Harnessing Solar energy, Options for India

In the case of smaller PV plants, particularly off-grid plants where duration of generation and
demand may not match, the energy generated can be stored in batteries. However, batteries increase
the overall cost of the system, need replacement every few years, and lower the overall efficiency.
Hence, all the analyses given in this section for individual applications have taken into account the
cost and efficiency of batteries. In addition, assumptions have been made on the capital cost of the
system, hours of annual insolation and discount rate.
1. Solar PV Options for Rural Electrification in India
Almost 16% of India’s 600,000 villages are un-electrified. 1,a A village is deemed to be electrified if the
distribution infrastructure has been set up with minimum community facilities and 10% of the
households are electrified. Furthermore, last mile electrification is often a challenge. Households that
are un-electrified and use kerosene for lighting make up about 42% of the total number of rural
households. 2 Kerosene is polluting, adversely affects the health of users, and is potentially
hazardous. Even the villages and households that are electrified are often subject to blackouts and
brownouts.
Policy guidelines surrounding the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) should have
equal emphasis on off-grid and small solar applications as on utility scale. Social responsibility and
energy management must go hand in hand with resource allocation and planning. Providing clean
reliable lighting to rural households could have a positive cascading effect. Hence, any
recommendation solely based on economics may be limited in value. Health benefits, social equity,
job creation, and improved quality of lives and livelihood of beneficiaries have to be carefully
evaluated.
Solar PV applications offer good potential in this regard, both as a primary source of power in
remote regions where grid extension is difficult, and, perhaps more widely, to augment unreliable
power from the grid. Innovative financing schemes have to be conceived so as to ensure that the high
per unit cost of generating electricity from solar energy is not passed on to the end-user who is
already facing economic hardship. This section studies the following:
The policy framework under the JNNSM as well as earlier programmes analysed, and the
implications for service providers and end-users in three broad categories of solar PV
technologies: lanterns, solar home lighting systems (SHLS) and power plants for village-level
microgrids.
Models for dissemination of solar lanterns and home lighting systems from successful
programmes in other countries.
In the case of microgrids, the load required for an average village (based on providing basic
support) is evaluated. The results of a detailed techno-economical study of microgrids based on
a solar and biomass hybrid power is presented and compared to grid extension. An alternate
financial subsidy is recommended based on electricity generation that will better ensure the
sustainable operation of the microgrid when compared to the current capital subsidy.
Furthermore, while solar lanterns can be a stopgap measure till electrification, SHLS and microgrids
can provide sufficient power to meet residential and community-based requirements, and can easily
be integrated if and when the grid does reach these areas. Ideally, based on a region’s energy sources
and demand, an optimal energy portfolio must be constructed. However, in this section the extent to
which solar photovoltaic can meet the electricity needs of rural India is analysed.
a A total of 95,000 villages are un-electrified, which is 15.8% of the total number of villages.
Solar Photovoltaic Applications CSTEP | Page 60