54% is coal-based, 25% hydro, 8% is renewable's and the balance is the gas and nuclear-based. Power shortages are estimated at about 11% of total energy and 15% of peak capacity requirements which is likely to increase in the coming years. The cost of production range is Rs 15 to Rs 20 per unit for the solar energy, which is very high when compared to, Rs 2 to Rs 5 per unit for other conventional sources in India.
Much of the country does not have an electrical grid, so solar power will indeed be a boon for water pumping, to begin replacing India's four to five million diesel powered water pumps, each consuming about 3.5 kilowatt of off-grid lighting. Solar energy technology consists of solar thermal technologies, which utilize sun's energy and solar photovoltaic technology, which convert solar energy directly into electricity. According to the 11th five year plan, the government of India projects a massive expansion in installed solar capacity, and aims to reduce the price of electricity generated from solar energy, to match that from fossil fuels like coal and diesel by 2030.
The Integrated Energy Policy of India envisages electricity generation installed capacity of 80,0 000 MW by 2030 and a substantial contribution would be from renewable energy.
India has been ranked 7th worldwide for solar photovoltaic (PV) cell production and 9th rank in solar thermal power generation. This capacity is growing rapidly due to the entry of various private players in manufacturing of solar energy equipment. According to NOVONOUS INSIGHTS, the Indian solar energy sector is estimated to grow at 25% year on year in next few years. At this rate, the global market is likely to exceed the annual production mark of 12 GW during the year 2012. Likewise, the Indian market demand is expected to reach 200MW by the year 2012. The implementation of the three-phase plan for solar PV capacity expansion is expected to begin this year in 2010, with the Indian Government spending approximately US$20 billion over a 30 year period.
This report provides solar sector-insights, growth drivers and inhibitors, ongoing and new projects to be commissioned, future forecasts for Solar PV modules, Cells and Solar thermal installations, key trends and profiles key players in this sector.
