Renewable Energy Scheme

ent
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy Announcem

Solar water heating programme

Objective Capital subsidy to institutions and commercial
To promote the widespread use of solar water heaters establishments
through a combination of financial and promotional in- Capital subsidy equivalent to upfront interest subsidy @
centives, and other support measures. Rs 1100 per square metre of collector area to registered
institutions and @ Rs 825 per square metre to commer-
Scheme provisions
cial establishments is available through SNAs who do
Interest subsidy to the users of solar water heaters, incen- not avail soft loans
tive to motivators, support for organizing seminars/ sympo-
sia/ workshops/ business meets/ exhibitions, training Central financial assistance for other activities
programmes, publicity and awareness campaign, technol- Seminars/business
ogy up-gradation, and studies/surveys. Support also to meets/workshops/
municipalities/municipal corporations that adopt and notify exhibitions Up to Rs 1 lakh per event
the modifications to their building by-laws for making the Training Up to Rs 2 lakh per programme
installation of solar-assisted water heating systems manda- programmes extending up to one week
tory in certain categories of buildings. Support to Rs 5 lakh to municipalities and Rs 10
municipalities/ lakh to municipal corporations who
municipal adopt and notify the modification in
Salient features of interest subsidy scheme corporations their building by-laws
Item/activity Incentive/support Publicity and Up to Rs 10 lakh to SNAs and on 50%
Soft loans to @ 2% to domestic, @ 3% to institutional, awareness cost-sharing basis to manufacturer’s
users and @ 5% to industrial and commercial campaign associations for campaigns planned for
users the full year
Loan repayment Maximum 5 years Technology Soft loans to manufacturers at a
period up-gradation and reduced interest rate of 5% through
Eligible FIs for All public/private sector banks, including exposure IREDA
providing soft RBI approved non-banking financial Visits to abroad by Partial financial assistance on case-
loans companies, scheduled cooperative banks, industry delegations by-case basis
and other financial institutions
Studies, surveys, Up to Rs 5 lakh per project on case-
Payment of On upfront basis for the entire loan and so on by-case basis.
interest subsidy re-payment period after the systems are
to FIs installed
Incentive to Rs 100 per square metre of collector Banks/FIs implementing the interest subsidy scheme
motivators area installed through banks/FIs for (as on 30 November 2007)
bringing business. The motivators could be
unemployed youth, Akshay Urja Shops and 11 public/private banks, 10 scheduled cooperative
state nodal agencies. banks and 5 non-banking financing companies and 2
Support to state Rs 50 per square metre of collector private banks are presently participating in the scheme.
nodal agencies for area visited in their states Many others are likely to join.
monitoring and
data management Supportive measures being taken
Release of interest Through IREDA (Indian Renewable Energy Amendment in building by-laws by municipal corpora-
subsidy and other Development Agency) on re-imbursement
incentives basis
tions, rebate in electricity tariff by SEBs/utilities and in
property tax by MCs, extensive publicity awareness cam-
Service charges to @ 2% of interest subsidy disbursed to
IREDA FIs/their direct users and @1% of loan paign in potential cities, inclusion of system cost in
disbursed to their intermediaries housing loans by FIs, construction of building/housing
Service charges to @ Rs 200 on each loan disbursed to the complexes integrated with solar water heating systems.
FIs/ intermediaries users
of IREDA Manufacturers’ network 58 BIS-approved manufacturers for
Support to IREDA @ Rs 100 per loan disbursed by FIs/ systems based on flat-plate collector and 35 MNRE approved
for market IREDA and its intermediaries suppliers for systems based on evacuated tube collectors.
development, data Cumulative achievements 2.1 million square metre of
management and
collector area
feedback analysis

For further information please contact

Shri Ajit K Gupta, Adviser, UICA Group, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Block 14, CGO Complex,
Lodhi Road, New Delhi – 110 003 • Tel./ Fax: 011 2436 1152 • E-mail: advakg@nic.in
 FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK
Volume 1 P Issue 3
November–December 2007
A newsletter of the Dear Reader,
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy,
Government of India The sun is the ultimate source of energy on the earth. The earth is
blessed with enormous amount of solar energy that it receives every
Chief Patron
morning and India, being a tropical country, is blessed with plenty of
Vilas Muttemwar sunshine throughout the year. Civilizations have constantly strived to
Minister for New and Renewable Energy, exploit various forms of energy. For several centuries, man has been
New Delhi
utilizing sun’s energy only. The need and quest for utilizing sun’s en-
Patron ergy by man also prompted him to find user-friendly ways and means.
V Subramanian
As a result solar energy, today, is being harnessed through two major
Secretary, MNRE, New Delhi
routes, that is, solar thermal and solar photovoltaic.
Editor
The solar thermal route provides wide applications including wa-
Arun K Tripathi
MNRE, New Delhi ter heating, air heating, cooking, drying of agricultural and food prod-
Editorial Board ucts, distillation of water, water purification, detoxification of wastes,
N P Singh, Chairman cooling and refrigeration, process heat for industry, and electricity
K P Sukumaran
generation. The designing of energy-efficient buildings based on so-
Bibek Bandopadhyay
Praveen Saxena lar passive architecture concept is also an upcoming field. Many of
B Bhargava these systems and devices have been developed in India and are be-
D K Khare
Parveen Dhamija ing used commercially. The MNRE is also promoting the applications
B S Negi of solar thermal energy through various incentives. Taking the cogni-
P C Pant zance of solar thermal energy in our daily life, the present issue of
D Majumdar
B V Rao Akshay Urja has the solar thermal energy as its focus.
Production team The ministry has completed its 25 years of service to the develop-
Madhu Singh Sirohi, Ambika Shankar, R Ajith Kumar, ment and popularization of renewable energy in the country.
Archana Singh, and T Radhakrishnan, TERI, New Delhi; Recently, to commemorate its silver jubilee year, a set of four stamps,
N Ghatak, MNRE, New Delhi
a compendium titled ‘25 years of renewable energy in India’ and a new
Editorial office
Arun K Tripathi, Editor website of the ministry – www.mnre.gov.in – were released by Her
Akshay Urja Excellency President of India Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil on
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy 22 November 2007 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. This indicates the
Block No. 14, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road
New Delhi – 110 003 importance being given to renewable energy by the Government of
Tel. +91 11 2436 3035, 2436 0707 India. A brief report of this occasion has been presented in this issue.
Fax +91 11 2436 3035, 2436 2288
E-mail akshayurja@nic.in
Two major articles titled Development and promotion of low-tem-
Web www.mnre.gov.in perature solar thermal technology in India by Dr Ashwini Kumar and
Produced by Electricity from solar energy: the thermal route by Dr Bibek
TERI Press Bandyopadhyay present a comprehensive information on solar ther-
TER I, Darbari Seth Block, IHC Complex
Lodhi Road, New Delhi – 110 003
mal energy applications. The schemes of the ministry relating to solar
Tel. +91 11 2468 2100, 4150 4900 thermal energy have also been highlighted.
Fax +91 11 2468 2144, 2468 2145 I am sure that readers will find the material presented here quite
E-mail madhus@teri.res.in
Web www.teriin.org informative and useful. I am grateful to all readers of Akshay Urja who
Printed at
not only share their experience and send the material but also enrich
Brijbasi Art Press Ltd us with their valuable suggestions.
E46/11, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase II I wish all the readers a Very Happy and Prosperous 2008.
New Delhi – 110 020, India
Publisher and Printer
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy,
New Delhi
Disclaimer
The views expressed by authors including those of
the editor in this newsletter are not necessarily the
views of the MNRE.
w w w . m n r e . g oARUN
v <aktripathi@nic.in>
. Ki TnR I PAT H I

Published, printed, and edited for and on behalf of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India, from B-14, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road,
New Delhi, by Dr Arun Kumar Tripathi. Printed at M/s Brijbasi Art Press Ltd, E46/11, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase II, New Delhi – 110 020, India
 Letters to the editor
VITS (Vindhya Institute of Technology ergy, we would like to be included in ensure that children read about RE and

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○

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and Science) is a private engineering col- the mailing list. The non-conventional thus, understand how RE will play a big

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lege recognized by DTE, Bhopal, ap- energy sector certainly needs these role in meeting future energy require-

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proved by the AICTE, New Delhi, and kinds of efforts to ensure that the po- ments.

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affiliated to RGPV, Bhopal. The college tential of this sector is exploited rightly Syed Zahed

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was established in 2002. We want to set and to its fullest extent. Chairman, AIMS and member, DAC,

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up a library, infrastructure, and renew- C M Jain Nellore

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able energy club for non-conventional Power and Energy Consultants,

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energy systems in the college. We came New Delhi We are the electricity regulatory com-

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across some issues of Akshay Urja and mission of the state of Chhattisgarh.
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found it to be a very useful source of in- ○
InSET (Initiative for Social and Economic We have seen a copy of Akshay Urja re-

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formation on all aspects related to re- Transformation) is a not-for-profit devel- cently, and find it very useful. As a win-
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newable energy. It provides valuable opment organization implementing vil- dow of renewable energy development
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information on the developments in the lage-level programmes for health, social, in the country, and a vehicle for con-
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field of renewable energy and thus, would economic, and educational development veying information on such develop-
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prove beneficial in our endeavours. of people, especially the poor and the ment, we would like to subscribe to
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Keep up the good work. marginalized. It also carries out research, Akshay Urja, and receive it on a regular
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Prof. R C Srivastav training, monitoring and evaluation, ad- basis.
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Principal, VITS vocacy, women empowerment and de- N K Rupwani
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velopment, child education and Secretary, Chhattisgarh State Electricity
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I am a student of B.Sc (botany) in a col- development, disaster mitigation and Regulatory Commission
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lege in Assam. I stood first in the dis- management, and non-conventional en-
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trict-level model making competition ergy, and environment development ac- I am happy to note that the Ministry of
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on the Rajiv Gandhi Akshay Urja Diwas tivities in the states of Delhi, Himachal New and Renewable Energy brings out
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held on 20 August 2006. I am also a Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, an important newsletter like Akshay
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member of ‘Bharat Jana Vigyan Jatha’ Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Urja. The newsletter is very informative.
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and a guide teacher of NCSC, Morigaon Uttaranchal. Akshay Urja is a very in- The articles published in the June 2007,
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district. I happened to come across formative magazine that would provide particularly, are worth reading and re-
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Akshay Urja at my teacher’s place and it us with more information on the non- charging in nature. I would myself want
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attracted me a lot. The magazine is in- conventional energy sector. We would to contribute to the newsletter at some
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deed very comprehensive and provides like to receive this publication regularly. point. All my best wishes for the con-
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very useful and interesting information K P S Nair tinued success of this newsletter.
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on all aspects of renewable energy. Executive President, InSET, New Delhi Prof. A K Paliwal
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I would like to receive Akshay Urja on a Additional Director, Higher Education,

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regular basis. I am a district advisory committee Gwalior Chambal Division, Gwalior

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Debajit Kalita member of Nellore district, Andhra

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Student, Morigaon, Assam Pradesh. I received a copy of Akshay

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Urja and I would like to put forth some

Thank you very much for
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India is giving a very good example to suggestions. In India, the people in ru-
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your encouragement. The

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the world in terms of utilization of ral areas need to be made more aware
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renewable energy sources. Akshay Urja of the potential of RE (renewable en- editorial team of Akshay Urja
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will make every effort to

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is a very helpful medium that conveys ergy) technologies. I think publishing

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the importance of renewable energy in Akshay Urja in all regional languages make this newsletter highly
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meeting energy requirements of the and disseminating the same to gram informative and useful to all
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current as well as future generations. panchayats and block development of- our readers. We welcome
○

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Omar Guillén Solis fices would help in generating aware- your suggestions and valu-
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IIE, Mexico ness on RE. It would make them discuss able comments to make fur-
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RE to a greater extent and thereby

ther improvement in terms
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We are power and energy consultants adopt RE technologies.

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of content and presentation.

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focusing on the areas of wind energy, Another important issue is to edu-

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biomass, and solar energy. Since cate the next generation about the Editor
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Akshay Urja is a newsletter that carries need and importance of RE. Dissemi-
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Akshay Urja
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valuable information on renewable en- nating Akshay Urja to schools would

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2 NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007 Volume 1 • Issue 3

Con t e n t s NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007
Volume 1 P I s s u e 3

Celebrating 4
25 years of excellence in renewable energy 20
F E AT U R E A R T I C L E S > >
NEWS >>
Development and promotion of low-temperature 18
National solar thermal energy technologies in India
P Strengthening Electricity from solar energy: the thermal route 28
international cooperation in renewable energy 8
Energy-efficient building 34
P This park is full of natural energy 10
P TPC plans to quadruple wind power capacity 10
P Indian auto giants tie up for hydrogen vehicles 11
P Idea shops will take alternative energy to people of the
capital 12
P Hydrogen prototype car likely by 2008 12

32 34
RE INSTITUTION >> 38
RE EVENTS >> 41

International
P Solar plane’s test-flight in 2008 15
P Redesigning trees for fuel 15
P Google aims for renewable energy priced below coal 16

DAC CORNER >> 43

CHILDREN’S CORNER >> 45

WEB/BOOK ALERT >> 46

FORTHCOMING E VENTS>> 47

R E S TAT I S T I C S > > 48

Cover: Release of four commemorative postage stamps on renewable energy by Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil, President of India, on the
occasion of the Silver Jubilee Celebrations of MNRE; the four stamps are also highlighted.
 > RE NE WS <
SPECIAL FOCUS
Celebrating 25 years of
excellence in renewable energy
President of India, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil releasing the stamps at the Silver Jubilee Celebrations of the MNRE in the
presence of Shri Vilas Muttemwar, Minister for New and Renewable Energy; and Shri V Subramanian, Secretary, MNRE
T
he role of renewable energy
has been assuming increas-
ing significance in recent
times with the growing concern
for the country’s energy security.
Energy ‘self-sufficiency’ was iden-
tified as the major driver for new
and renewable energy in the
country in the wake of the two oil
shocks of the 1970s. The sudden
increase in the price of oil, uncer-
tainties associated with its supply
and the adverse impact on the
balance of payments position led
to the establishment of CASE
(Commission for Additional
Sources of Energy) in the Depart-
ment of Science and Technology
in March 1981. The commission
was charged with the responsibil-
4 NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007
ity of formulating policies and
their implementation, pro-
grammes for development of new
and renewable energy, apart from
coordinating and intensifying R&D
in the sector. In 1982, a new de-
partment, that is, the DNES (De-
partment of Non-conventional
Energy Sources) that incorporated
CASE, was created in the then
Ministry of Energy. In 1992, DNES
became the Ministry of Non-con-
ventional Energy Sources. In Octo-
ber 2006, the ministry was
rechristened as the MNRE (Minis-
try of New and Renewable En-
ergy). Box 1 gives some major
milestones through these 25
years.
Volume 1 • Issue 3
Silver jubilee
celebrations
The MNRE (Ministry of New and
Renewable Energy) celebrated its
silver jubilee, the completion of
25 glorious years of its existence,
in a function held on 22 Novem-
ber 2007. The Hon’ble President of
India, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh
Patil inaugurated the event. Other
dignitaries present at the function
included Dr Shakeel Ahmed, Un-
ion Minister of State for Communi-
cation and IT; Shri Vilas
Muttemwar, Union Minister for
New and Renewable Energy; Shri
V Subramanian, Secretary, MNRE;
Shri I M G Khan, Secretary (Posts);
as also diplomats, central and

Box 1 Evolution of National Energy Policy
Major milestone
Fuel Policy Committee (1974)
Working Group on Energy Policy
Commission for Additional Sources of
Energy (1981)
Creation of Department of Non-
conventional Energy Sources (1982)
Expansion of Ministry of Energy to
include Departments of Petroleum and
Non-conventional Energy Sources
(1982)
Advisory Board on Energy (1983)
Exploration Round
Ministry of Non-conventional Energy
Sources (1992)
Renewable Power Purchase Guideline
(1993)
Committee on Integrated Coal Policy
(1996)
Common Minimum National Action
Plan for Power (1996)
New Exploration and Licensing Policy
(1997)
Administered Pricing Mechanism
dismantling (1997)
Energy Conservation Act 2001
Electricity Act 2003
National Electricity Policy 2005
National Tariff Policy 2006
Rural Electrification Policy 2006
Renaming of the Ministry of Non-
conventional Energy Sources (2006)
Integrated Energy Policy Report
(Planning Commission) 2006
Volume 1 • Issue 3
> RE NE WS <
Impact/function
Looked at energy sector as a whole
Report submitted in the aftermath of the second oil shock expressed apprehensions
regarding security of oil supplies and thus, recommended conservation of energy and
encouragement of renewable energy
A Commission in line with Atomic Energy Commission was constituted with the overall
responsibility of developing renewable energy
An independent department for development, demonstration, and application of
renewable energy was formed.
Except for atomic energy, all other forms of energy were brought under one ministry.
Set up to formulate an integrated energy policy covering commercial and non-
commercial energy sources
The exploration rounds to attract the private sector were introduced in 1979, but not
much headway was made till 1995
The Department of Non-conventional Energy Sources was upgraded to a full-fledged
ministry
Advisory guidelines by the MNRE to the states for buy back price of Rs 2.25 per kWh with
5% annual escalation, with 1993 as base year purchase of renewable power
Recommended adoption of coal conservation measures, inviting private capital in the
sector, deregulating the coal and coal product prices, and setting up a regulatory body
among other things.
Initiated the reforms in the power sector with trifurcation of state electricity boards,
setting up of state and union-level regulatory commissions, and rationalization of tariffs
This was introduced in 1997 with modified terms and conditions; three rounds have been
held with moderate success
Phase-wise dismantling of this started in 1997; APM was completely abolished in early
2003
The act seeks to establish a comprehensive law that adopts standards and procedures,
and prescribes measures for energy conservation
It recognizes the role of renewable energy technologies for supplying power to the
utility grid as well in standalone systems. It also provided an overall framework for
preferential tariffs and quota for renewables
It recognized the role of renewable electricity in the areas where grid electricity is
neither cost effective nor feasible
It directed state regulatory commissions to fix a minimum percentage for purchase of
energy from renewable sources taking into account availability of such resources in the
region and its impact on retail tariff
The policy aimed at (a) provision of access to electricity to all households by year 2009;
(b) quality and reliable power supply at reasonable rates; and (c) minimum lifeline
consumption of 1 unit per household per day as a merit good by year 2012. it also
provided for decentralized distributed generation facilities together with local
distribution network based either on conventional or renewable sources of electricity
generation, whichever is more suitable and economical. It also provided for utilization of
renewable energy where grid connectivity exists provided it is found to be cost effective.
The ministry was renamed as the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
Suggested a path to meet energy needs of the country in an integrated manner up to
2031/32. Recommended special focus on renewable energy development.
NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007 5
> RE NE WS <
Hon’ble President of India, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil; Minister for New and
Renewable Energy, Shri Vilas Muttemwar; and other dignitaries at the function
state government officials, and
representatives of industry. Smt.
Pratibha Patil said that today as
we aim for a 10% growth rate, we
must recognize the critical impor-
tance of energy security. We will
need a new paradigm of energy
security to address our develop-
ment goals, which are environ-
ment friendly and lead to
sustainable development. She fur-
ther said that India is among the
global leaders in the development
and deployment of renewable en-
ergy technologies.
The compendium
6 NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007
Paying tribute to former Presi-
dent of India, late Smt. Indira Gan-
dhi, Smt. Patil said that her vision
was translated into vigorous ac-
tion by Shri Rajiv Gandhi to meet
the increasing demands for en-
ergy. Access to critical and promis-
ing clean, new, and renewable
energy technologies to develop-
ing countries should be the key
point in the global environmental
agenda. She said that our endeav-
our is to make India a leader in the
new and renewable energy sector
in the shortest possible time. All
the people of the country, in all
walks of life, should come to-
gether to promote the use of re-
newable energy as a national
movement.
Shri Vilas Muttemwar
said that there is a
need for maximum de-
velopment of domes-
tic energy supply
options in the context
of spiralling oil prices
as also for diversifying
energy sources. Thus,
renewable energy re-
Volume 1 • Issue 3
mains important to the energy
sector in India. He said that it is a
very encouraging fact that new
and renewable energy sources –
solar, wind, small hydro, and bio-
energy – are making a significant
contribution to the nation’s en-
ergy mix. These energy sources
supplement conventional fossil-
fuel-based energy sources and
also help in meeting the power
needs in remote and rural areas of
the country. This has been possi-
ble due to 25 years of sustained
endeavours. He said that carbon-
free energy is now in global focus
and is the ultimate answer to cli-
mate change and global warming.
The installed grid-interactive re-
newable power generation capac-
ity has crossed 11 000 MW today,
of which, 7700 MW is from wind
power. He was hopeful that dur-
ing the Eleventh Plan, the renew-
able power capacity addition will
be to the tune of 14 000 MW and
will cover 10 000 villages.
Commemorative
postage stamps
released
Four commemorative postage
stamps on renewable energy, de-
picting the four common applica-
tions of renewable energy – solar,
wind, small hydro, and biomass –
The four stamps

P Biogas programme
Special category of north-east
and hill states
• First prize: Uttarakhand
• Second prize: Sikkim
General category states
• First prize: West Bengal
• Second prize: Gujarat
P Solar photovoltaic
Special category states
• First prize: Arunachal Pradesh
and Uttarakhand
General category states
• First prize: Rajasthan
• Second prize: Haryana
P Solar cooker (box type)
First prize: Gujarat
P Solar cooker (dish type)
First prize: Haryana
P Best bank to promote solar
water heating system
Bank of Maharashtra
P Best bank to provide
maximum loan for solar
heater
Canara Bank
were also released by the presi-
dent during the function. Speak-
ing on the release of the stamps,
Shri Shakeel Ahmed said that
these stamps will spread the mes-
sage of using environment-
friendly carbon-free, renewable
energy wherever they go. A com-
pendium on renewable energy ti-
tled 25 years of Renewable Energy
in India was also released by the
president. It consists of 17 chap-
ters on various new and renew-
able energy technologies as well
as programmes that have
emerged during the last 25 years.
This compendium provides in-
formation, with a historical perspec-
tive, of the major policy, technical,
Volume 1 • Issue 3
Box 2 List of awardees
Hon’be President giving away the award to Ms Sumita Misra, Director, Haryana
Renewable Energy Development Agency
P Promotion of solar energy:
urban areas
First prize: Haryana
P Best industry to manufacture
and market solar water
heater
• First prize: M/s Tata BP Solar India
Ltd, Bangalore
• Second prize: M/s Emmvee Solar
Systems Pvt. Ltd, Bangalore
and commercial developments that
have taken place in the renewable
energy sector. Written by experts in
their fields, the scientists of the min-
istry have brought out environmen-
tal policies and programmes in
sharp focus. On this occasion, a new
website of the ministry with addi-
tional user-friendly features and ex-
panded contents was also
inaugurated.
Renewable energy
awards
On this occasion, awards were also
given away to various states,
banks, independent power pro-
ducers, and manufacturers for
> RE NE WS <
SPECIAL FOCUS
P Wind power
• First prize: Tamil Nadu
• Second prize: Maharashtra
P Independent power
producers under the wind
programme
• First prize: M/s MSPL Ltd, Hospet
(Karnataka)
• Second prize: M/s Essel Mining
and Industries Ltd, Kolkata
best performance in their respec-
tive areas. The awards have been
given for the Tenth Five-year Plan
period excluding solar water
heater, where the awards were
given for the financial year 2006/
07 (Box 2). Shri Vilas Muttemwar
said that receiving the awards
from the hands of the Hon’ble
President of India will definitely
prove to be a morale booster and
a source of inspiration and moti-
vation to all awardees. He con-
cluded by saying that the growth
of renewable energy in the coun-
try is not possible without the ac-
tive support and cooperation of
state governments and their
nodal agencies.
NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007 7
 > RE NE WS <
SPECIAL FOCUS
Strengthening international cooperation
in renewable energy
Shri Vilas Muttemwar, Minister for New and Renewable Energy and Shri V Subramanian, Secretary, MNRE along with Mr Martin
Bartenstein, Austrian Federal Minister for Commerce and Labour; and other dignitaries in the bilateral discussions
T
he promotion of renewable
energy as an important
strategy to de-carbonize en-
ergy economies worldwide has
gained momentum. Many interna-
tional delegations comprising
dignitaries such as ministers/sec-
retaries of state are holding bilat-
eral discussions with the Hon’ble
Minister for New and Renewable
Energy and other officials of the
ministry. Following is a brief
record of some landmark visits of
foreign delegations as well as the
bilateral negotiations including
areas identified for mutual coop-
eration.
P Visit of Mr Martin Bartenstein,
Austrian Federal Minister for
Commerce and Labour on 11
December 2007 Mr Martin
was accompanied by Mr Josef
Mayer, Chairman, Foreign
8 NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007
Trade; and Ms Maria Weiss, Of-
ficer of Department of Energy
and Ambassador of Austria to
India. Mr Martin was very ap-
preciative of the progress made
by India in the field of renew-
able power and showed keen
interest in bilateral cooperation
in the area of biofuels, biomass-
based power generation, en-
ergy production from waste as
well as providing technological
support to India in small hydro
power generation.
P Visit by delegation from South
Africa A delegation led by Mr
Neo Masithela, Provincial Minis-
ter of Tourism, Environment,
and Economic Affairs along
with representatives of Free
Trade Province of South Africa
called on the Hon’ble Minister
on 4 December 2007. In the bi-
Volume 1 • Issue 3
lateral meeting, the discussions
primarily focused on coopera-
tion in biofuels specially
jatropha cultivation. The Indian
side expressed willingness in
providing technical assistance
in capacity building in the area
of solar and wind energy
through the Solar Energy Cen-
tre and the Centre for Wind En-
ergy Technology. The South
African side also desired active
participation of the Indian in-
dustry in South Africa.
P Visit by Mr Karel Schwarzenberg,
Minister of Foreign Affairs of
Czech Republic The Czech min-
ister expressed a keen interest
in having wide-ranging bilateral
cooperation with India in the
field of small hydro, biomass, and
urban waste to energy through
biomethanation. He mentioned
 > RE NE WS <

SPECIAL FOCUS
that in 2009, the Czech
Republic will have the EU
Presidency and hence,
felt that a lot needs to be
done to strengthen the
Indo-Czech ties. Shri
Muttemwar apprised
him of the achievements
of the Indian renewable
energy sector. The Czech
Republic has already ex-
panded its ties with state
governments by promot-
ing their corporate com-
Discussions with delegation from South Africa
pany Skoda by entering
into MoUs and setting up
joint ventures. He also promised being set up exclusively for re- ket. They also showed interest
cooperation in development of newable energy manufacturers. in solar thermal and solar cook-
small engines up to 100-kW ca- P Visit by business delegation of ing technologies.
pacity for rural distributed gen- Greece led by the Greek P Visit by delegation from Jordan
eration. Deputy Minister for Foreign Dr Khaled El-Shuraydeh, Minis-
P Visit by Dr George Nuesslein, Affairs Mr Petros Doukas The ter of Energy and Mineral Re-
Member of the German Parlia- Greek delegation showed keen sources of Jordan visited India
ment (Bundestag) Dr Nuesslein interest in collaboration with along with the Ambassador of
visited India on 21 November the Indian wind energy compa- Jordan. He showed interest in
2007, accompanied by some nies for wind energy develop- cooperation with India for devel-
prominent solar PV companies ment in Greece. They are also opment of bio-diesel feedstock
of Germany. He showed a lot of looking for investment in the especially Jatropha plantation
interest in the proposed SEZ Indian renewable energy mar- being planned for large-scale
plantation on Jordan.

In a significant gesture shown

by the UNDP to the MNRE, Ms
Maxine Olson, UN Resident Coor-
dinator and UNDP Resident Rep-
resentative called on Shri
Muttemwar on 26 November
2007, and presented the advance
copy of the Human Development
Report 2007 (focusing on climate
change) before its formal launch
at Brasilia, Brazil. Other significant
visits during this period were from
business groups and companies
from France, Germany, Cuba, Is-
Hon’ble Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Shri Vilas Muttemwar with rael, UAE, and USA.
Courtesy: Anoop Kumar, PS to the
visiting Austrian Federal Minister, Mr Martin Bartenstein
Minister for New and Renewable Energy

Volume 1 • Issue 3 NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007 9

 > RE NE WS <
N AT I O N A L N E W S
This park is full of
natural energy
I t’s well known that the reserves
of fossil fuels across the globe are
fast depleting, leading to global
warming. With every passing day,
there is an increase in the need to
harness renewable sources of en-
ergy. Keeping this in mind, KREDL
(Karnataka Renewable Energy
Development Ltd), Bangalore along
with the Union Ministry for New
and Renewable Energy has set up
an energy park in Karnataka city to
be able to do just this. The park,
spread over an area of eight acres,
has been set up at a cost of Rs 1.20
crore. Of this, Rs 98 lakh has been
given by the centre as subsidy. ‘It is
with the aim of providing informa-
tion and educating the pub-
lic about energy-related is-
sues through entertainment
and exhibits that the state-
level energy park has been
set up at the Indira Gandhi
Musical Fountain Garden,’
says B Shivalingaiah, Man-
aging Director, KREDL.
Any visitor at this park is bound power plant, SPV–wind hybrid sys-
to leave quite impressed at the set tem, and battery operated passen-
up. Among the many things, the ger bus, besides fuel energy plants.
park has a solar hut, solar energy The solar hut, constructed using
swimming pool, SPV (solar photo- bamboo, consists of four 75-W (watt)
voltaic) pumping station, battery BIPV (building-integrated photo-
operated cycle and car, solar pow- voltaic) panels and twelve 75-W
ered car, energy generating slip and framed SPV modules. The advan-
drum, parabolic type solar cooker, tage of BIPV is to allow natural sun-
box type solar cooker, wind water light through the transparent glass
pump, wood biomass gasifier, com- apart from generating power to
munity parabolic solar cooker, SPV charge the battery.

The total capacity of installed solar

About the park
power plant on the roof is 2000 W.
P Solar water heater: this is the most popular solar device used for
Sunlight directed on the solar mod-
water heating purposes. Water in this retains its heat for a long time
ule is converted into electricity and
as the tank is insulated to prevent heat loss.
the generated current is used to
P Energy drum: cylindrical drum demonstrates generation of energy
charge the battery bank, which is
using muscle power. Walking or jogging along the inside periphery
stored there. ‘With this power, two
results in automatic rotation of the drum. When the drum rotates, DC
fans, a refrigerator, a television, a
dynamo fitted to the wheels of drum will generate electricity.
VCD player, a computer, and several
P Solar parabolic cooker: one can cook a meal—rice, dal, or roast
light bulbs can run smoothly for
chapattis, and boil eggs—for as many as 15 people in a day using
five to six hours a day,’ says
12-litre capacity cooker. It is suitable for homes, guest/farm houses,
Shivalingaiah.
and military cantonments to name a few.
THE DECCAN HERALD, 2 NOVEMBER 2007
P Wind water pump: when the wind speed reaches 1.5 metres per sec-
ond, the rotor speed will be sufficient for pumping to begin.
P Gasifier: biomass gasification converts solid biomass into a high-
TPC plans to
quality gaseous fuel at high overall efficiencies and offers excellent
opportunities for using renewable biomass resource in place of con-
quadruple wind power
ventional fuels. The present model – WBG 5 – is one of the reliable capacity
units having different output ratings.
P Solar PV power plant: this plant is a trouble-free, long-lasting, and
cost-effective power solution. A result of proven technology, they are T PC (Tata Power Company) is all
set to ride the wind. TPC, the
largest private power firm in the
highly efficient and completely maintenance free.
P Solar PV–wind hybrid system: this is the best alternative to beat high country, is planning to quadruple
cost, low quality, and unpredictable power from some of the utilities. its wind power production to over
Powered by solar and wind energies, the hybrid power packs are 200 MW (megawatt) and play an in-
abundantly available and completely pollution-free. creasing role in combating climate
change. The company, which has

10 NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007 Volume 1 • Issue 3


installed wind power capacity of
62.1 MW, will set up its wind parks
of 50 MW each in Karnataka,
Gujarat, and Maharashtra with an
investment of over Rs 750 crore.
‘A 50-MW Khandke project in
Maharashtra, which is under con-
struction, will be commissioned by
2007-end. Two additional wind
power projects of 50.4 MW each are
being developed at Jamnagar in
Gujarat and Gadag in Karnataka.
The company has placed an order
with Enercon for setting up wind-
mills,’ said a Tata official.
TPC has obtained a Rs 300 crore
loan from ADB (Asian Development
Bank) for the wind power projects
in Maharashtra. IREDA (Indian
Renewable Energy Development
Agency) is to co-finance up to Rs 91
crore. With the completion of three
projects, the installed wind power
capacity of TPC will go up to 213 MW,
which will make them eligible for car-
bon credits for reducing the emis-
sions of almost 10 million tonnes of
carbon dioxide during the minimum
project life of 20 years, said an indus-
try source. The three wind power
projects implemented by Tatas in-
clude 37.6 MW in Khandke, 17 MW
in Ahmednagar, and 7.5 MW in
Bramanvel in Maharashtra.
Wind energy is the latest boom-
ing industry in India in which for-
eign investment and private equity
Volume 1 • Issue 3
players are banking on
these days. The annual
wind power capacity
addition had touched
1000 MW in 2006 as
compared to 615 MW
previous year. As on
April 2007, the installed
capacity of wind power
in India was 7113.6 MW,
mainly spread across
Tamil Nadu (3457.5
MW), Maharashtra (1484.9 MW),
Karnataka (849.4 MW), Rajasthan
(469.9 MW), Gujarat (667.1 MW),
Andhra Pradesh (121.8 MW), Madhya
Pradesh (57.8 MW), Kerala (2 MW),
and West Bengal (1.6 MW). The
worldwide installed capacity of wind
power reached 74 223 MW by the
end of 2006.
THE ECONOMIC TIMES,
3 NOVEMBER 2007
Indian auto giants
tie up for hydrogen
vehicles
B ajaj Auto, Ashok Leyland, Tata
Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra,
and Eicher Motors have come to-
gether to develop HCNG (hydro-
gen-blended compressed natural
gas)-run vehicles. To tackle the
problem of rising pollution, the pi-
lot project will use CNG with differ-
ent blends of hydrogen ranging
from 12% to 30% in different vehi-
cles. These vehicles – small three-
wheelers, trucks, and passenger
buses – will be supplied by these
manufacturers. Bajaj Auto’s three-
wheeler will be the first one to be
tested later this month while Tata
Motors’ LCV will run on the new fuel
in December. A joint initiative of the
MNRE along with IOC (Indian Oil
> RE NE WS <
N AT I O N A L N E W S
Corporation) and SIAM (Society of
Indian Automobile Manufacturers),
the project will use hydrogen as an
automotive fuel for the first time in
India.
‘We will study emission and per-
formance of different vehicles run-
ning with different hydrogen
blends of up to 30% in the conven-
tional internal combustion engines.
The new blend will determine hy-
drogen as an automotive fuel in In-
dia and could lead to much cleaner
environment,’ said a senior ministry
official. After the tests, which are
expected to end by mid-2008, new
vehicles running on this fuel
(HCNG) will be introduced by these
manufacturers. Subsequently, the
existing CNG fleet will also be cov-
ered. There are over 52-lakh regis-
tered vehicles in Delhi of which
about 10-lakh, including cars, LCVs,
trucks, and buses, are CNG-run.
‘We will determine the right
blend for optimum power and
emission. There will be half a dozen
different engines from 250 cc to
over 2000 cc in different vehicles,
which will let us know the precise
fuel blend for best efficiency,’ Dilip
Chenoy, Director General, SIAM
said. Once the right percentage of
fuel blend is determined, each en-
gine will be optimized and run for
over 50 000 km to evaluate mass
emissions. The existing IOC facility
at Faridabad in Haryana, which has
the necessary infrastructure to de-
velop hydrogen as an automotive
fuel, will be utilized. IOC will also
set up a second unit for hydrogen
blending in Delhi and later all the
existing 138 CNG stations in
the capital will be made HCNG com-
pliant.
THE ECONOMIC TIMES
5 NOVEMBER 2007
NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007 11
 > RE NE WS <
N AT I O N A L N E W S
Idea shops will take
alternative energy to
people of the capital
I n a bid to promote alternative
energy systems in Delhi, the Union
Ministry of New and Renewable
Energy has put forward this innova-
tive idea: instead of advising citizens
on using alternative energy, why not
set up centres where alternative
energy systems and instructions for
their use will be easily available. The
Urja Centres, as they are being called
in the conceptual stage, are being
planned along with Delhi Transco Ltd
and other agencies.
Alternative, cleaner sources of
energy, based on wind and the sun,
have been around in the country for
some time. But their use by the
masses has been limited, chiefly
because the cost of setting up and
maintaining these units turns out to
be high and so, in the short term,
conventional energy sources seem
cheaper. Officials say that in discus-
sions with power and energy agen-
cies, it was seen that it was
advisable to introduce alternative
systems in a phase-wise manner.
The Urja Centres, set up across the
capital, will display these systems,
and provide clear instruction on
their use, replenishment, and main-
tenance. What’s more, these centres
For homes ...
P Planners will estimate the configuration of solar panels required for
running heaters, cookers, and other home appliances.
P They say the main problem with these cells is that over a period of
time, there’s a power loss, just like in worn-out turbines.
P Consumers will be told how to hook up the panels with the normal
electricity supply of a home and use meters to keep track of usage
from both sources, fluctuations, and so on.
P Consumers will be guided on how to run the systems and also where
to find subsidy for the same.
12 NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007
will also allow customers to set up
these systems on a trial basis.
Also being discussed is the idea
of involving corporate groups, es-
pecially in using solar systems,
which at present are used mostly by
those who can afford to support
both conventional and non-con-
ventional sources at the same time,
such as private homes and farm-
houses on the outskirts of the city.
Planners say if the idea works, re-
newable and non-conventional en-
ergy systems may take off with
consumers in a big way.
WWW.EXPRESSINDIA.COM,
8 NOVEMBER 2007
Hydrogen prototype
car likely by 2008
A prototype of a clean-energy,
hydrogen-powered car could
be on the roads by 2008. It will be
the outcome of a collaboration be-
tween ISRO (Indian Space Research
Organization) and Tata Motors, ac-
cording to ISRO chairman G
Madhavan Nair. ‘ISRO and Tata Mo-
tors signed an MoU a year ago and
we are looking to see how best we
can get a prototype model ready by
next year,’ Dr Nair told presspersons
on the sidelines of the 14th session
of the Asia–Pacific Regional Space
Volume 1 • Issue 3
Agency Forum (APRSAF-14). Dr Nair
said, ‘At a time when pollution from
petrol engines is becoming a mat-
ter of increasing environmental
concern, hydrogen is going to be
the fuel of the future where the
only output will be water vapour.
The hydrogen-powered car will
have no engine. It will be a com-
pletely electric one. Hydrogen and
atmospheric oxygen will combine in
the fuel cell to produce electricity.’
A major hurdle, however, is the
fuel cell technology. ‘We have not
mastered the technology yet. We
are trying to get some modules
from outside.’ In the keynote ad-
dress at the forum, Dr Nair said In-
dia would play a ‘major role’ in
providing integrated disaster man-
agement support systems to the
Asia–Pacific region, which is vulner-
able to cyclones, typhoons, earth-
quakes, and tsunamis. Fishing
communities need timely informa-
tion. There was a need to have ‘low-
cost communication terminals’ to
give information to the communi-
ties on impending events and res-
cue operations. ‘There is an urgent
need for a constellation of micro-
wave imaging satellites, which can
see though clouds, as well as a need
for more earth observation systems
to monitor the parameters associ-
ated with global warming.’
The lantern that fishermen tradi-
tionally carry could soon be trans-
formed into one fitted with
technology to help them send an
SOS during emergency, Dr Nair said.
The lantern, developed by ISRO
would have a transmitter and GPS
device. It could be activated in case
of an emergency, he said. ‘The sig-
nal can be received through INSAT
by disaster management agencies,
who can initiate rescue efforts.’ The
lantern would cost Rs 5000.

Yoshitsugu Harada, Vice-Minister of
Education, Culture, Sports, Science
and Technology, Japan said that as
communication infrastructure was
insufficient in some areas of the
Asia–Pacific, the Japan Aerospace
Exploration Agency will launch in
2008 a ‘Wideband Internetworking
Engineering Test and Demonstra-
tion Satellite.’
THE HINDU, 23 NOVEMBER 2007
US company to set up
solar power plant in
Punjab
P unjab will have the largest solar
energy power generation plant
in India. To be set by an American
company, the plant will generate
250 MW of ‘clean green’ energy. The
minister for environment and non-
conventional energy Bikramjit
Singh Majithia, who held prelimi-
nary meetings with the company,
said the project would see the light
of the day once the chief minister
gave the nod.
The minister told this to The Trib-
une on the sidelines of a function
organized by the Punjab Police.
‘I cannot divulge the name of the
company at this stage. The com-
pany has already set up a 250-MW
solar generation plant in Texas, US
Volume 1 • Issue 3
and has now offered to
set up a similar plant
here,’ he said.
‘They have asked us
to suggest a place in
Punjab where there is a
large chunk of land
available,’ said Majithia.
Solar generation power
plants need vast area.
The company has prom-
ised to offer competi-
tive rates. Sources said the state
had also asked an Israel-based com-
pany to set up a pilot one megawatt
solar power plant on a piece of land
available with the National Institute
of Renewable Energy Kapurthala.
The company had offered to set up
a 250-MW plant in Chandigarh but
the land offered to it was found to
be unsuitable. Sources added that
the company had agreed to set up
single megawatt photovoltaic cell
solar plants in villages across
Punjab. But this electricity would
cost Rs 9 a unit once these plants
become operational in two years
from now. ‘We intend to generate at
least 1500 MW of power through
non-conventional sources of en-
ergy in the next three years,’ he said.
THE TRIBUNE, 27 NOVEMBER 2007
Moser Baer to set up
grid-connected solar
farm
M BPV (Moser Baer Photo Vol-
taic), a wholly owned sub-
sidiary of Moser Baer India, an-
nounced that it would set up
India’s largest grid-connected so-
lar farm in Rajasthan with an esti-
mated investment of Rs 100
crore. The company has signed
an MoU with the Rajasthan gov-
> RE NE WS <
N AT I O N A L N E W S
ernment for setting-up of the large
solar power project in the state with
an estimated generation capacity of
1–5 MW.
‘The project will entail an invest-
ment of about $25 million (Rs 100
crore) at $4.5 million per MW,’ the
company said in a statement here.
The MoU was signed today at the ‘Re-
surgent Rajasthan’ summit at Jaipur
between MBPV and RREC (Rajasthan
Renewable Energy Corporation).
The company said that the SAARC
region provided huge opportunity
for such large-sized projects. ‘The
SAARC region has large demand–
supply imbalances in energy genera-
tion capacities, with an increasing
need to explore alternative and effi-
cient energy sources. This offers a sig-
nificant potential to solar photo
voltaic as an efficient energy option
in the region,’ said Mr Ravi Khanna,
CEO of MBPV.
Moser Baer is also evaluating vari-
ous options for setting up large-sized
solar farms across the SAARC region
with strategic tie-ups with some of
the leading global solar PV compa-
nies and clean energy funds, the
company said. According to Mr
Rajeeva Swarup, Chairman and Man-
aging Director, RREC, ‘The state will of-
fer a “Single Window Service” through
the Bureau of Investment Promotion
and make efforts to facilitate approvals
required for the project from the gov-
ernment agencies.
NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007 13
 > RE NE WS <
N AT I O N A L N E W S
Rajasthan offers significant op-
portunities for renewable energy
projects and also has large natural
resources conducive for setting up
such non-conventional energy
projects in the state. MBPV plans to
emerge as a technology-driven PV
equipment manufacturer in the
world by implementing a capacity
of 500 MW by fiscal 2010 through a
mix of technologies in the crystalline
silicon, concentrator, and thin film
domain. The company’s photovoltaic
equipment manufacturing capacities
for crystalline silicon, concentrator,
and thin film technologies are com-
ing up in an SEZ (special economic
zone) at Greater Noida.
THE HINDU BUSINESS LINE,
1 DECEMBER 2007
A businessman’s
crusade against
darkness
H arish Hande, who has been
honoured recently with a prize
for social entrepreneurship, has
made it his business to take solar
power to every un-lit home. Harish
hande, CEO, Selco, who has been
selected social entrepreneur of the
year by the Nand and Jeet Khemka
Foundation this year, has been in
the business of solar electrification
since the past 12 years. At last
count, his clients numbered 85 000
in 220 villages in Karnataka and
2000 clients in Gujarat where he
started operations recently. Hande
says he is into business only be-
cause that is the only way he can
take solar power to the largest
number of people. That has been
his dream and main occupation for
the last 12 years when he started
doing his Masters and PhD in
14 NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007
Massachusetts Insti-
tute of Technology.
His subject was rural
electrification and
whether solar power
makes sense.
He says he came
upon the idea dur-
ing a brief visit to
the Dominican Re-
public as a student
in IIT Kharagpur.
‘Those two hours of
what I saw there,
people using and
paying for solar energy changed my
way of thinking totally. I haven’t
touched technical applications af-
ter that,’ says Hande. His strategy for
making solar energy succeed has
been two fold: doorstep service and
doorstep financing. He first started
creating solar service centres in all
the places he was setting up solar
panels. In addition, he got the cen-
tres to identify more potential tech-
nicians in nearby villages which
were beyond the centre’s reach,
train them, and then help them set
up shop.
The second task was to per-
suade the existing financial net-
work of Regional Rural Banks,
cooperative banks to finance the
solar panels he set up. ‘Once that
was done, I have been piggy riding
on this network to spread the reach
of solar power into the interiors of
Karnataka villages,’ he says. In
Gujarat, a tie-up has been achieved
with SEWA and customers are get-
ting financed while being offered
solar energy. Hande admits that so-
lar electrification programmes have
been criticized for providing just a
single bulb and thus keeping the
poor sections from being on a
par with other beneficiaries of
electricity.
Volume 1 • Issue 3
He says that his technicians go
with a clean slate to the customer’s
house. It is not a pre-planned one-
bulb scheme being offered. People
can opt for one or two or three
bulbs and even run an electric sew-
ing machine. The installations can
be done in phases depending on the
payment capability of the buyer, he
says. He has the story of a customer
who ran away when he was told that
three bulbs would cost him Rs 12 000.
The technician of Selco did not give
up, says Hande. He went back to the
customer, climbed on his roof, and
put a single bulb in such a way that it
lit up three of his rooms cutting the
cost by third.
The costs of lighting up houses
come between Rs 5000 and Rs 18 000
he says. ‘Of course, solar lighting can-
not solve irrigation problems of vil-
lagers. That needs so much energy
that the costs would be unbearable
for the villagers,’ says Hande. He also
is not in favour of a single transmis-
sion system catering to a number of
customers. ‘It is so much easier to be
modular,’ Hande says. He says the
idea that drives his business proposi-
tion is the Gandhian principle of ‘pro-
duction by masses rather than mass
production’.
BUSINESS STANDARD, 4 DECEMBER 2007

Solar plane’s
test-flight in 2008
A prototype of the ‘Solar Im-
pulse’ round-the-world solar
plane should make its first piloted
flight in autumn 2008, the Swiss
project leaders said on Monday. The
reduced-size model of the aircraft,
which will have a wingspan of
61 metres, the equivalent of an Air-
bus A340 airliner, is currently being
built in northern Switzerland to test
the cutting-edge technology in-
volved in its construction. If suc-
cessful, the dainty 1.5-tonne plane
could make a pioneering 36-hour
flight through the night in 2009,
piloted by round-the-world bal-
looning pioneer Bertrand Piccard.
Piccard said the first flight just me-
tres above the runway at
Duebendorf would mark the ‘mo-
ment of truth’ after nearly two years
of computer simulations.
One of the big challenges for
solar flight is how to store enough
energy from its array of solar panels
to keep the ultra lightweight
aircraft flying in darkness. While pi-
lot-less drones have already accom-
plished the feat, it is far more
Volume 1 • Issue 3
difficult with the added size and
weight of a pilot on board. The $94-
million project aims to emulate the
achievements of aviation pioneer
Charles Lindbergh – who in 1927
made the world’s first solo, non-
stop transatlantic flight – but with a
solar-powered twist. The project’s
goals include a transatlantic cross-
ing in 2011 before what would be a
historic, fuel-less circumnavigation
of the globe.
About 150 specialists from six
countries are involved in designing
Solar Impulse, which is expected to
break new ground with its aerody-
namics, control systems, energy ef-
ficiency, materials, and structure.
One of the challenges will involve
stretching carbon sheet just a few
tenths of millimetres thick over
lengths of up to 20 metres.
THE TIMES OF INDIA, 7 NOVEMBER 2007
Redesigning trees
for fuel
A s the cry for fuel peaks, scien-
tists in the US are looking at
ways to genetically modify trees to
get more cellulose from them.
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I N T E R N AT I O N A L N E W S
Cellulose can be turned into
biofuel. It might be true that ‘only
God can make a tree,’ as the poet
Joyce Kilmer wrote. But genetic en-
gineers can fundamentally redesign
them. Aiming to turn trees into new
energy sources, scientists are using
a controversial genetic engineering
process to change the composition
of the wood. A major goal is to re-
duce the amount of lignin, a chemi-
cal compound that interferes with
efforts to turn the tree’s cellulose
into biofuels like ethanol. Vincent L
Chiang, co-director of the forest
biotechnology group at North Caro-
lina State University, has developed
transgenic trees with as little as half
the lignin of their natural counter-
parts.
‘I think the transgenic tree with
low lignin will contribute signifi-
cantly to energy needs,’ he said.
Environmentalists say such work
can be risky, because lignin pro-
vides trees with structural stiffness
and resistance to pests. Even some
scientists working on altering wood
composition acknowledge that re-
ducing lignin too much could lead
to wobbly, vulnerable trees. ‘Nature
would have selected for lower-
lignin trees if they could survive,’
said Shawn Mansfield, associate
professor of wood science at the
University of British Columbia. Peo-
ple working in the field also ac-
knowledge that they will face
resistance from others who see
trees as majestic symbols of pristine
nature that should not be geneti-
cally altered like corn and soybeans.
‘The general public is not going
to look at trees at this point as a row
crop,’ said Susan McCord, executive
director of the Institute of Forest
Biotechnology in Raleigh, North
Carolina. ‘The same is true of forest-
ers. The people who go into that
NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007 15
 > RE NE WS <
I N T E R N AT I O N A L N E W S
work, they love trees. They view
them very differently than a row of
corn.’ Ethanol is mainly made from
the starch in corn kernels. To in-
crease the supply to make a dent in
the nation’s energy picture, scien-
tists are looking at using cellulose, a
component of the cell wall in
plants. Proponents of using trees
for this say they are good sources of
cellulose and are also good at ab-
sorbing carbon dioxide, helping to
fight global warming. Also, trees
can be cut as needed rather than
having to be harvested at a given
time each year like a crop.
But the cellulose is covered by
lignin, another component of the
cell wall, making it difficult for en-
zymes to reach the cellulose and
break it down into simple sugars
that can be converted to ethanol.
Pulp and paper companies break
down lignin using acids and steam.
Ethanol producers would have to
16 NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007
do the same. Trees that
have less lignin might re-
duce or eliminate these
steps. That could save at
least 10 cents a gallon in
ethanol costs, said Michael
Ladisch, director of the
Laboratory of Renewable
Resources Engineering at
Purdue. Scientists under-
stand the steps in creating
lignin and can make lower-
lignin trees by blocking
one of them. One way is to
put in a reverse copy of
a gene that codes for an
enzyme in lignin forma-
tion. The reverse copy
silences that gene and
reduces production of that
enzyme.
Chiang said a 50%
reduction in lignin ap-
peared to be the maxi-
mum achievable, adding, ‘The tree
doesn’t allow you to go further’. The
revival has dismayed critics like
Anne Petermann, a leader of the
Stop Genetically Engineered Trees
Campaign. She said energy con-
cerns were being used ‘as a really
great opportunity to sell this contro-
versial technology to the public’. Just
one company in the US is known to
be pursuing genetic engineering of
forest trees vigorously. The company,
ArborGen, is small but has some big
backers. ArborGen, based in
Summerville, S C, is developing a low-
lignin eucalyptus that it hopes to sell
in South America, where the fast-
growing trees are already used for
pulp and paper. For the US, the
company is developing a eucalyp-
tus genetically engineered to sur-
vive cold snaps, allowing the trees
to be grown more widely.
Two genetically engineered
trees are approved by the agricul-
Volume 1 • Issue 3
ture department, both for crops:
papaya trees resistant to the
ringspot virus, and plum trees re-
sistant to plum pox virus. The only
known approval of a genetically en-
gineered forest tree has come in
China, where insect-resistant pop-
lars have been widely planted.
Chiang said his trees appeared nor-
mal, at least in the greenhouse. He
has found that trees that produce
less lignin might produce more cel-
lulose, making them even more
useful in producing ethanol, pulp,
or paper without reducing tree
strength.
Google aims for
renewable energy
priced below coal
G oogle said the web services
and online advertising group
plans to spend hundreds of millions
of dollars to help drive the cost of
electricity derived from renewable
energy below coal prices. The
project, dubbed Renewable Energy
Cheaper Than Coal, is hiring dozens
of engineers and targeting invest-
ment financing at advanced solar
thermal power, wind power, en-
hanced geothermal systems, and
other new technologies, Google
said. Google plans to be one of the
project’s first customers, employing
the power to run its massive com-
puter data centres while selling
back excess energy to the electric-
ity grid. ‘Our goal is to produce one
gigawatt of renewable energy ca-
pacity that is cheaper than coal. We
are optimistic this can be done in
years, not decades,’ Larry Page,
Google’s co-founder and president
of products, said.
One gigawatt can power a city
the size of San Francisco. Page and
 > RE NE WS <

Sergey Brin, Google’s
two 34-year-old co-
founders, said their
plan made business
sense but Google
also planned to li-
cence any resulting technologies
worldwide. ‘We see a plausible path
to much lower energy costs and we
just want to get people working on
that now,’ Page said, adding that
only if Google’s moves have a glo-
bal impact can it hope to alter the
economics that make coal or oil
cheaper. Google does not disclose
the energy consumed by the vast
data centres that power its Internet
services. But local energy experts
say the fast-growing company ranks
as one of Silicon Valley’s biggest
energy customers.
‘As Google grows, we don’t want
our core business to be part of the
problem. We want to be part of the
solution,’ said Larry Brilliant, head of
Google.org, the company’s philan-
thropic arm which will direct the
energy invest-
ments. Google
is taking advan-
tage of its grow-
ing mountain of
cash, brand rec-
ognition, and mushrooming market
value in launching the campaign.
Now the sixth largest US company
by market capitalization after its
stock leaped in recent months,
Google argues the time is ripe for
research to cut energy costs. Offi-
cials said Google is targeting re-
newable energy that could produce
a gigawatt of energy at prices, when
investments are fully amortized, of
3 cents per kilowatt-hour or lower.
‘We think we need to get in the
range of 1 to 3 cents per kilowatt-
hour to be cheaper than coal,’ said
Bill Weihl, who carries the title of
Green Energy Czar at Google. The
push comes as oil prices near $100
a barrel and coal, which generates
40% of the world’s electricity, faces
regulatory and environmental pres-
I N T E R N AT I O N A L N E W S
sures that may boost prices. ‘If they
can do it cheaper than coal, then
that’s the Holy Grail,’ said Mark
Manley, alternative fuels analyst at
Natixis Bleichroeder. ‘If they figure it
out, it will take off.’ But he cautioned
that hundreds of millions of dollars is
unlikely to make much of a dent
in the multi-trillion-dollar energy
market. ‘It will have somewhat of an
impact and shows leadership,
although the energy industry is huge,’
he said.
Dramatic investments in alterna-
tive energy have failed to yield
rapid results, he added, citing Pa-
cific Ethanol, in which Bill Gates had
invested. The stock soared, but has
since fallen from a year high of
$19.17 to $4.64. If successful in gen-
erating power at prices below coal,
Google would put the technology
to work to dramatically slow global
climate change resulting from in-
creasing coal and oil use.
THE FINANCIAL EXPRESS,
28 NOVEMBER 2007

Advertisements Retirement
Akshay Urja is widely circulated to various stakeholders of renew- Shri Sunder Singh, Assistant, re-
able energy. Akshay Urja invites advertisements (in colour) from tired on 31 December 2007
interested organizations, manufacturers, institutions, etc. The from the Ministry of New and
advertisement tariffs are as follows. Renewable Energy after serving
for 39 years in the Government
Advertisement area Tariff (rupees) of India. He joined the Ministry
in 1994 as UDC and served in
Inside Front Cover 20 000
various divisions. He is known
Inside Back Cover 20 000 for his polite and friendly na-
ture. The Ministry bid a farewell
Full Page 15 000 to Shri Sunder Singh.

The interested organizations may write to:

Editor Dr N P Singh,
Akshay Urja Adviser,
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy MNRE,
Block - 14, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi – 110 003 felicitating
Tel. +91 11 2436 3035 or 2436 0707 Fax +91 11 2436 3035 or 2436 1298 Shri Sunder
Singh
E-mail aktripathi@nic.in

Volume 1 • Issue 3 NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007 17

 -
Dr Ashvini Kumar , Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
Introduction
I
ndia is a tropical country and
is blessed with plenty of sun-
shine almost all over its sur-
face and throughout the year.
When incident sunshine is cap-
tured and transferred as heat to
perform various useful activities,
it is called as thermal application
of solar energy. It is easy for any-
one to comprehend the role of
heat in our life and importance of
the requirements of fuel to make
it available. Depending on the
technology, the temperature of
the output thermal energy can
vary from as low as ambient tem-
perature to as high as 3000 °C.
This opens up a vast area of appli-
cations including water/air heat-
ing, cooking, drying of
agricultural and food products,
water purification, detoxification
of wastes, cooling and refrigera-
tion, heat for industrial processes,
18 NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007
and electric power generation.
Solar architecture for designing of
energy-efficient buildings based on
the concepts of solar energy is an
important emerging application.
CASE (Commission for Addi-
tional Sources on Energy) in 1981
initiated a multi-pronged ap-
proach to develop various solar
energy technologies through
R&D, demonstration and exten-
sion and a separate Department
of Non-Conventional Energy
Sources was established in 1982
to carry out these activities. Since
inception, the Department gave
major thrust to solar thermal en-
ergy technologies. In order to pro-
vide technical support to the
programme, a Solar Thermal Energy
Centre was also created, which was
later renamed as SEC (Solar Energy
Centre) when activities related to
solar photovoltaic were included in
its charter. All these initiatives re-
Volume 1 • Issue 3
sulted in the development and de-
ployment of large number of solar
thermal technologies, which are
discussed below.
Solar radiation
resource
The need for acquiring solar radia-
tion data and knowledge of its spa-
tial, diurnal, and annual distribution
is of primary importance for assess-
ing the technical and commercial
feasibility of solar energy applica-
tions. As a result of an initiative
taken by the Department of Science
and Technology prior to creation of
the separate Department for Non-
Conventional Energy Sources, two
handbooks were published by Ms A
Mani; the first being Solar Radiation
Data for India (1980) based on ac-
tual data collected by IMD (India
Meteorological Department), and
another handbook in 1982 along
with Dr S Rangarajan, giving data
sets based on weather data and
empirical formulae. These hand-
books are still used extensively by
the researchers and system design-
ers alike. An exercise to update
these data books based on meas-
urements carried out at radiation

network stations of IMD during
post-1980 period is already
underway as a part of collaborative
program between SEC and IMD,
Pune.
In an effort to make available
ambient design conditions for
various air-conditioning and re-
frigeration equipment, an R&D
project was jointly sponsored by
the Ministry and ISHRAE (Indian
Chapter of American Society of
Heating, Refrigeration and Air-
conditioning Engineers) to TERI.
The project resulted in a database
for 52 Indian cities. The database,
available in the form of a CD, pro-
vides hourly values of various
weather parameters for the whole
year. It is useful for simulating per-
formance of solar buildings and
other solar energy systems in de-
tails using various computer
codes available internationally.
Solar thermal
technologies
Solar water heating
The work related to developing
solar collectors and solar water
heating systems in the country
was undertaken during initial pe-
riod at NPL (National Physical
Laboratory), New Delhi; CBRI (Cen-
tral Building Research Institute),
Roorkee; CAZRI (Central Arid Zone
Rsearch Institute) Jodhpur; Sri
Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry.
Later, the work was followed at
SEC, IIT Delhi, and other places.
Concurrently, the manufacturing
industry also began efforts to de-
velop, produce and install solar
water heating systems in the
country. The leading industries of
that time included Jyoti Ltd
Volume 1 • Issue 3
FEA
ATT U R E ART I C L E
Baroda; Allied Engineer-
ing, Delhi; and Bharat
Solar Energy, New Delhi.
The work, which was
carried out during this
period, resulted in the
development of differ-
ent configurations of
absorbers using mild
steel, GI, and copper, de-
velopment and use of
different techniques for
bonding of absorber
sheet with risers and de-
Unglazed
velopment of selective
coatings for absorbers.
Installation of large capacity sys-
tem had started since early 1980s.
Under an USAID programme be-
tween SEC and Brookhaven Na-
tional Laboratory, USA, a high absorptance (= 0.98) and low
polymer-based lightweight solar
collector was developed during
1986/87. During the same period,
unglazed collectors made of
polypropylene and EPDM materi-
als were also developed and in-
stalled for some projects.
The quality of solar collectors
manufactured indigenously re-
ceived a boost when a production
line for manufacturing selectively
coated absorbers, sheets as well
as fins and tubes, with fully auto-
matic operation was established
by M/s Solchrome Systems India
Limited at Parwanoo, Himachal
Pradesh during late 1980s. The
black chrome solar selective coat-
ing is applied on copper with tar-
geted characteristics being high
absorptance (0.96 ± 0.02) and low
emittance (0.12 ± 0.02). The pro-
duction capacity of the plant is
2.2 lakh m2/year. Another impor-
tant milestone facilitating indus-
trial production of selective
plastic solar collector by Sintex
surfaces was the development of
SOLAR THERMAL ENERGY
NALSUN technology at National
Aerospace Laboratories, Bangalore.
The coating was reported to show
emittance (= 0.12). The technol-
ogy has been patented in India,
USA, Europe, and Australia. It has
been transferred to 23 industries
so far.
The Ministry also supported an
R&D project on designing and fab-
rication of TIM (transparent insula-
tion material) from extrusion
products for solar water heating
applications to IIT Delhi during
1994/95.
Regarding research activities to
develop ETC (evacuated tubular
collectors) in the country, the ef-
forts were made as early as during
1987-88 at IBP, Bombay and Uni-
versity of Poona, supported by the
Ministry. Prototype models of all-
glass ETCs of length of 0.45 m
were developed and their effec-
tiveness was shown through ap-
plications, such as, solar sterilizer,
solar ice melter, and solar cooking.
The hospital sterilization system
and community solar cooker de-
NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007 19

Selectively coated absorber sheet
SOLAR THERMAL ENERGY
under manufacturing at Parwanoo
veloped by IBP using these ETCs
employed seasonally adjusted
parabolic trough stainless steel re-
flectors. Temperatures up to
150 °C and pressures up to 5 kg
per cm2. were achieved. The speci-
fications, however, differed from
the presently available ETCs from
China, as the earlier ETCs were all
heat-pipe type while the present
ETCs are all-glass normal collec-
tors. The product could not be
taken up for commercial produc-
tion, as suitable equipment for
up-scaling the selective coating to
1.8-m long glass tubes could not
be made available.
Installation of solar water heat-
ing system based on imported
ETCs (heat-pipe type) started as
early as 1987/88. Presently, all-
glass and heat-pipe based models
of ETCs are being marketed in In-
dia, which are imported from
China. Solar water heaters based
on ETCs have been included for
promotion under Ministry's pro-
20 NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007
grammes since 2002/03. In
China, the majority of solar wa-
ter heating systems is being
designed using all-glass ETCs.
The technology of solar water
heating systems has been com-
mercialized in India. Their tech-
nical feasibility and economic
viability has been established.
The various benefits that ac-
crue by using solar water heat-
ing systems include saving of
conventional fuels, reduction in
peak load demand of electricity,
prevention of emissions of car-
bon dioxide, etc. Depending on
the site, type of utilisation and
the structure of electricity tariff
or fuel prices, the pay back pe-
riod of the technology may vary
from 2 to 6 years.
Solar cooking
Efforts to develop solar cookers
dates back to the year 1776 when
first hotbox type solar cooker got
developed in Switzerland. In India,
National Physical Laboratory,
Delhi was the first to develop a so-
lar cooker in 1954. It was a circular
parabolic reflector, about
120 cm in diameter,
and focusing the sun's
rays on to the horizon-
tal bottom of a cook-
ing pot. Devi Dayal
Industries, Mumbai,
manufactured this so-
lar cooker with spun
aluminum and a rug-
ged iron frame on a
commercial basis. The
cooker, however, could
not become popular
primarily in view of its
cost considered high
that time. Later, Ghosh
Volume 1 • Issue 3
in Jamshedpur developed a box-
type solar cooker in 1961, which
was later modified at KVIC (Khadi
and Village Industries Commis-
sion), Ahmedabad and CAZRI,
Jodhpur. Other organizations
where considerable amount of
work on box-type solar cookers
was carried out include Agricul-
ture Tools Research Centre,
Bardoli, Gujarat; Gujarat Energy
Development Agency, Baroda;
Punjab Agricultural University,
Ludhiana; and SEC, Gwalpahari,
Gurgaon.
These efforts resulted in the
development of several models
having more than one reflector,
provision of keeping cover glazing
inclined to reduce optical losses,
provision of loading/unloading
from a window located at the rear
side of the box under the ab-
sorber. However, the model most
popular has one reflector of size
equal to that of aperture area. The
aperture area of this solar cooker
is 0.25 m2. More than six lakh solar
cookers have been sold in the
country so far. These solar cookers
Solar bowl for steam cooking at CSR,
Auroville installed during 1999–2000
 FEA
ATT U R E ART I C L E

are being exported to several in Andhra Pradesh with almost 50%

countries including USA, Ger-
many, and Australia.
Around 1989/90, Maharashtra
Gandhi Smarak Nidhi, Pune devel-
oped dish concentrating solar
cooker using mirror pieces pasted
on a paraboloid dish. The Ministry
provided support during 1995/96
to fine-tune the design. Around
the same period, dish solar cooker
for community applications (also
called Scheffler) developed by
ULOG group of Switzerland and
manufactured in India were pro-
moted for indoor cooking. The ap-
erture area of the dish was 7 m2. It
financial support from the Ministry.
It is regarded as the world's largest
solar steam cooking system. Simul-
taneously, the developmental ef-
forts are also being made to
upgrade the technology. Presently,
successful construction of a single
dish of aperture area of 16 m2 has
been reported under a R&D project
of the Ministry.
Efforts were also made at
Auroville to develop a solar bowl
concentrator hooked to a conven-
tional oil-fired boiler for a commu-
nity kitchen where food is cooked
for about 1000 people. The system
Solar-powered dryer developed

SOLAR THERMAL ENERGY

had a large automatically tracked
parabolic reflector standing out-
side the kitchen; it reflects the
sunrays into the kitchen through
an opening in its North wall. A sec-
ondary reflector further concen-
trates the rays on to the bottom of
the cooking pot painted black.
Subsequently, a smaller dish solar
cooker (SK-14), which was devel-
oped by EG Solar, an NGO of Ger-
many, got started manufactured in
India. Its aperture area was 1.4 m2.
Concurrently, steam cooking sys-
tems using paraboloid dishes
were developed and installed at
various places by Brahmakumaris.
This included the initial system to
cook food for 1000 people at
Mount Abu in 1997, which in-
volved 24 Scheffler dishes each of
aperture area of 7.5 m2 and the
project was supported by GTZ,
Germany. This was followed up by
a larger system to prepare meals
for about 10 000 people and a sys-
tem for 15 000 people per day by
M/s Gadhia Solar Energy Systems,
Valsad at the TTD (Tirumala
Tirupathi Devasthanam) at Tirumala
consisted of a non-tracking solar
concentrator of 15-m diameter
fixed on the ground and a cylindri-
cal automatic tracking receiver
pivoted at its focal point from one
end. Thermic fluid was used as the
heat transfer medium. The Minis-
try supported the project.
Based on the experience gained,
it is seen that the box solar cooker is
a slow cooking device, which is use-
ful for small families. The dish solar
cooker, on the other hand, is a fast
cooking device useful for homes
and small establishments. It can
cook almost all types of food for
about 10–15 people. The Scheffler
solar cooker can cook food for
about 40–50 people. The solar
steam cooking systems need to be
designed specially for each of the
projects.
Solar air heating and drying
Over the years, the Ministry sup-
ported a number of projects, which
have resulted in the development
of various models of solar dryers.
These include cabinet dryer, tunnel
dryer, dryer based on solar wall
by SEED, Hyderabad
metal cladding technique, solar-
powered air dryer and dryer based
on solar hot water system coupled
with liquid air heat exchanger. De-
velopmental work on heat pipe
based solar energy dryer was also
undertaken at International Ad-
vanced Research Centre for Powder
Metallurgy and New Materials,
Hyderabad during 1994/95.
Solar air heating collectors,
also known as thermosyphon air
panels, have successfully been
employed in various projects un-
dertaken during late 1980s in Leh
and were supported by the Minis-
try. It was reported that the use of
solar heated air did not only pro-
vide thermal comfort, but also fa-
cilitated conservation of scarcely
available fossil fuels, besides miti-
gating indoor air pollution caused
by burning of traditional fuels in-
side the living space.
A test and evaluation labora-
tory for solar food processing
products has been established

Volume 1 • Issue 3 NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007 21


Solar air system for laundry cloth drying at Apollo KH Hospital, Chennai,
installed during 2007
at SEED (Society for Energy,
Environment, and Development),
Hyderabad. Presently, a project re-
SOLAR THERMAL ENERGY
lated to design and development of
a prototype of industrial level solar
tunnel dryer for drying Dibasic Cal-
cium Phosphate is being imple-
mented at University of Udaipur.
As a result of support provided
by the Ministry, a number of solar
drying projects have been imple-
mented in the industrial sector.
Installation of these systems be-
gan as early as during 1990 when
PEN (Planters' Energy Network),
Theni put up a solar air-heating
system at a tea estate in Tamil
Nadu. Since then, solar air-heating
systems have covered a large
number of industrial drying appli-
cations, including, tea, fruits and
vegetables, spices (chilies, corian-
der, turmeric, salt, etc.), pulses,
paddy, fish, tannery, laundry cloth
and latex rubber.
Solar distillation
Solar stills are devices which pro-
duce fresh water from either
seawater or brackish water by uti-
lizing the freely available solar
energy.
22 NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007
Amongst others, CSMCRI (Cen-
tral Salt and Marine Chemical Re-
search Institute), Bhavnagar has
done pioneering work in the area
of solar distillation for providing
drinking water to the villagers.
One such plant was at installed
and commissioned at village
Awania, about 12 km away from
Bhavnagar, Gujarat by CSMCRI in
December 1977. Its design capac-
ity was 5000 litres per day with a
total evaporating surface area of
1867 m2.
Work on small-scale single effect
solar stills was also carried out at
CAZRI, Jodhpur during 1973 and at
IIT Delhi during late 1970s and
thereafter. The work at IIT
Delhi resulted in the de-
velopment of double ba-
sin solar still, multi-wick
solar still and high tem-
perature solar stills
where heat supply to the
solar stills was aug-
mented using solar col-
lectors.
In order to increase
per unit area based distil-
late yield of solar stills, a
multi-stage stacked tray
solar still was devel-
Volume 1 • Issue 3
oped at SEC. The studies were fol-
lowed up at the SEC jointly with
TERI by installing and commis-
sioning a solar distillation system
based on their concept.
The use of solar distillation was
also shown in extracting alcohol
from sugarcane in a pilot plant in-
stalled in Maharashtra under a
project of the Ministry during late
1980s. Recently, an R&D project re-
lated to solar distillation of aromatic
grasses and other plant materials
has been completed at Regional
Research Laboratory, Bhubaneswar.
Internationally, models have been
developed with multi effect evapo-
ration where pressure is reduced in
each stage as compared to the at-
mospheric pressure and the pres-
sure in the previous stage. The
solar distillation plants of varying
capacity ranging from few hun-
dred litres of distilled per day to
few thousand cubic metres of dis-
tilled water per day are being de-
veloped and installed in various
countries. The smaller capacity
plants use multi stage distillation
or membrane distillation, whereas
large capacity plants are based on
multi-effect distillation or RO
A typical single-basin solar still

techniques supported by concen-
trating solar power.
Solar refrigeration/air
conditioning
In tropical countries, cooling is a
necessity both for storing perish-
able products and for thermal
comfort inside the buildings.
Amongst the first installations
during early 1980s, a 30-tonne so-
lar cold storage for potato seed
farm was installed installed at
Kasia in the Deoria district of UP
and another plant of 10-tonne ca-
pacity at Baroda. A one tonne ca-
pacity solar water chiller was also
installed at Pragati Maidan, Delhi.
COP (coefficient of performance)
of these systems was observed to
be quite low. Milk chilling units of
5000 LPD, 400 LPD, and 200 LPD
capacity were installed at Bilaspur
in Haryana, Wardha in
Maharashtra, and Bharatpur in
Rajasthan, under the Ministry's
programme in collaboration with
the Danish government. The Min-
istry also sponsored R&D projects
to IIT Madras for design and devel-
opment of continuous absorption
refrigeration and air-conditioning
systems, and to SPRERI for devel-
opment of solar refrigeration us-
ing zeolites during late 1980s.
Although the prototypes were
made, their industrial production
could not be achieved. Recently, a
25-tonne air conditioning system
based on imported heat pipe ETCs
has been installed in-house by
M/s Mamta Solar Energy Systems,
Ahmedabad. It is a Li–Br vapour
absorption system with 280 m2
solar collector area.
Though the technical feasibility
of solar cooling systems has been
Volume 1 • Issue 3
FEA
ATT U R E ART I C L E
established, their economic and
commercial viability is still to be re-
alized because of high initial cost.
Solar passive
architecture
It is well known that buildings ac-
count for a large proportion of the
overall energy consumption of a
society. A quick glance at ancient
architecture reveals that it had
many characteristics, which led to
thermal comfort inside the build-
ings utilizing elements of nature.
The Greeks appreciated the im-
portance of facing their buildings
towards south, whereas Iranian ar-
chitecture developed the concept
of wind tower utilizing earth's
coolness and water evaporation
and exploited the concepts of
clustering and thick walls. Various
forts and domes in India are fine
examples of buildings responsive
to climate. Incorporation of solar
passive concepts into the building
design is seen to have the poten-
tial to meet the occupants' need
for thermal comfort and effecting
Solar hut for ITBP at Leh installed during 1986/87
savings of conventional energy to
a significant extent.
In India, the major efforts were
initiated during 1950s at CBRI
Roorkee and ASTRA (Application of
Science and Technology to Rural Ar-
eas), Bangalore where work related
to 'sky-therm system' for heating
and cooling of buildings was carried
out. Another concept 'roof surface
evaporative cooling' was initially
studied at IIT Kanpur, and later pur-
sued vigorously at CBRI, Roorkee.
The practical aspects of realizing
this concept were established, and
it was implemented on a large
number of buildings since mid
SOLAR THERMAL ENERGY
1970s. The first solar building, how-
ever, was designed in India at Kapur
Solar Farm, Bijwasan, Delhi, which
utilized active solar heating and
pebble bed storage for heat ex-
change. This system was later re-
placed with Trombe wall and phase
change material. Amongst others,
Dr C L Gupta conceptualized and
built a single storied Eco-house in
1974 at Auroville, in 1975/76.
The initial activities supported
by the Ministry included an R&D
NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007 23

SEC guesthouse building designed and constructed based on solar passive
concepts.
project sponsored to IIT Delhi dur-
ing 1983/84 to design, construct
SOLAR THERMAL ENERGY
and study solar passive buildings
in three different climates of Delhi
(composite), Jodhpur (hot & dry)
and Srinagar (cold). Another sig-
nificant work was done to design
and construct solar huts for ITBP in
Leh and surrounding areas during
1986/87 with the support of the
Ministry. The performance of
these huts was reported to be
quite satisfactory as the inside
temperature during night and day
time became 5 °C and 20 °C when
the corresponding outside tem-
peratures were -8 °C and -3 °C, re-
spectively. During this period, it
was also decided by the govern-
ment that all buildings at the SEC
will be designed and constructed
based on the concepts of solar
passive architecture. The design-
ing work was assigned to Delhi
School of Planning and Architec-
ture. Dr Vinod Gupta at the SPA
handled this work, and buildings
were constructed by CPWD. In
fact, SEC buildings were the first
institutional buildings designed
using solar passive concepts in
the country.
24 NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007
In another R&D project sup-
ported by the Ministry to IIT Delhi
with Prof. N K Bansal as the Principal
Investigator, significant work re-
lated to establishment of six cli-
matic zones in the country and to
study vernacular architecture was
carried out. The thermal perform-
ance of earth-air tunnel system ex-
isting at St Methodist Hospital,
Mathura was evaluated by IIT Delhi;
the studies were later followed up
at Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya,
Indore. Another study related to
quantification of energy efficient
glazings in reducing heating/cool-
ing energy demand of a building
was undertaken at IIT Delhi.
One of the important projects
undertaken during 1990 to show
effectiveness of using solar
thermal energy in controlling the
inside environment was imple-
mented at J J Hospital, Mumbai,
where thermal conditioning of a
room used for newborn babies to
improve neonatal survival was
achieved. The Ministry sponsored
a number of other studies related
to the formulation of design
guidelines, survey and documen-
tation of energy conscious build-
Volume 1 • Issue 3
ings, assessment of existing build-
ing bye laws with a view to exam-
ine possibilities of incorporation of
solar passive concepts into the
building design, development of
design tools, manual, handbook,
and so on.
Recently, NPL, Delhi developed
a proto-type lab-scale model of
electro-chromic windows having
an area of 0.30 m x 0.30 m. Pres-
ently, an R&D project is being car-
ried out at Malviya National
Institute of Technology, Jaipur to
develop guidelines to enhance
ventilation in the buildings.
Industrial process
heat applications
A large amount of liquid fossil
fuels like FO (furnace oil), LDO
(light diesel oil), LSHS (low sul-
phur heavy stock), as well as elec-
tricity is being used in industry for
process heat applications. Re-
search and development efforts
were initiated by the Ministry in
this area during its early years of
formation. Considerable amount
of work to design and fabricate
parabolic troughs using glass
sheets, available indigenously was
undertaken at NPL during 1975/
76. The work did not progress fur-
ther as the quality of glass, then
available, was quite poor for this
type of applications. A system of
imported line focusing concentra-
tors for producing process steam
at a rate of 100 kg per hour and at
a temperature of 150 °C was de-
signed and installed in a silk fac-
tory at Mysore during 1986/87.
For providing large amount of
process heat, the technology of
solar pond was also tried in the

Asia’s largest solar pond of 6000 m2 area at Bhuj, Gujarat in 1990/91
country. The first solar pond was
constructed in Bhavnagar,
Gujarat, in 1980/82; the technol-
ogy later was investigated at IISc.,
Bangalore for supplying hot water
during 1990/91. With the Minis-
try's support, Asia's largest solar
pond of 6000 m2 area was con-
structed and stabilized at Bhuj in
Gujarat to provide process heat
for a dairy in 1990/91. The system
worked till the dairy was closed
and abandoned later. The Ministry
under its demonstration pro-
grammes is encouraging installa-
tion of the Scheffler solar dishes,
apart from steam generation for
cooking application, for applica-
tion in heating oil/ air for various
applications in industries and
commercial establishments.
The technology of designing and
constructing a two-axis tracked
large area solar dish concentrator
(ARUN-160) has been developed
under a Ministry's supported R&D
project jointly by IIT Bombay and
CDPL (M/s Clique Development
Private Ltd), Mumbai. Its aperture
and reflector areas are 160 and
122 square meters, respectively.
Volume 1 • Issue 3
FEA
ATT U R E ART I C L E
The dish concentrator has the po-
tential to meet process heat re-
quirements at a temperature
greater than 150 °C. The system
has been installed at Mahanand
Dairy at Latur in Maharashtra for
pasteurization of about 20 000 to
25 000 litres of milk. Efforts are
being made to develop few
projects for application of ARUN
160 in different industries.
Other technologies
The Ministry supported R&D
projects in various areas including
Solar dish (ARUN 160) of 160-m2 aperture area at Latur
solar detoxification of industrial
wastes, solar kier for use in textile
industry, soil solarization and solar
green houses.
Testing/certification
and standardization
Testing, standardization and prod-
uct certification has always been
seen by the Ministry as an impor-
tant aspect of developing the in-
dustrial infrastructure for the
commercial production of various
solar thermal technologies in the
country. The work on the develop-
ment of test standards for solar
collectors and solar cookers got
SOLAR THERMAL ENERGY
started during 1985/86 at SEC. The
Ministry has been working with
BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards)
to bring relevant national stand-
ards. The first draft of the test
standards for solar collectors and
box-type solar cookers was pre-
pared by SEC during late 1980s
and submitted to BIS. The BIS fi-
nalized the drafts, and national
standards for solar collectors (IS
12933) and box-type solar cookers
(IS 13429) were published in 1990
and 1992, respectively. The latest
NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007 25

SOLAR THERMAL ENERGY
Indoor–outdoor solar collector test
facility at SEC
version of these standards was
brought out in the year 2003 and
2000, respectively, though some
amendments have been issued
subsequently.
A test procedure for domestic
solar hot water systems working
on thermo-syphonic flow of water
under natural outdoor conditions
was developed by IIT Bombay un-
der a R&D project of the Ministry.
The solar collectors, flat plate type
as well as ETC type, are covered for
testing using this test procedure.
Also, significant amount of work
has been carried out on testing of
paraboloid concentrator solar
cookers at IIT Delhi. Presently, ef-
forts are being made to develop
and establish standardized test
procedures with BIS. Both the
draft test standards are under trial
use at RTCs for further feedback.
In order to implement the
standards uniformly through out
26 NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007
the country, the Ministry took an
important initiative to create a
network of test institutions for so-
lar thermal devices in 1992 by
supporting six RTCs (Regional Test
Centres) at Madurai Kamaraj Uni-
versity, Madurai; SPRERI, Vallabh
Vidyanagar (Gujarat); Devi Ahilya
Vishwavidyalaya, Indore; Univer-
sity of Pune, Pune; Jadavpur Uni-
versity, Kolkata; and Punjab
University, Chandigarh. The SEC, on
the other hand, was working as the
national referral test centre. The
state of the art test facility for solar
collectors was set-up at SEC during
1992/93 under a bilateral project
between India and Germany.
Recently, the BIS have also been
provided funds on one-time grant
basis to develop two of its laborato-
ries at Bangalore and Mohali for
testing of solar collectors. The RTC
at Chandigarh has been discontin-
ued on review since 2006. The solar
collectors and solar cookers are
tested at these test centres and
manufacturers are granted licenses
by the BIS to use ISI mark on the
basis of these test reports.
Present scenario
The overall potential in India for
solar water heating systems is es-
timated to be 140 million m2. of
collector area. About 2 million m2
of solar collector area has been in-
stalled in the country so far. The
year-wise details of the collector
area installed are shown in an il-
lustration on next page. It is easy
to note that the rate of growth in
the last couple of years has accel-
erated quite substantially.
Historically, the government
provided entire cost of the instal-
lation of solar thermal systems dur-
Volume 1 • Issue 3
ing initial period prior to 1983/84,
while the user agency was
required to bear the cost of civil
works and internal piping etc. The
support level of direct subsidy was
reduced to 80% of the cost of sys-
tems during 1983/84, which was
gradually reduced to one-third
level during 1987/88. Subse-
quently, the direct central subsidy
was discontinued on solar water
heating systems and solar cookers
from 1993 and 1994, respectively.
However, with a view to offset the
high initial costs of solar water heat-
ing systems, a soft loan programme
was introduced in 1993 through
IREDA. The programme was subse-
quently extended through public
sector banks under an Interest
Subsidy Scheme of the Ministry.
Presently, the programme is being
implemented through IREDA and
various other public sector banks,
private banks, non-banking finan-
cial companies, and cooperative
banks.
With a view to give a major
boost to the promotion of solar
energy systems, the Ministry has
been working with the Ministry of
Urban Development to get the
building byelaws in municipalities
across the country amended so
that installation of solar water
heaters becomes mandatory for
various categories of new build-
ings. The State Electricity Boards/
utilities are also being encour-
aged to provide rebates in elec-
tricity tariff to house owners who
install solar water heaters in their
homes. The utilities in Rajasthan,
West Bengal and Karnataka are al-
ready providing such rebates.
The Ministry also initiated a
programme for the establishment

of Aditya Solar Shops in the coun-
try with a view to i) make solar
energy products easily available,
ii) service and repair of the de-
vices, and iii) dissemination of in-
formation. A modified scheme for
promoting 'Akshay Urja Shops'
was introduced during the last
two years of the Tenth Plan, which
provided soft loans for establish-
ment of the shops and recurring
grant/ turnover incentive for the
first two years of operation. The
State Nodal Agencies, Manufactur-
ers' Associations, reputed NGOs and
private entrepreneurs are allowed
to set up the shops. A total of 104
Aditya Solar Shops have been set
up in 28 States/UTs under the ear-
lier scheme. In addition, 118 Akshay
Urja Shops have been sanctioned
under the new scheme.
Future perspective in
India
Taking a view of the trend of ac-
celerated growth of installations
Volume 1 • Issue 3
FEA
ATT U R E ART I C L E
of solar thermal technologies in
the country during past, a target
of 10 million m2 of solar collector
area is envisaged in the country
during the Eleventh Plan period.
Activities are proposed on re-
search, design and development
(RD&D) in the area of solar thermal
energy with a view to lead deploy-
ment and commercialization of
technologies for power genera-
tion, industrial process heat sys-
tems, and solar cooling. It is also
envisaged to continue efforts to
develop technologies for im-
provements in the performance of
various low temperature applica-
tions with an aim to achieve re-
duced cost for the energy
delivery. Based on these activities,
design, development and installa-
tion of MW-range solar thermal
power plants based on parabolic
trough technology and central re-
ceiver technology is proposed.
Design and development of para-
bolic trough collectors for operat-
ing temperature range
of 400 °C and higher for
power generation and
for a temperature range
of less than 300 °C for
industrial process heat
applications are
planned to be under-
taken. RD&D activities
are also envisaged on
various components of
solar thermal systems
like heliostats, tracking
mechanism, tower
structure, receiver, and
storage medium.
Projects are also aimed
SOLAR THERMAL ENERGY
at to design and devel-
opment of large area
solar dish for application in decen-
tralized solar thermal power gen-
eration in kW-range and design
and development of Stirling en-
gines for power generation.
Development of advanced so-
lar flat plate collectors for applica-
tion in industrial process heat
applications will also be sup-
ported. RD&D activities are envis-
aged to improve efficiency and
reduce cost of solar thermal tech-
nologies used in low temperature
applications. This may include so-
lar distillation systems of higher
yields, solar air conditioning sys-
tem for residential and institu-
tional applications, solar
detoxification of industrial wastes,
advanced glazings for windows
for industrial production in the
country, advanced selective coat-
ings suitable for applications in
the temperature range of 300–
600 °C and polymer based low
cost materials for various solar
thermal applications.
NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007 27
 Dr Bibek Bandyopadhyay, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
E
lectricity is the most
convenient form of en-
ergy in today’s world. It
is produced by power
plants that mainly de-
pend on various conventional en-
ergy sources like hydro energy,
nuclear energy, coal, or other fos-
sil fuels. However, in our and in
many other countries majority of
the plants utilize coal as the pri-
mary energy. In the power plants,
the heat energy from coal is used
to produce steam that rotates a
turbine. The turbine, in turn, acti-
vates a generator to produce elec-
tricity. Thus, the chemical energy
stored in coal is converted to elec-
tricity. The coal, or other fossil fu-
els are carbon rich energy sources.
These are essentially ‘yesterday’s
sunshine’ stored over millions of
years and preserved beneath the
28 NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007
ground. Coal when burned pro- ing heat as input energy has, over
duces carbon dioxide- a green the years, become mature and
house gas. Often, the combustion easily available. So initiatives all
of coal in power plants remains over the world were taken and
incomplete. The incomplete com- various technologies have been
bustion produces other emissions developed to make the coal fired
such as sulfur dioxide and oxides power plants more efficient and
of nitrogen. These emissions are more environment compatible by
also not desirable environmen- minimizing problems associated
tally since these chemicals come with burning of coal. In spite of
down to our agricultural field and these advances, coal fired plants
habitation as acid
rain. The coal-fired
power plants of ear-
lier days were also
not very efficient.
Nevertheless,
coal as a fuel is avail-
able in plenty and
we cannot do away
with electricity. Also
the power generat-
ing methodology us- A coal-fired power plant
Volume 1 • Issue 3

remain as a major reason for envi-
ronmental perturbation. Moreo-
ver coal has only a finite reserve.
As happens in case of any fixed
asset, the reserve of coal is also
continuously being depleted with
its increasing use. It was thus
thought to be a good idea to find
out alternative energy source that
is available in plenty, environment
friendly and capable of utilizing
the well-developed thermody-
namic conversion route to pro-
duce electricity. The thermal
energy from the sun ideally suits
the requirement.
In the background of increas-
ing energy demand but scarce
availability and environmental
threats, the search for alternative
energy sources like solar, wind,
hydro or biomass has already as-
sumed a significant importance.
These energy sources are renew-
able in nature and environmen-
tally benign. The magnitudes of all
these sources are extremely large.
The very thought of accessing these
energy sources gives us a kind of
confidence as far as energy security
and sustainability is concerned.
Today to convert solar energy
to electricity is a viable proposi-
tion. One way is by using solar
cells, which convert the radiation
from the sun directly to electricity.
This is called solar photovoltaic
power generation. The other way
is by collecting solar energy as
heat through concentrating solar
collectors and converting this
heat into electricity using a typical
thermal power generating unit.
This is known as solar thermal
power generation.The primary en-
ergy resource for solar electric
plants is the solar radiation. It is a
Volume 1 • Issue 3
FEA
ATT U R E ART I C L E
low-density energy source, which
is available only for limited hours
in a day. The output of the plants
whether thermal or photovoltaic
is subject to diurnal, seasonal and
weather-related solar radiation
changes. These power plants can
work in grid interactive mode or
as an independent power unit. In
general, if the solar plant is con-
nected with the utility grid, no
storage or auxiliary energy supply
is needed. However, if it is an inde-
pendent power unit, necessary
storage or auxiliary energy supply
will be required. For effective
planning and design of such
power plants, it is necessary to
know the solar resource availabil-
ity as accurately as possible.
In this article we are going to
discuss only solar thermal power
generation. The solar thermal col-
lectors that are used for power
generation include amongst oth-
ers, parabolic trough collectors,
parabolic dish collectors, and
heliostats. Since for an efficient
thermodynamic process, higher
temperature is required, these
collectors are concentrating type
that have the ability to concen-
trate the available solar radiation
many times than the normal sun
over the receiver. The concentrat-
ing collectors do not collect dif-
fuse solar radiation. These can use
only the direct solar beam radia-
tion. The collectors provide the
thermal energy input for the
power plant. A typical configura-
tion of the plant consists of a solar
collector field, a fluid flow distri-
bution system that carries the so-
lar heat to the heat conversion
system, a heat engine, electric
generator and a control system. In
‘stand alone’ mode, where no pro-
vision is made to provide the re-
quired heat energy through any
other fuel, electricity is generated
as long as suitable solar heat is
available. In ‘solar hybrid’ mode, a
boiler exists between the solar
collector field and the heat en-
gine. The boiler may be operated
with a desired conventional fuel
for providing the balance of the
required heat to operate the
power plant.
Solar plants with
parabolic trough
collectors
SOLAR THERMAL POWER
A parabolic trough collector is
made of curved mirrors, shaped
like a parabola for collection of
solar radiation. The collector
tracks the sun in a single axis from
east to west. The radiation col-
lected is concentrated on an ab-
sorber tube, through which a heat
collection fluid flows. To maximize
heat collection, the receiver tube
is selectively coated and normally
enveloped by a co-centric evacu-
ated glass tube.
The collector field of the power
plant consists of arrays of such
line focusing parabolic collectors.
The fluid can be heated as high as
400 °C and is transferred to water
Parabolic trough collector
NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007 29
 Table 1 Solar energy generating systems absorber tubes of the collector
Dagget, Kramer Junction & Harper Lake, Mojave Desert, California system. The hot oil at 290 °C was
collected in a storage tank. This
Project Capacity Year of installation
hot oil could also be fed to a boiler
SEG-1 13.8 MW 1984 / economizer directly where its
SEG-2 to SEG-7 30 MW each = 180 MW 1985–1988 heat was transferred to water to
SEG-8/SEG-9 80 MW each = 160 MW 1990/91 get steam at a temperature of
• Solar field size for 80 MW unit: 0.1 km2 • 8 power plants inte- 238 °C and 31 kg/cm2 pressure.
grated with natural gas fired boiler • Use of gas restricted to 25% This steam was used to run the
of the total effective annual plant energy input by statute • Sun turbine at 6075 RPM, which gener-
concentration: 82 • Temperature: 390 ºC • Working fuel: Mineral ated electricity at 50 c/s frequency.
oil • Steel tube • Cermet selective coating • Operated through The exhaust steam was condensed
customized computer controls. in the air-cooled condenser and the
condensed water was again
through heat exchangers to pro- Solar thermal power plants pumped to the boiler. Some of the
duce super heated steam that can based on parabolic trough collec- salient features are given in Table 2.
be used for electricity production tors have recorded the maximum
SOLAR THERMAL POWER

through a turbine. In ‘solar alone’ power generating capacity so far

mode, heat storage for a few
hours is provided that can be
charged with solar radiation only.
The storage can take care of dips
in solar radiation due to cloud
flows or help preheating the fluid
in the morning. In the ‘solar hy-
brid’ configuration the boiler may
operate on a desired fuel like
natural gas. This option provides
the necessary heat required to op-
erate the power plant when rated
solar radiation is not available. It
can also help designing the power
plant at a higher rating than the
rating of the collector field.
Solar Thermal Power Plant (Linear parabolic collector)
Mojave desert, Kramer Junction, California
in the world. The most successful
and widely quoted one is the SEGS
(solar electricity generating sys-
tems) at the Mojave desert of Cali-
fornia. The conglomerate consists
of 9 plants commissioned at dif-
ferent times during 1984 to 1991.
Some of the details are given in
Table 1. The plants were installed
as peaking facility to provide over
80% energy generated during
peak load demand period.
In India, the SEC (Solar Energy
Centre) commissioned a 50 kW
STTP (solar thermal power plant)
based on line focusing parabolic
trough collectors
and a steam turbine
at its R&D Campus
on the Gurgaon–
Faridabad road just
at the border of
Delhi in 1989 as a pi-
lot project. The
plant was designed
in ‘stand alone’
mode. HYTHERM-
500 oil was allowed
to flow through the
Table 2 50 kW solar
thermal power plant
(Solar Energy Centre)
Solar collector field: total
area 1280 m2 (768 parabolic
mirrors, with length of 1.5 m
each)
Working fluid: HYTHERM-500
oil (290 °C)
Automatic tracking from East
to West with the help of sun
sensors
Storage tank: 14 m3 of oil
stored to take care fluctua-
tions in steam generation
during intermittent clouds.
Steam generator: Generates
steam at a pressure of 31 kg/
cm2 and temperature 238 °C.
Dematerialized water is fed to
the steam generator
Turbo-generator set: consists
of a turbine and alternator
coupled through a speed
reduction gearbox

30 NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007 Volume 1 • Issue 3


50-kW parabolic trough collective-based solar thermal power plant at SEC,
Gual Pahari, Gurgaon
The plant was operated success-
fully for demonstration and field
evaluation of the technology. Due
to deterioration of solar field and
non-availability of spares, the so-
lar plant has now been integrated
with a biomass gasifier for supply
of required heat on an experimen-
tal basis. Such power plants have
been experimented in many other
countries. Being a very potential
option for power generation, a
good deal of research work has
also been undertaken in a number
of countries.
Solar dish power
systems
The system collects energy from
the sun through a parabolic dish
concentrator. The parabolic dish
tracks the sun in two axes and re-
flects the solar energy to the focus
of the dish where it is absorbed by
the receiver. The receiver can at-
tain temperatures of about
800 °C. The heat thus produced is
transferred to a heat engine that
Volume 1 • Issue 3
FEA
ATT U R E ART I C L E
25 kW Dish Stirling System
US 4-95 Mark II Engine
(4 cylinders of 95 cc
displacement)
Working fluid: Hydrogen
(2900psi)
Paraboloid collector
82 spherically curved glass
mirrors, each 3 ft x 4 ft
Area = 944 square feet
~ 88 m2
Output = 25 kW
at 1000 W/ m2 insolation
Efficiency = 28%
converts it into mechanical en-
ergy. This energy then drives a
generator to pro-
duce electricity.
For quite some-
time a typical solar
dish based Stirling
engine power gen-
erator is under de-
velopment by a
number of well-
known research or-
ganizations and
business houses.
Various configurations have been
tried with continuous develop-
ment of Stirling engine itself. Stir-
ling engine is essentially an
external combustion engine,
which functions on the basis of
Stirling cycle, a thermodynamic
cycle that promises higher effi-
ciency. Such power generating
units installed and operated in
several places of the world have
given hopes for decentralized en-
ergy generation from solar energy
that can be fed to utility grids. A
record of 28% efficiency of con-
version of solar radiation to elec-
tricity has been reported. There
SOLAR THERMAL POWER
still, however, are problems re-
garding long-term trouble free
operation of the system and its
cost. Efforts are being continued
to make the system more reliable
and cost effective. At the initiative
of the MNRE (Ministry of New and
Renewable energy), In 2002, a pro-
totype of 10 kW Stirling power unit
with a unique 8.5 m solar dish made
up of fibre glass reinforced plastic
has been installed at VIT (Vellore In-
stitute of Technology) for experi-
mentation. Plants have been put up
for evaluation and further develop-
ment in Germany, USA, Australia,
Spain, and so on.
25 kW Dish Stirling System
NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007 31
 Central receiver solar
power plants
In these power plants, solar col-
lectors known as heliostats are
used to collect the solar heat.
Heliostats are nearly flat mirrors
with high reflectivity and track the
sun in two axes. The collected so-
lar radiation is concentrated on a
receiver placed at the focal point
of the array on the top of a tower.
These power systems are also
known as solar tower systems. The
concentrated solar radiation can
heat the working fluid passing
through the receiver to tempera-
SOLAR THERMAL POWER
tures as high as 550 ºC. There are
various other schemes where the
temperature can go as high as
1000 ºC. The collected heat can
then be used for power genera-
tion.
One of the early efforts (early
eighties) on solar thermal power
generation was the 1 MW ‘Eurolis’
solar thermal power plant on
Mount Etna (Sicily) in Italy. This
was to demonstrate and evaluate
the tower technology (central re-
ceiver concept) for a commercially
oriented solar power generating
system. The plant generated use-
Block diagram of central receiver
system
32 NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007
The Stirling engine unit set up at
Vellor
ful data before it was finally
decommissioned. Further a up solar thermal power plants. A
number of pilot plants based on
central receiver systems were in-
stalled in USA, Israel, Spain, and
other countries to study the effi-
cacy and economics of such
plants. Keeping in view the work-
ing temperature and collector
field configuration, these plants
were mainly designed in mega-
watt capacity ranges. For extrac-
tion of heat from the central
receiver placed on the top of the
tower, different kinds of heat ex-
tracting fluids were proposed.
These include water, heat transfer
oil, molten salt, liquid sodium etc.
Experiments were also conducted
for using air as heat transfer me-
dium. Various receiver configura-
tions were developed. In India,
designs of such a power plant
have been attempted by the BARC
(Bhaba Atomic Research Centre).
Retrospection will show that
since the last installation of SEGS
plants in California in 1990, there
has been no significant commer-
cial project on solar thermal
Volume 1 • Issue 3
power generation internationally.
Nevertheless, based on the con-
viction that solar thermal power is
one of the most promising tech-
nologies, continuous R&D over
several years in many countries
have resulted substantial im-
provement in system design, con-
figuration and components. A
number of plants with capacity in
kilowatt ranges have now been
designed in hybrid mode with
provision of uninterrupted power
supply that may offer installation
possibilities of a large number of
such plants.
In the recent past there has
been a renewed interest in setting
large number of projects have just
been commissioned. A few plants
are under construction. More
plants have been planned and in
many cases agreement with utility
has been concluded for sale of
electricity. The total installed ca-
pacity in the world would soon be
around 10 000 MW. The countries
involved include amongst others
USA, Australia, Spain, Israel, Italy,
China and Algeria. A number of
Governments have announced
policies and financial incentives
for installation of solar thermal
power plants. These plants are
based on various technologies as
described above. It has been ob-
served that once decisions are
taken, the plants can be installed
in lesser gestation period com-
pared to fossil fuel power plants.
Solar thermal technologies can be
hybridized with fossil fuels and
also with existing power plants.
An analysis of the installed cost
and performance of these power
plants shows that the average es-
 FEA
ATT U R E ART I C L E

site. The current unit cost is signifi-

120-kW solar tower cantly higher than that of the con-
Experiment on Solar ventional alternative. However,
reformed natural gas for a the cost has started showing de-
heat engine clining trend.
P 50 m high tower With abundant availability of
P 4.3 m2 heliostat solar radiation, India is a potential
of Pilkington glass country for installation of solar
• 800 mm2 Receiver thermal power plants. As a result
aperture of programmes undertaken by
P 200 heliostat to MNRE, experiments have been
generate conducted in the country on a
500 kW of energy. number of solar thermal power Plant at CSIRO, New Castle,
P Concentration: 1000 units based on a variety of tech- Australia
P Temperature: 1000 °C nologies. Organizations namely
SEC, Indian Institute of Technol- ternational map on solar power.
ogy Bombay, BARC, National Ther- With increasing cost of conven-

SOLAR THERMAL POWER

timated cost of installation of a
solar power plant is about $3 mil-
lion per megawatt. The unit cost
of output electricity based on life
cycle analysis depends on a
number of factors including the
solar resource availability at the
mal Power Corporation, and
Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd have
already gained sufficient exper-
tise in the technology. Installation
of a large capacity grid interactive
solar thermal power plant in the
country will bring India on the in-
tional energy and continuing trend
of internalizing environmental cost
of fossil fuel based electricity pro-
duction, solar thermal power plants
will be one of the competitive op-
tions for electricity generation In
the near future.

Inviting articles for Akshay Urja

The need to have a sustainable supply necessitates the exploitation of available en-
ergy sources, and among these, renewable resources are at the forefront. It is now an
established fact that RE (renewable energy) can be an integral part of sustainable de-
velopment because of its inexhaustible nature and environment-friendly features. RE
can play an important role in resolving the energy crisis in urban areas to a great ex-
tent. Today RE is an established sector with a variety of systems and devices available
for meeting the energy demand of urban inhabitants, but there is a need to create
mass awareness about their adoption. Akshay Urja is an attempt to fulfil this need.
20 000 copies are being disseminated in India and abroad.
Akshay Urja publishes news, articles, research papers, case studies, success stories,
and write-ups on RE. Readers are invited to send material with original photographs
and statistical data. Akshay Urja will pay suitable honorarium for each published arti-
cle of about 1500 words and above to the authors. The publication material in two
copies, along with a soft copy on CD/floppy/e-mail may be sent to

Editor, Akshay Urja

Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Block – 14, CGO Complex,
Lodhi Road, New Delhi – 110 003
Tel. +91 11 2436 3035 • Fax +91 11 2436 3035 • E-mail akshayurja@nic.in

w w w . m n r e . g o v . i n

Volume 1 • Issue 3 NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007 33

Energy-efficient building
This hostel building TAPASYA BLOCK (PHASE 1),
for the ashramites, SRI AUROBINDO ASHRAM,
NEW DELHI*
requiring medium-level
equilibrium in terms
of thermal and visual
comfort, uses simple
but effective passive
solar architectural
interventions. Use
of building-integrated
solar water heating
system is an
innovative feature.

T
he Aurobindo Ashram
Trust (Delhi branch) is a
charitable society do-
ing pioneering work in
various fields, notably
education, philosophy, and cul-
ture. The use of non-conventional
energy techniques for various
purposes is both economically
and spiritually important for the
philosophy of the Ashram. There
was a large degree of participa-
tion by the ashramites for the con-
struction.
This is the first phase of an
unusual building complex which
shall grow to form offices, swim-
ming pool, library, dining, medita-
tion, and residential facilities. In
Light-coloured permanent finished walls have high emissivity and poor
absorptivity. Deep recessed windows reduce solar gains
the first phase, it is planned to grids are divided into two rooms
house around 80 people – stu- and the triangles divided into two
dents, visitors, and ashramites – in sets of toilets and dressing areas.
a hostel-like block. Except on ground floor, each room
The rooms are laid out around gets a balcony on the outer faces.
3 hexagonal courtyards. The
building as it grows will enclose Materials, techniques,
one large courtyard around which and methods
there will be 12 such small
duodecagonal blocks. The plan- Rough white finish
ning grid is a space-filling grid The building is finished in a per-
composed of squares and equilat- manent white slate, which is
eral triangles. The courtyards are rough and, therefore, has good
surrounded by overlooking corri- emissivity. Being light in colour,
dors, around which the square the absorptivity is poor.

*Architect of this building is Mr Sanjay Prakash

34 NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007 Volume 1 • Issue 3

 FEA
ATT U R E ART I C L E

Deep recesses
Though the building is not ori-
ented because of its multifaceted
geometry, it has been provided
with deeply recessed large open-
ings on each room towards the
outside.

Selective cross-ventilation
Each room is provided with an op-
erable ventilator above the door
on the ‘inside’ and large operable
glazed and opaque shutters on
the outside. Both have fixed in-
sect-netting with inward opening
glazing. The sills are low in height The plan of the hostel is duodecagonal in shape centred around hexagonal
to be able to get good air flow courtyards. The courtyards along with carefully designed ventilators and
windows aid in cross-ventilation
even at the level of the bed. This
feature has worked well, and fans

are not required until April. The
rooms can be opened up in the
summer night and closed up with
shutters and heavy curtains dur-
on study desks. Built-in window
reading benches are placed below
the main windows on the outer
face of the ground floor rooms
STUDY
cal back-up. The total capacity is
2400 litres/day (about 30 litres/
person-day). Two systems, feed-
ing the north-side rooms, are

CASE
ing the day to create tempera- (which do not have balconies or optimally tilted at 45 degrees. The
tures, which average slightly terraces). other two systems, feeding the
lower than ambient condition. south-side room, are vertically

Vegetation
Lowering of temperatures is also
made possible by the densely
vegetated surroundings of the
campus in which this building is
located. The selectively cross-
ventilating air is drawn from the
grassy and vegetated areas.
Installed system
Architecturally integrated
hot water system
Four thermosiphonic flat-plate so-
lar collector systems for hot water
are provided. There is no electri-
mounted on the parapet wall fac-
ing south or ±30 degrees east or
west of south. The building sec-
tion especially at the terrace level
was partially determined by solar
hot water constraints. All systems
are masonry integrated and

Courtyards
The inside courtyards are small
and interlinked to encourage both
cross- ventilation in rooms as well
as ventilation between them. Parapet wall
with integrated
Daylight solar hot water
panels. Also
All rooms have an upper fixed seen is the
glazing to encourage ‘daylight- structure, which
only’ usage during the day. Small houses the hot
water tank
table-level windows are provided

Volume 1 • Issue 3 NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007 35

 Details of architecturally integrated solar water heating system (type B). Various details highlight integration of solar hot
water collectors with parapet wall, hot water tank details, and piping details (See the next figure for further details.)
CASE STUDY
mounted on walls or RCC (rein-
forced cement concrete) slabs. All
tanks are neatly placed over toilet
pipe shafts within room-like struc-
tures. This reduces balance-of-sys-
tem costs while providing better
aesthetics in comparison to retro-
fit systems. Further, the vertical
systems display lesser dust collec-
tion (important in a polluted city
like Delhi), lesser glass breakage
and complete freeing up of ter-
race space, thereby offsetting the
25% lower performance for unit
area over a winter season. The ter-
race is used for washing and dry-
ing of clothes. This system can be
adapted to multi-dwelling multi-
storey buildings without the need
to use terrace space.
Electricity
conservation
Electricity is sparingly provided all
over, with low voltage corridor
36 NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007
lights, two lights, and one fan per partly due to the time table of the
room with three lights in the at- residents matching daylight pat-
tached toilet and dressing areas. terns. The clothing and food habits
No 15 Ampere sockets are re- also reduce the amount of cooling
quired. Even with incandescent that is required. No power is used
lights, the overall installed power for cleaning, hot water, washing of
load is to the tune of 10 W/m2, clothes, toilets or any other func-
nearly all of it as lights and fans. tion except (cold) water pumping.
Electrical energy conservation is
Effect of architectural integration on the economics of solar hot water system for
New Delhi (winter solar water heating – passive model)
Normal system Integrated system Integrated system
Configuration (optimum tilt) (optimum tilt) Vertical
Collector area required Ac Ac 4/3 Ac
1 Collector costs (x) 100.0 100 133.3
2 Balance of systems costs of
passive systems at half of
normal collector costs 50.0 50 50.0
3 Cost savings due to collector
integration as a percentage
of collector cost (reduction in
back cover and supports) — 6 (@6%) 14.6 (@ 11%)
Total costs (1 + 2 − 3) 150.0 144 168.7
Increase (decrease)% 0% (4%) 12.5%
Volume 1 • Issue 3

Load-bearing
structure
The three-storey building was de-
signed in load-bearing brickwork
and was without beams and col-
umns, reducing the consumption
of concrete and steel.
Performance
The solar hot water system has
worked extremely well. There is
no back-up electrical use for heat-
ing water. However, the large
glass covers do break occasionally
due to thermal expansion. There-
fore, integrated collectors should
also be made in small packs and
further have a ledge in the front
Volume 1 • Issue 3
FEA
ATT U R E ART I C L E
for ease of repair in case of prob-
lems. Both these changes are be-
ing incorporated in the next
building of the Ashram.
The thermal behaviour of
rooms is satisfactory for the life-
style of the Ashram dwellers and
the building uses no devices other
than ceiling fans.
Economics
The use of self-managed con-
struction and use of load-bearing
construction led to cost reduction
by about 20%. The hot water sys-
tem was additional though it
would pay for itself in about two
winter seasons even without
grants.
Vertically-mounted collectors
can thus be expected to give (for
approximately 12% increase in
capital costs) architectural inte-
grated solar hot water systems
along with great aesthetic gain,
free terrace, less dust addition,
less glass breakage, less mainte-
nance cost.
At a glance
Project details
Site location
New Delhi
Project description
Institutional hostel
Climate
Composite
STUDY
Design team
Sanjay Prakash, Anop Singh Rana,
and Manoj Joshi
Consultants
CASE
C L Gupta and Atam Kumar
(solar hot water)
Project period
1990–1993
Size
3000 m² covered area in a large
campus
Building/construction type
Load-bearing fired brick structure with
RCC slabs, finished in white slate
Client/owner
Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Delhi Branch
Trust
Sponsor
Ministry of Non-conventional Energy
Sources (hot water system) and Sri
Aurobindo Ashram, Delhi Branch
Builder/contractor
Owner-managed construction
This article has been taken from
Energy Efficient Buildings in
India, published by TERI and MNRE
NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007 37

Solar Energy
Centre
Gwal Pahari, Gurgaon
T
he SEC (Solar Energy
Centre), established in
1982, is a dedicated
unit of the MNRE (Min-
istry of New and Re-
newable Energy), Government of
India for development of solar en-
ergy technologies and to promote
its applications through product
development. The Centre, along
with the programmes division of
the ministry, has contributed sig-
nificantly towards the implemen-
tation of the national programme
on solar energy. SEC has the requi-
site equipment, laboratories, and
other associated facilities for de-
sign, development, testing, and
evaluation. Facilities for conduct-
ing training programmes and
seminars are available in the form
38 NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007
of an auditorium, a seminar room,
and a meeting room equipped with
audio–visual equipment. The SEC
serves as an effective interface be-
tween the government and institu-
tions, industry, and user
organizations for the development,
promotion, and widespread utiliza-
tion of solar energy in the country.
The SEC buildings
The buildings of the SEC (Solar En-
ergy Centre) have been designed to
make full use of on-site energy for
providing environmental comfort.
The complex is located in the com-
posite climate of Gurgaon, about 35
km south of Delhi. The buildings in
this complex has been divided into
three groups.
Volume 1 • Issue 3
P The technical and administra-
tion block comprising adminis-
tration, library, cafeteria,
laboratories and testing areas,
and the solar simulator section.
P Workshop building and electric
sub-station, etc.
P The guest house building.
Functions
The functions of the Centre are as
follows.
P R&D (research and development)
• Cooperation with institu-
tions and industry
P Testing and standardization
• National test facility
• Coordination and with re-
gional test centres and
standards organizations
P Technology demonstration and
assessment
• Evaluation of technical, envi-
ronmental, and economic
performance
P Human resource development
• Training and visitors’ pro-
gramme
• Dissemination and diffusion
of solar energy technologies
P Advisory and consultancy
services
P International cooperation
P Plantation of Jatropha curcas for
production of bio-diesel
Other activities
The SEC houses the national test
facility for solar thermal devices in
the country. The facility is
equipped for the following.
P Testing of solar thermal collec-
tors
P Testing of domestic (thermo-sy-
phon) solar water heating sys-
tems, and

P Testing of solar cookers, both
box type and concentrating
type.
A comprehensive photovoltaic
test facility is available at the Cen-
tre to provide a variety of services.
SEC has also, over the years, im-
plemented a number of demon-
stration projects on its own
campus or at other places in the
country to promote new and re-
newable energy technologies. It
has also participated in many other
demonstration projects through
field-testing and evaluation.
Improved efficiency, and cost-
competitive and reliable perform-
ance of solar technologies are
critical for their large-scale market
penetration. The R&D projects are
initiated based on the need iden-
tified during various scientific ac-
tivities carried out by the Centre
at different spheres. The interac-
tive R&D programme of the Centre
facilitates addressing the critical
areas of development in coopera-
tion with other institutions and
industry.
Projects
The ongoing and recently con-
cluded R&D projects include the
following.
P Preparation of a handbook on
solar passive architecture
jointly with the Indian Institute
of Technology, Bombay
P Monitoring and performance
evaluation of solar buildings con-
structed in different climatic
zones jointly with Devi Ahilya
University, Indore; and Science,
Technology, and Environment
Council, Himachal Pradesh
Volume 1 • Issue 3
RE INSTITUTION
P Development of standardized
test procedure for domestic
thermosyphon solar hot water
systems jointly with the Indian
Institute of Technology, Bom-
bay
P Development of course mate-
rial on solar passive architec-
ture for inclusion in the
curricula of BArch jointly with
the Indian Institute of Technol-
ogy, Delhi and Council of Archi-
tects
The SEC, right from the begin-
ning, has implemented a number
of international projects for estab-
lishing its own facilities, providing
technical and training assistance
to other nations, and offering its
test facility to technical organiza-
tions of various countries. In the
process, it has interacted with ma-
jor international and bilateral or-
ganizations, and institutions of
repute the world over. Now, as an
established institution, the inter-
national cooperation programme
of the SEC envisages providing
technical and training assistance
to other countries, developing
new and improved technologies
through collaborative projects, fa-
cilitating export promotion by
way of offering test certification of
international standards, and de-
veloping human resources.
Other achievements
The Centre has also many other
significant achievements as given
below, to its credit.
P Technical assistance to industry
for development for solar en-
ergy products
P Development of National Stand-
ards for solar thermal devices
P Establishments of testing pro-
tocol for solar thermal and solar
PV devices for attaining uni-
formity in the testing carried
out by various authorized
agencies within the country.
P Preparation of a number of
technical reports/papers on im-
portant solar energy topics,
such as solar thermal power
generation, solar refrigeration,
solar desalination, biofuel, and
other technologies.
P Establishment of a number of
technology demonstration
projects including a 46 kW solar
PV power project at the Centre.
P Establishment of state-of-the-
art facilities for solar energy re-
search and testing under
assistance from UNDP, USAID,
and GTZ.
P Establishment of a solar
evaporative cooling system for
a part of the technical blocks of
the Centre.
P Reviving 50 kWe solar thermal
power plant by indigenizing
some critical components like
heat collection elements. Plant
is in use as R&D, demonstration
and educational facility.
P 26 000 and 500 saplings of Jat-
ropha curcas and Pongania
pinnata have been planted re-
spectively under the biofuel
programme during 2005/06.
P Prepared a biodiversity report
including both indigenous and
exotic flora of SEC.
P Prepared presentation material
that is, posters giving technical
details from cultivation of Jat-
ropha curcas to production of
bio-diesel.
NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007 39
Renewable Energy Scheme
ent
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy Announcem

Solar buildings programme

Objective
To promote the use of solar pas-
sive techniques in building de-
sign and demonstrate solar
buildings in the country by pro-
viding a combination of financial
and promotional incentives so
as to reduce/conserve the con-
sumption of conventional elec-
tricity.

Scheme provisions
The scheme provides for finan-
cial support for preparation of
DPRs (detailed project reports)
and construction of solar buildings apart from organiz- P Up to 10% of the cost of construction of the build-
ing workshops and seminars for engineers, planners, ing, subject to a maximum of Rs 50 lakh (maximum
builders, architects, consultants, housing financing or- two buildings per state in a year)
ganizations, and potential users. Support is also ex-
tended for compilation and publishing of documents Eligibility for CFA for solar buildings
related to solar buildings. P All public as well as private institutional buildings
for preparation of DPRs
Central financial assistance for solar buildings P Buildings of state nodal agencies and other public/
P 50% of the cost of the DPR, subject to a maximum government buildings for construction
of Rs 2 lakh (maximum 10 DPRs per state in a year)

CFA for other activities

(To SNAs/ IREDA/ technical institutions/government bodies/associations, and so on)
Activity Support

Workshops/seminars/orientation courses for creating awareness, generating Up to Rs 2 lakh

public interest and providing inputs about the technology to engineers, on case-by-case
planners, builders, architects, consultants, housing financing organizations, basis
and potential house owners.

Compilation and publishing of documents on solar buildings which include Up to Rs 2 lakh

popular literature, books, and manuals for architects and designers, promotional on case-by-case
material in different languages, and so on; award competition for energy-efficient basis
buildings; and formulation of design guidelines for energy-efficient buildings,
preparation of manuals, information brochures, and so on.

For further information please contact

Mr Ajit K Gupta, Adviser, UICA Group, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Block 14, CGO Complex
Lodhi Road, New Delhi – 110 003
Tel./ Fax: 011 2436 1152 • E-mail: advakg@nic.in

Renewables in IITF 2007
W
ith the world gradually
shifting to sustainable
energy use, RE (renew-
able energy) sources are becom-
ing the order of the day. People
are waking up to the benefits of
using solar cookers, heaters, and
so on, but a lot still needs to be
done in terms of creating aware-
ness on the positives of RE
sources. During the last 25 years,
significant progress has been
made in the development and
production of RE systems and de-
vices in our country. Globally, In-
dia has attained the second
position after China in biogas de-
velopment and fourth position in
wind energy development. Still a
lot needs to be done in terms of
creating awareness among the
general masses and different tar-
get groups. To commemorate its
silver jubilee year, the MNRE par-
ticipated in a big way in IITF (India
International Trade Fair) 2007. The
different pavilions showcasing RE
products/devices at the IITF (India
International Trade Fair) 2007 pro-
Mobile exhibition van on renewable energy at IITF 2007
Volume 1 • Issue 3
The MNRE stall at IITF 2007: visitors thronging the stalls
vided an insight into how RE could
replace conventional energy
sources, and thereby promote
sustainable growth.
Under the umbrella of the min-
istry, 21 manufacturers showcased
RE products/devices such as water
heating systems of different ca-
pacities, photovoltaic systems,
dish solar cookers, different mod-
els of solar lanterns, home lighting
systems, solar fans, solar caps, so-
lar torch, radio, transistor, street
RE EVENTS
lighting, road studs, traffic signals,
solar TV, invertors, mobile charg-
ers, solar search light, solar power
plant, solar agriculture system, so-
lar education kit, solar still, and
wind turbines. A mobile exhibi-
tion van outside the MNRE (Minis-
try of New and Renewable Energy)
pavilion displayed a biogas plant,
solar pump set, solar streetlight,
biomass gasifier, and solar cooker.
The working of these systems was
explained and demonstrated to
the visitors. The pavilion also dem-
onstrated working of NRSE (new
and renewable sources of energy)
such as wind farm, small hydro,
Urja Gram, solar hut, biogas plant,
and solar water heating and light-
ing systems. There were also two
plasma TVs for screening NRSE
films. A fountain run by an SPV
module was an added attraction.
Picture this, a cap that shields
you from the sun and utilizes solar
energy to keep you cool. Sounds
funny, but think again. Central
Electronics Ltd, Uttar Pradesh, has
manufactured a unique cap that
NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007 41
 RE EVENTS

has a small fan at-

tached to it. A silicon
photovoltaic chip ab-
sorbs solar energy and
rotates the fan, blowing
cool air on your face. In
addition to this, there
are solar lanterns, solar
home lighting systems,
solar inverters, and nu-
merous such devices
that are inexpensive yet
very useful. Why, they
even had solar toys for
children and solar mo-
bile battery chargers!
The toys are a good way
of educating children
about the benefits of RE
sources.
There were many Visitors and schoolchildren at the various renewable energy pavilions
manufacturers includ-
ing state nodal agen-
cies, public sector
undertakings, and the private sec- (Tamil Nadu), NEDCAP Ltd (Andhra (backlit) on different programmes
tor who put up stalls to create Pradesh), TERI, WISE, Maharishi So- on RE, as also various systems and
awareness on renewable sources lar Technology Pvt. Ltd, G S Enter- devices. In addition to this, 8
like solar energy, wind, biomass, prises, Manak Engineering Service, working models, such as, wind
and small hydro. The agencies and Telemats India Pvt. Ltd, Natural En- farm, windmill for pumping water,
manufacturers include the follow- ergy Systems, Trans Solar Technolo- biogas plant, small hydropower,
ing: ANERT (Kerala), CREDA gies, Bhambri Enterprises, greenhouse, solar hut, urja gram,
(Chhattisgarh), Delhi Transco Ltd, Suryakiran Pvt. Ltd, EmmVee Solar and SPV water lifting pump. The
EE&REM (DTL), GEDA (Gujarat), Systems Pvt. Ltd, Rishipooja Enter- ministry provided literature to all
HAREDA (Haryana), IREDA (Delhi), prises (Gorakhpur), Arsh Electronics stallholders to distribute literature
MEDA (Pune), NEDA (UP), PEDA Pvt. Ltd, Kalli Sons Televent Pvt. Ltd, on NRSE in English and Hindi on
(Punjab), Suzlon India Ltd, TEDA M/s Sour Oorja Solutions, Kavita So- demand by the public. Another
lar Energy Pvt. Ltd, Gill Associ- main attraction at the fair was the
ates, Raj Electronics, Solanand revolving 25 years glow sign of
Solar Systems, Sharp Business the MNRE. RE sources must be rec-
System (India) Ltd (New Delhi), ognized and promoted on a large
System Appliances Co. (New scale. The pavilions on RE at the
Delhi), Tarashawa Engineers IITF showcase the immense uses
(New Delhi), and Ankur Lamps of RE devices. Why, you could even
and Lighting Pvt. Ltd. cook Maggi in a solar cooker! So
The ministry’s stalls (indoor how about becoming non-con-
and outdoor) covered all the ventional for a change?
The TERI stall at IITF 2007 pavilions with 82 translights Courtesy: R K Sharma, JEO, MNRE

42 NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007 Volume 1 • Issue 3

 DAC CORNER

District advisory committees in action

T
he idea of creating DACs
(district advisory commit-
tees) in each district has
now turned into reality with crea-
tion of 560 DACs all over the coun-
try. These DACs with over 13 000
members are creating awareness
on various renewable energy sys-
tems and devices in their respec-
tive districts. The meetings of
DACs are held in once in each
quarter and their recommenda-
tions are forwarded by DACs to
the MNRE. During the last year, DAC Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh
over 175 reports have been re-
ceived in this ministry. The sugges- DAC Rajasthan An exhibition was also organ-
tions and recommendations are An orientation-cum-training pro- ized at Hotel Clark-Amer, Jaipur
considered appropriately and de- gramme was organized by RRECL wherein the equipments and sys-
pending upon their merit and need, (Rajasthan Renewable Energy Cor- tems of solar energy, wind energy,
they are incorporated into the vari- poration Ltd) for the members of and bio energy were exhibited by
ous schemes of the ministry. Thus, DAC Rajasthan on 26 November various manufacturers and com-
the reports of DACs provide direct 2007 at Jaipur. DACs have been panies. The presentations were
feedback from the field. setup in each of the 32 districts of made on the benefits of renew-
Rajasthan comprising of about 700 able energy systems and devices
DAC Srikakulam, members. About 250 members in the daily life of people. After the
Andhra Pradesh from various districts actively par- training, all DAC members were
The possibility of using renewable ticipated in the programme. This quite convinced with the positives
energy in daily life was discussed training aimed to equip the DAC of renewable energy and they as-
in detail. A workshop held, helped members with the latest develop- sured to disseminate their knowl-
in creating awareness and encour- ment on renewable energy taking edge among the other members for
aged participants to use renew- place in the country and apprise promotion of renewable energy in
able energy systems and devices. them of the current schemes of the their respective districts.
The DAC is very keen on promot- central and state government.
ing the message of using new and
renewable energy through imple-
mentation of various programmes
particularly for the promotion of
solar energy based activities such
as SPV lighting systems and solar
water heaters. Cooperation at all
levels including the district ad-
ministration is being extended
and therefore, the meetings are
being held successfully. Orientation-cum-training programme and exhibition at DAC Rajasthan

Volume 1 • Issue 3 NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007 43

Renewable Energy Scheme
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
Solar thermal energy demonstration programme
Objective
To promote energy-efficient building designs based on
the principles of solar architecture for rural houses/
buildings
Scheme provisions
Various components of the programme and the avail-
able financial support are as follows.
Concentrating solar cookers
P Dish solar cookers (diameter 1.4 m, minimum) for
faster outdoor cooking for about 10–15 people
@30% of total cost, limited to Rs1500/- per cooker.
P Community solar cookers (aperture area 7 m2, mini-
mum) for indoor cooking for about 40–50 people @
30% of eligible capital cost, limited to Rs15,000/-
per cooker.
Box type solar cookers
P Incentives for sale of box-type solar cookers
through SNAs @ Rs 200 for each ISI marked solar
cooker, and @ Rs 100 for non-ISI solar cookers but
approved by SEC/RTCs.
P Financial support to organize promotional activi-
ties like publicity, cooking demonstrations/ compe-
titions, seminars/ workshops, evaluation studies,
and development of improved models up to a
maximum of Rs 1.50 lakh.
P Financial support to the manufacturers of solar
cookers for obtaining BIS approval.
Special demonstration and pilot projects
Support is provided for solar dryers (direct type and
indirect type) and solar distillation systems for produc-
ing pure water (single basin type solar stills, high effi-
ciency solar stills) in villages that are electrified or to
be electrified through conventional grid. The MNRE
share is restricted up to 50% of the cost of systems.
Demonstration scheme for North-East, islands, J&K
and Sikkim
Support is provided for installation of solar water heat-
ing systems at sites of high visibility in the states/union
territories of the North-East, the islands, Sikkim, and
Jammu & Kashmir, with MNRE share restricted to 50%
of the cost of the systems. The quantum of financial
For further information please contact
Dr T C Tripathi, Adviser, Solar Energy Group, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Block 14, CGO Complex
Lodhi Road, New Delhi – 110 003
Tel./ Fax: 011 2436 1932 • E-mail: advtct@nic.in
ent
Announcem
assistance for solar water heating systems for the
states of North-East and Sikkim will be to the maxi-
mum extent of Rs 6000 per m2 of collector area and for
other areas up to the extent of Rs 4000 per m2.
Solar buildings programme
Support is provided to promote energy-efficient
building designs based on the principles of solar archi-
tecture for rural houses/ buildings through training
and education, demonstration, and promotional ac-
tivities in villages, which are electrified or to be electri-
fied through conventional grid.
Training and education activities
National/ model workshop / Rs 2,00,000
orientation course
Seminar / workshop of one day Rs 40,000
Workshop/ orientation course of two days Rs 65,000
Refresher/ orientation course of three days Rs 80,000
A session in a major conference Rs 50,000
Demonstration activities
With a view to demonstrating construction of new build-
ings based on the principles of solar passive architecture,
partial financial assistance is provided to the government
and semi-government organizations through SNAs to (i)
support preparation of DPRs (detailed project reports),
and (ii) construction of such buildings.
The pattern of financial assistance available is as
under.
a) DPRs: 50% of the cost of DPR or 1.5% of the esti-
mated cost of the building with a maximum of
Rs.1,00,000 for each project.
b) Construction of buildings: Limited to 10% of the
cost of the building with a maximum of Rs 10.0
lakh for each project
Promotional activities
Support of up to Rs 1,00,000 is provided to housing devel-
opment organizations/ institutions/ village panchayats to
enable them to formulate guidelines for energy-efficient
buildings under the local climatic conditions through ex-
pert consultation, preparation of manuals, information
brochures, and design guidelines for energy-efficient
buildings to be implemented in their housing projects.
 CHILDREN’S CORNER
Why solar power needs
to be considered as a main energy
D
o you worry about the air pol-
lution and what your lungs are
breathing in? You should be
worrying! Today, the energy we use to
run our cars and heat our homes is
creating a lot of pollution. We need to
be thinking about the future of the
country because pretty soon we are
not going to have enough gasoline to
run our cars, and heat our homes. Fos-
sil fuels maybe the source of energy
today, however, solar power must be
the source of energy tomorrow.
Fossil fuels are non renewable,
which means they cannot be repro-
duced in a short time. Fossilized re-
mains of plants and animals create
fossil fuels. Coal, oil, and natural gas
are examples of fossil fuels. Coal is
mined, and the oil is drilled from oil
plants. For example, when coal is
burned, steam is produced. Then the
steam turns the turbine in the genera-
tor to make an electric current. Al-
though fossil fuels help us in many
ways, we are going to run out! They
also have many disadvantages like,
the pollutants from the plants and cars
contribute to global warming. They
also cause irritation to the lungs and
may cause difficulty in breathing. We
use so much of this energy that almost
95% of the world’s energy is used by
fossil fuels.
In contrast to fossil fuels, solar
power is a renewable source of energy.
Solar power is renewable because the
sun will shine for billions of years to
come. Solar power is sunlight that hits
the solar panels, or is the solar radiation
that reaches the earth. Solar power is
turned into power when the sun cells
hit the absorber. The electrons then mi-
grate to the surface of the photovoltaic
cell, and the cells may become negative
or positive. When the two surfaces
meet electricity flows to a generator. An
example of this process is like in solar
thermal plants. They use a mirrored sur-
face though basically they are the same.
Solar power also has many benefits
or advantages compared to fossil fuels.
One benefit is that solar power is very
clean. This means we won’t have to
worry about the pollution, or the haz-
ardous wastes that might be in effect
when you use fossil fuels. Also we then
won’t have to worry about contaminat-
ing oceans and rivers. A second benefit
is that there will be no shortages since
the sun will shine for billions of years to
come. This also means that we won’t
have to replenish wells or plants. My
last benefit is there will be no air pollu-
tion, therefore, no hidden taxes or extra
costs to pay.
As you can see, solar power is not
polluting and you cannot ever run out.
The sun will shine for billions of years
to come. So, solar power must be the
source of energy tomorrow.
Dhruv Sharma
Class IX, Hope Hall Foundation School, New Delhi
Internet resources
Photovoltaic Power
http://www.pvpower.com/
This website aims at the coordination and
dissemination of information on global
photovoltaic technologies, its applica-
tions, history, and resources. It also
contains a searchable database of all the
solar products including solar panels,
solar heating systems, pumps, generators,
and inverters.
Midwest Renewable Energy
Association
http://www.the-mrea.org
The Midwest Renewable Energy Associa-
tion provides education and demonstra-
tion on the application of renewable
energy and energy efficiency technolo-
gies. Besides, the website also hosts
technology marketplace, several e-
resources, education and training materi-
als, links, and discussion forums.
Geothermal Energy Association
http://www.geo-energy.org/
The Geothermal Energy Association is a
trade association composed of US
companies who support the expanded
use of geothermal energy and are
developing geothermal resources world-
wide for electrical power generation and
direct-heat uses. The website provides
information about basic information
about geothermal energy, including
potential use, policy information, power
plant costs, a searchable database of
geothermal vendors, suppliers, contrac-
tors, energy producers, and associations.
The site also provides a full listing of
geothermal plants by state in the US and
includes data and contact information.
Renewable Fuels Association
http://www.ethanolrfa.org/
The RFA (Renewable Fuels Association)
promotes policies, regulations, and
research and development initiatives for
the US ethanol industry that will lead to
the increased production and use of fuel
ethanol. The site hosts two information
centres: resources centre and media
centre. Besides, the RFA site also covers
rich collection of policy and regulation
resources, current issues in renewable
fuel, industry information such as hand-
book and guidelines; industry outlook,
market opportunities, events, statistics,
and co-products information.
B o o k / We b A l e r t
Boyle G (ed.). 2007
Renewable electricity and the
grid: the challenge of variability
London: Earthscan. 219 pp.
Can renewable energy provide reliable power? Will it
need extensive back up? This book examines the sig-
nificance of the issue of variability of renewable elec-
tricity supplies, and presents technical and
operational solutions to the problem of reconciling
the differing patterns of supply and demand. Its chap-
ISBN 978-1-84407-418-1 ters are authored by leading experts in the field, who
Price: $54 aim to explain and quantify the impacts of variability
in renewable energy, and in doing so, dispel many of
the myths and misunderstandings surrounding the topic.
Antony F, Dürschner C, and Remmers K H. 2007
Photovoltaics for Professionals:
solar electric systems marketing,
design, and installation
Berlin and London: Solarpraxis and Earthscan. 215 pp.
This book describes the practicalities of marketing,
designing, and installing photovoltaic systems, both
grid-tied and standalone. It has been written for elec-
tricians, technicians, builders, architects, and building
engineers who want to get involved in this expanding
industry. It answers all the beginner’s questions as
ISBN 978-1-84407-461-1
well as serving as a textbook and work of reference,
Price: £ 40.50
provides designers and installers with the practical
specialist knowledge needed to design and install
high-quality solar electric systems and gives a comprehensive overview of the
major photovoltaic market sectors. Practical step-by-step examples are de-
scribed of how to go about installing systems right from the first customer con-
tact and many useful tips are given to help avoid mistakes.
Kurokawa K, Komoto K, Vleuten van der P,
Faiman D (eds). 2007
Energy from the desert
London: Earthscan. 201 pp.
The new Energy from the desert volume examines and
evaluates the potential of very large-scale photo-
voltaic power generation (VLS-PV) systems. Following
from the success of the first book on the subject, the
authors present practical case studies of both virtual
and real projects based on selected regions (including
the Mediterranean, the Middle East, the Gobi Desert,
ISBN 978-1-84407-363-4
Price: £63 and Western Australia) and their specific socio-eco-
nomic dynamics, and argue that VLS-PV systems in
desert areas will be readily available in the near future.
As the essential companion to the previous IEA volume, it reiterates and devel-
ops key concepts introduced by the original study and provides firm practical
recommendations to achieve long-term targets for policy-makers and investors.
 Forthcoming Events

National events International events

○
○
○
○
India Energy Congress 2008 Power-Gen Renewable Energy and Fuels

○
○
31 January 2008, New Delhi 2008

○
○
19–21 February 2008
J K Mehta

○
○
SCOPE Complex, Core 6 POWER-GEN Renewable Energy & Fuels

○
Conference & Exhibition Registration

○
7th Floor, Institutional Area

○
Lodhi Road, New Delhi – 110 003 P O Box 973059, Dallas, TX 75397-3059

○
○
Tel. 011 2436 3719 E-mail: dickr@penwell.com

○
○
Fax 011 2436 9530
European Wind Energy Conference and

○
E-mail info@indiaworldenergy.org

○
Exhibition 2008

○
Web www.indiaworldenergy.org

○
31 March–3 April 2008

○
○
Second India–Japan Energy Forum: European Wind Energy Association

○
○
promoting energy efficiency in industry Tel. +32 2 546 1980
○

E-mail info@ewec.info
○

4–5 February 2008, New Delhi

○

Web http://www.ewec2008.com/
○

Shashank Jain
○
○

TERI, Darbari Seth Block Asia Wind Energy Technology Equipment

○

IHC Complex Exhibition

○
○

Lodhi Road 31 March–2 April 2008

○
○

New Delhi – 110 003 Maria

○

Tel. 011 2468 2130

○

Newgrace International Exhibition Planning Co. Ltd

○

E-mail sjain@teri.res.in
○

China Renewable Energy Branch of the Institute

○

of PV, Room 402, No. 27 Lane 588 south Lianhua

○

Fifth International Biofuels Conference

○

Road, Shanghai, China 201100

○

7–8 February 2008, New Delhi

○

Tel. 86 21 6152 5256 • Fax 86 21 3408 5282

○

E-mail nuogaisi2004@126.com
○

Arvind Reddy
○

Winrock International India nuogaisi@hotmail.com

○
○

788, Udyog Vihar, Phase-V Web http://www.cnwee.com

○
○

Gurgaon – 122 001

2008 Asia Solar Energy PV Exhibition & Forum
○

Tel. 91 124 430 3868

○

5–7 March 2008, China

○

Fax 91 124 430 3862

○

Shanghai Pudong International Exhibition Corp.

○

Web www.winrockindia.org
○

Shanghai Aiexpo Exhibition Service Co. Ltd

○
○

Renewable Energy India 2008 Expo Headquarters No. 135 Dongfang Road Shanghai,
○

China, P O Box 200120

○

21–23 August 2008, New Delhi

○

Tel. 021 6592 9965 and 6592 8513

○

Rajneesh Khattar
○

Fax 021 6528 2319

○

Exhibitions India Group E-mail info@aiexpo.com.cn

○

217-B, second floor,

○
○

Okhla Industrial Estate, Phase III

○

New Zealand Wind Energy Conference

○

New Delhi – 110 020 8-9 April 2008

○

Tel. 91 11 4279 5000 and 91 11 4279 5054

○

New Zealand Wind Energy Association Level 7

○

Mobile 9871726762
○

Prime Property Tower, 86-90 Lambton Quay

○
○

Wellington, New Zealand

○

Volume 1 • Issue 3 NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2007 47

 Renewable Energy Statistics

Renewable Energy at a Glance in India

Achievement as on
S.No. Source/system Estimated potential 30 September 2007
I Power from renewables
A Grid-interactive renewable power (MW) (MW)
1 Solar photovoltaic power — 2.12
2 Wind power 45 195 7660.20
3 Small hydro power (up to 25 MW) 15 000 2014.66
4 Bio power (agro residues and plantations) 16 881 560.30
5 Bagasse cogeneration 5 000 692.33
6 Energy recovery from waste (MW) 2 700 55.20
Sub total (A) 84 776 10 984.81
B Captive/combined heat and power/distributed renewable power (MW)
7 Biomass/cogeneration (non-bagasse) — 59.00
8 Biomass gasifier — 86.53
9 Energy recovery from waste — 20.21
Sub total (B) — 165.74
Total (A+B) — 11 150.55
II Remote village electrification — 4037 villages/hamlets
III Decentralized energy systems
10 Family-type biogas plants 120 lakh 39.30 lakh
11 Solar photovoltaic programme 20 MW/km2
i. Solar street lighting system — 61 321 nos
ii. Home lighting system — 363 399 nos
iii. Solar lantern — 565 628 nos
iv. Solar power plants — 2.18 MW
12 Solar thermal programme
i. Solar water heating systems 140 million m2 2 million m2
collector area collector area
ii. Solar cookers 6.20 lakh
13 Wind pumps 1180 nos
14 Aero generator/hybrid systems 608.27 kW
15 Solar photovoltaic pumps 7068 nos
IV Other programmes
16 Energy parks — 504 nos
17 Akshay Urja shops — 268 nos
19 Battery operated vehicles — 262 nos
20 Research, design, and development — 600 projects
21 Renewable energy clubs — 521 nos
22 District Advisory Committees — 560 nos
MW – megawatt; kW – kilowatt; MW p – megawatt peak; m 2 – square metre; km2 – kilometre square
Renewable Energy Scheme
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
Solar air heating/steam generating programme
Objective
To accelerate widespread use of solar air heating and
steam generating systems in institutional, industrial,
and commercial establishments so as to reduce de-
pendence on consumption of conventional fuels.
ent
Announcem
Eligibility for CFA
The systems are being installed at places where con-
ventional fuel is already being used for the required
purpose. The minimum eligible size of the system is 50
square metre of collector/dish area.

Scheme provisions CFA for other activities

The scheme provides for financial support for installa- (To SNAs/IREDA/technical institutions/reputed
tion of systems in various sectors. It also provides sup- NGOs, and so on)
port for organizing publicity and awareness campaign,
seminars, workshops/symposia/business meets/train- Publicity and Up to Rs 10 lakh to SNAs
ing programmes and for technology up-gradation, awareness and IREDA
studies, survey, and so on. Training Up to Rs 2 lakh per
programmes programme extending up to
Type of systems being supported one week
P Solar air heating systems band on FPC (flat plate Seminars/business Up to Rs 2 lakh per event
collector) meets/workshops/
P Solar concentrating systems symposia, and so on
Technology Soft loans to manufactures at
Central financial assistance up-gradation a reduced interest rate of 5%
P 50% of the cost of system, subject to a maximum of through IREDA.
Rs 5000 per square metre of dish area for solar con- Studies, surveys, Up to Rs 5 lakh per project on
centrating systems, and Rs 2500 per square metre and so on case-by-case basis.
of collector area for FPC-based solar air heating sys-
tems/dryers to non-profit making institutions/or-
ganizations. Major installations
P 35% of the cost of system, subject to a maximum of
P Solar steam generating system with 84 dishes (9.5
Rs 3500/- per square metre of dish area for solar
square metre area each) at Brahmakumaris
concentrating systems, and Rs 1750 per square
Ashram, Talheti, Mount Abu for cooking food for
metre of collector area for FPC-based solar air heat-
10 000 people
ing systems/dryers to commercial/industrial or-
P Solar steam generating system with 106 dishes (9.5
ganizations (profit making and claiming
square metre area each) at Tirumala Tirupathi
depreciation).
Devasthanam, Andhra Pradesh for cooking food for
15 000 people
The CFA is routed through implementing agencies.
Cumulative achievements
Service charges to implementing agencies
About 50 solar air heating systems for drying applica-
(not for own use)
tions with 10 000 square metre of collector area and
At 3% of MNRE support to implementing agencies 30 solar steam generating systems with 5000 square
(state nodal agencies/ technical institutions/reputed metre of dish area for cooking and various other appli-
NGOs) for installation of the systems. cations installed.

For further information please contact

Shri Ajit K Gupta, Adviser, UICA Group, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
Block 14, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi – 110 003
Tel./ Fax: 011 2436 1152 • E-mail: advakg@nic.in