The Solar footprint in India is steadily increasing with currently 13.11 GW of power being produced
The Jawaharlal Nehru Solar Mission is an initiative by the Government of India to increase the Solar Power Utilisation in India. It aims to increase the Solar base capacity in India to 100 GW by 2020.
The yearly target-based goals given by the government are as follows :
| Year-wise Targets (in MW) | ||||||||
| Category | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | Total |
| Rooftop Solar | 200 | 4,800 | 5,000 | 6,000 | 7,000 | 8,000 | 9,000 | 40,000 |
| Ground Mounted Solar projects | 1,800 | 7,200 | 10,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 | 9,500 | 8,500 | 57,000 |
| Total | 2,000 | 12,000 | 15,000 | 16,000 | 17,000 | 17,500 | 17,500 | 97,000 |
This suggests a tremendous potential for renewable energy to replace existing conventional technologies.
This post is a part of a series of Posts that emphasise the feasibility of Solar thermal over Solar PV (Photovoltaic Installations) Find the link to the intro of this series here.
Let us look into Reasons why Solar Thermal Installations are more feasible.
The first reason is that Solar Thermal plants are Cost effective.
| Solar PV | Solar Thermal | |
|
Cost per MW |
Rs 4.5 – 6 Crore | Rs 2.5 – 3.5 Crore |
| Cost per unit | Rs 5 – 6.5 per kWh | Rs 3 – 4 per kWh |
| Tenure | 12 – 25 years PPA |
7 -10 years PPA |
Solar PV prices have been plummeting for 6 -7 years – from 21 crores five years ago to around 5 crores as of now. Solar thermal still remains at a base rate of 2.5 to 3.5 crores for every MW installed.This translates to 4.5 to 6 rupees per KWh for Solar PV in Pay-per-unit agreements given by AAA rated companies. Solar thermal is considerably cheaper – by 30 to 40 percent – rates ranging from Rs 3 – 4 per kWh. This is because Solar Thermal System capital costs are significantly lower than Solar PV systems.
As a result of the lower capital costs, the tenure periods for Solar PV and Solar Thermal are 12-25 years and 7-10 years respectively.
This results in a win- win situation for Solar in both Capital Costs and Savings
In the next post, we shall look into the space requirements when compared to the same power generated.