Solar Powered Chinese boat launched in river Krishna, Andhra Pradesh by Champions Yacht Club

An eco-friendly solar-powered boat was launched on the pristine waters of River Krishna here on Friday.

We wanted to include an eco-friendly boat in our fleet of water sports operating in Krishna since Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu is keen on bringing into use green energy,” said Subhakar Rao Surapaneni, CEO and Managing Director of Champions Yacht Club, a Goa-based yachting and boating service company which is launching the new facility.

The solar boat, facilitating clean and efficient cruise, has been imported from China.

Solar-powered boats get their energy from the sun. Using electric motors and storage batteries charged by solar panels fitted to the roof, these boats can significantly reduce or eliminate use of fossil fuels.

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70% subsidy on solar photovoltaic in Himachal Pradesh.

Himachal Pradesh government today said 70 per cent subsidy is available for Solar Photovoltaic lights (SPV) as per the guidelines of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) with a view to promoting solar energy projects in the state.

Presiding over a meeting of governing body of HIMURJA, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said people opting for grid- connected rooftop solar panels/power plant were being given 70 per cent subsidy and the surplus power would be sold to HPSEBL at Rs 5 per unit.

Two solar cities are being developed in the state in Shimla and Hamirpur and the final master plan has been approved by MNRE. Under the project, 15 kWp power plant had been commissioned at Panchayat Bhawan and 20 kWp at Old Bus stand in Shimla.

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China supports India’s solar incentives at WTO.

India’s stand on providing incentives and subsidies to domestic manufacturers of solar cells and panels, which has been challenged by the US at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), has received support from China.

Xie Zhenhua, Special Representative for Climate Change of China, who was in India for the 22{+n}{+d} BASIC (Brazil, South Africa, India and China) Ministerial Meeting, said his country supports India’s decision to provide subsidies or incentives to solar goods manufacturers since most countries were providing incentives in the renewable energy space.

News originally posted on: The Hindu Business Line

3 Photovoltaic Installation Terms To Be Familiar With

Pro to voltaic (PV) installation

In order to understand a photovoltaic (PV) installation and its components we must be familiar with the following terms:

1. Standard Test Conditions (STC)
2. PV modules
3. PV string and Array

1. Standard Test Conditions (STC)

The output of a PV module is not stable it depends on irradiation, temperature etc., thus, we need fixed conditions in order to compare them, size and design our installation. These conditions are called as standard test conditions (STC):

a) Incident irradiance on the PV module surface: 1000W/m²

output power of the module is the point of the IV curve which shapes the greatest area. The irradiance influences mostly the current.

b) Cell temperature: 25°C

output power of the modules is the point of the IV curve which shapes the greatest area. As we notice the output voltage of a PV module depends mostly on its temperature.

c) Air Mass: 1.5

The Air Mass is the path length which light takes through the atmosphere normalized to the shortest possible path length (that is, when the sun is directly overhead AM=1).

2. PV Modules

All the datasheets include their electrical characteristics data in STC. For instance:

El. characteristics        Unit           Value
Nominal output          (Pmpp)W    280
Voltage at Pmax         (Vmpp)V    36.5
Current at Pmax         (Impp)A       7.7
Open circuit voltage   (Voc)V       44.5

3. String and Array PV Modules...............

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India’s Solar Power Targets Too High For Domestic Module Manufacturers, Claims Report

The Indian government is set to transform the solar power sector as it plans to substantially increase the capacity addition targets. Under the National Solar Mission, India had initially planned to achieve an installed solar power capacity of 22 GW by 2022. The new government, however, has given strong indications to increase this target.

The government has announced plans for several ultra mega solar power projects with capacity of up to 4,000 MW. Work on some of these projects has already started. Additionally, the government will allocate several projects through competitive auctions which could be worth tens of gigawatts over the next few years.

According to data released by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy earlier this year, only 660 MW of the installed 2.3 GW module production capacity is operational in India. Just about half of the companies with manufacturing facilities are actually producing modules.

When the National Solar Mission was launched, prospective project developers were required to procure crystalline modules from domestic manufacturers and had the option to buy thin-film modules from other countries. A majority of the solar PV project developers opted for imported modules which came bundled with very cheap debt financing from development banks like the US Ex-Im Bank. US-based First Solar was actually one of the leading suppliers of modules during the first phase of the solar mission and the projects commissioned under the Gujarat solar power policy.

The government tried to correct this bias by introducing an obligation for prospective project developers to use domestically manufactured equipment. Of the 750 MW capacity auctioned during the first tranche of the second phase of the solar mission, 50% capacity was reserved to be commissioned using domestic content. Developers complied and have started placing orders with Indian module makers.

Future auctions may not include an obligation for prospective developers to use domestic content, as India looking to avoid international trade confrontation especially after the United States dragged the Indian government to the WTO over what the former calls discriminatory practices.

Indian solar module manufacturers have been waiting for years for any kind of boom in sales from the Indian project developers. Several manufacturers are under significant financial strain and have either reduced production facilities or have shifted focus to international markets.

Domestic manufacturers hope to cash in on the possible spike in demand from government-controlled companies. The Indian government has asked public sector companies and the Indian Army to set up large-scale power projects. As per government sources, these entities can give preference to and use domestic content and they would still be in compliance with the WTO regulations.

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Banks Push For Fixed Feed-in Tariffs For Indian Solar Power Projects

Lenders are calling for regulatory reforms in the Indian solar power sector, hoping that financial sense may soon prevail among the project developers who have been pushing tariffs to unsustainable levels in the competitive auctions.

The Indian government must consider switching to a fixed feed-in tariff regime for the solar power sector as is in practice for all other renewable energy sectors, officials of India’s Yes Bank have told Bloomberg. Current tariffs derived through reverse auctions have been pushed to levels where projects would lose viability, the officials added.

The fears about excessive competition in the solar power sector have been voiced ever since the landmark national solar mission was launched through competitive bidding. Since then, the fears have only grown as several states have implemented similar reverse auctions.

While the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) issues tariff regulations for all renewable energy technologies including solar photovoltaic and solar thermal power every year, these regulations are not binding upon the state governments, which can choose their own method of project allocations.

Such has been the competition in the solar power auctions that project developers have offered discounts of more than 50% over the base tariff on offer. The recent auctions have seen developers offering to sell solar power at prices similar to the price of coal-based power.

Such cut-throat competition has forced some developers to even forfeit the projects they had secured in auctions as it made no financial sense to pursue them further. Lenders, especially Indian financial institutions, thus see such projects as investment risks.

The CERC has reduced solar PV tariffs by about 15-20% every year over the last five years. There are indications that this reduction would not be as steep over the next few years. In fact, tariffs of solar thermal power projects have actually started to increase marginally over the last couple of years.

Interestingly, Gujarat, the state with the largest installed capacity in the country, has never conducted an auction to allocate solar power projects. Every single large-scale solar power project operational in Gujarat today was allocated to companies with a feed-in tariff for 25 years.

A new solar PV report from the IEA finds that 70% of solar PV power installed around the world in 2013 benefited from a feed-in tariff (+ 4% from a feed-in tariff plus tender), and 66% of all solar PV power capacity installed in the world at the end of 2013 benefited from a feed-in tariff (+ 2% from a feed-in tariff plus tender).

Action in India: Government Announces 15-GW Solar Power Purchase Program

Solar energy action in India just got more exciting. The federal government of India announced the largest of its National Solar Mission (NSM) programmes to date — 15,000 MW over the next five years.

In this phase of the NSM, part 1 of tranche 1 will consist of 1,000 MW. The government will buy power from a maximum of 20 developers, and each project size is limited to 50 MW. Each developer can bid for up to five projects with a total of 250 MW.

The latest initiative has the following key takeaways:

1. Economies of scale will bring down the cost of solar power in India
2. Smaller players faced with financial challenges will be phased out
3. Large international developers and investors will enter India’s solar power sector

The first tranche will consist of projects available at a single solar power park. They will be developed by a joint venture of different federal and state governments in the Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh state. However, the draft guidelines issued by the Ministry of New And Renewable Energy (MNRE) are a little confusing.........

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