Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced ‘Pradhan Mantri Suryodaya Yojana’ under which one crore households will get rooftop solar power systems. 

He chaired a meeting with senior officials of the ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE). 

The PM said the scheme will not only help to reduce the electricity bill, but will also make India self-reliant in the energy sector.

India’s solar power sector

• India is endowed with vast solar energy potential. About 5,000 trillion kWh per year energy is incident over India’s land area with most parts receiving 4-7 kWh per sq. m per day. Solar photovoltaics (PV) power can effectively be harnessed providing huge scalability in India. 

• The National Institute of Solar Energy has assessed the country’s solar potential of about 748 GW, assuming 3 per cent of the waste land area to be covered by solar PV modules.

• Solar also provides the ability to generate power on a distributed basis and enables rapid capacity addition with short lead times. Off-grid decentralised and low-temperature applications will be advantageous from a rural electrification perspective and meeting other energy needs for power and heating and cooling in both rural and urban areas. 

• There has been a visible impact of solar energy in the Indian energy scenario during the last few years. Solar energy based decentralised and distributed applications have benefited millions of people in Indian villages by meeting their cooking, lighting and other energy needs in an environment-friendly manner. 

• The social and economic benefits include reduction in drudgery among rural women and girls engaged in the collection of fuel wood from long distances and cooking in smoky kitchens, minimisation of the risks of contracting lung and eye ailments, employment generation at village level, and ultimately, the improvement in the standard of living and creation of opportunity for economic activities at village level. 

• Further, the solar energy sector in India has emerged as a significant player in the grid connected power generation capacity over the years. It supports the government agenda of sustainable growth, while emerging as an integral part of the solution to meet the nation’s energy needs and an essential player for energy security.

• Solar energy has taken a central place in India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change with the National Solar Mission as one of the key Missions. 

• The National Solar Mission (NSM), launched on January 11, 2010, with the objective of establishing India as a global leader in solar energy, by creating the policy conditions for solar technology diffusion across the country as quickly as possible.

• It will also constitute a major contribution by India to the global effort to meet the challenges of climate change. The Mission’s objective is to establish India as a global leader in solar energy by creating the policy conditions for solar technology diffusion across the country as quickly as possible. 

Govt initiatives to boost solar power capacity

• So far, a total of 72.02 GW solar power capacity projects have been installed in the country.

• The government is implementing various schemes to provide benefits of solar energy to the citizens/farmers of the country. 

These schemes are:

i) Solar Park Scheme for setting up of at least 50 Solar Parks targeting 40,000 MW of solar power projects.

ii) Scheme for setting up 12,000 MW of Grid-Connected Solar PV Power Projects by the government producers with Viability Gap Funding (VGF).

iii) Installation of Grid-Connected Solar Rooftop Power Plants.

iv) Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM).

v) Production-linked incentive scheme for ‘National Programme on High Efficiency Solar PV Modules’.

vi) Green Energy Corridor Scheme for Intra-State Transmission System.

• Solar power projects are mostly installed with private sector investment. The private developers are selected through tariff based transparent competitive bidding process and they are free to establish projects anywhere in the country. 

• Higher financial support is provided for northeastern states for solar power projects under ‘Rooftop Solar Programme’ and PM-KUSUM schemes.

• As many as 50 Solar Parks with an aggregate capacity of 37,490 MW have been sanctioned in 12 states in the country. 

• An aggregate capacity of 10,237 MW of solar projects have been commissioned in 18 Solar Parks.

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