Generation of solar energy has tremendous scope in India. The geographical location of the country stands to its benefit for generating solar energy. The reason being India is a tropical country and it receives solar radiation almost throughout the year, which amounts to 3,000 hours of sunshine. This is equal to more than 5,000 trillion kWh. Almost, all parts of India receive 4-7 kWh of solar radiation per sq metres. This is equivalent to 2,300–3,200 sunshine hours per year. States like Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, and West Bengal have great potential for tapping solar energy due to their location. Since majority of the population live in rural areas, there is much scope for solar energy being promoted in these areas. Use of solar energy can reduce the use of firewood and dung cakes by rural household. Many large projects have been proposed in India, some of them are: i).Thar Desert of India has best solar power projects, estimated to generate 700 to 2,100 GW, ii). The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) launched by the Centre is targeting 20,000 MW of solar energy power by 2022, iii).Gujarat’s pioneering solar power policy aims at 1,000 MW of solar energy generation, and Rs. 130 billion solar power plan was unveiled in July 2009, which projected to produce 20 GW of solar power by 2020. Apart from above, about 66 MW is installed for various applications in the rural area, amounting to be used in solar lanterns, street lighting systems and solar water pumps, etc. Thus, India has massive plan for Solar Energy generation that may not only fulfill the deficit of power generation but also contribute largely in Green Energy Production to help to reduce the Climatic Changes globally.
Overcoming local constraints when developing renewable energy systems for the electrification of remote areas in Africa
