National Solar Mission

Introduction:- 

The Government of India launched National Action Plan for Climate Change (NAPCC) in 2008. The main objective of this program was to attain the national development goals while also addressing the rising threat of climate change and maintaining ecological sustainability. This action plan was planned to be executed through Eight missions. Among these Eight missions, “National Solar Mission” was one of the most important and forward-looking programs. This mission is still being continued and is governed by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. 

 Current Status:-

National Solar Mission was launched in 2010 under the National Action Plan on Climate Change. Being India a tropical country, we have an abundance of sunlight sufficient to produce a good quantity of Solar Energy. The initial target of the mission was to achieve a Solar power capacity of 20GW by 2022. However, this target was increased to install 100GW grid-connected solar power plants by 2022.

This Solar power generation can be mainly divided into two parts.

1. Off-grid Solar PV program- 

Under the National Solar Mission, the target of 2000 MWp was kept for off-grid solar PV applications.  Under the Phase-I of the Mission from 2010-13, a target of 200 MWp was kept against which 253 MWp was sanctioned, and under Phase-II from 2013 – 17, a target of 500 MWp was kept against which 713 MWp has been sanctioned.

 Following are some data regarding the off-grid application of Solar energy-

2. Grid Connected

Solar Power:-  

In order to achieve the target of 100GW grid-connected solar power by 2022, several initiatives have been taken like Solar Park Scheme, VGF Schemes, CPSU Schemes, Defence Scheme, Canal Bank & Canal Top Scheme, Bundle scheme, etc. India is currently at 5th position in solar power deployment. We can observe the Cumulative capacity increase during the last decade in the figure below.

Initiatives:- 

Now pointing out some of the recent initiatives taken by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy in the Solar Sector-

60.61 Lakh Solar Study Lamps:- distributed to the School going Students in the less electrified areas of Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, and Uttar Pradesh. Also, under this scheme- 832 new Solar Shops have been opened, and 7436 women were trained as Solar technicians who were involved in the assembly of these lamps.

Scale-Up of Access to Clean Energy Scheme:- This scheme aimed to enhance the use of reliable and affordable renewable energy for improving the livelihoods of rural people in sectors like poultry, fishery, horticulture, dairy, etc. Some examples may include - Solar PV Lighting System and Ventilation for Backyard Poultry Farm, Solar PV System for Milk Chilling at Milk Collection Centres, Solar Dryers for drying spices, vegetables, and fruits, Solar Fish Dryers, Biogas Plant based on Cattle Dung for captive use, etc.

This project was to be implemented in Assam, Madhya Pradesh, and Odisha with a target of 30000 beneficiaries.

Atal Jyoti Yojna (AJAY) - PHASE II:- This scheme will cover the installation of Solar Street Lights in - Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Assam, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, the North Eastern States including Sikkim, Andaman & Nicobar, and Lakshadweep.

PM KUSUM - Pradhan Matri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan

Mahabhiyaan:- It aims to add solar and other renewable capacities of 25750 MW by 2022. There are mainly three components of this scheme-

• 10,000 MW of Decentralized Ground Mounted Grid Connected Renewable Power Plants of individual plant size up to 2 MW.
• Installation of 17.50 lakh standalone Solar Powered Agriculture Pumps of individual pump capacity up to 7.5 HP.
• Solarisation of 10 Lakh Grid-connected Agriculture Pumps of individual pump capacity up to 7.5 HP.

Off-grid and Decentralised Solar PV

Applications Phase III: This scheme's objective was to install an additional off-grid solar capacity of 118 MWp by 2020 by setting up and providing 30000 Solar Street Lights, 2500000 Solar Study Lamps, and 100 MW of off-grid Solar Power Plants. However, as of February 2020, the status is - 193575 Street Lights, 1347498 Study Lamps, and 4619 KWp of SPV off-grid plants.
Grid Connected Solar Rooftop Programme - This aims to achieve a cumulative capacity of 40,000 MW from Rooftop Solar (RTS) Projects by 2022. Two main components of this projects are -

A. Central Financial Assistance to Residential Sector

B. Incentives to Distributing Companies

Central Public Sector Undertaking (CPSU) Scheme

Phase-II (Government Producer Scheme) for setting up 12,000 MW grid-connected Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Power Projects by the Government Producers with Viability Gap Funding (VGF) support for self-use or use by Government/ Government entities, either directly or through Distribution Companies (DISCOMS)

Scheme for Setting up Distributed Grid-Connected Solar PV Power Projects in Andaman &Nicobar and Lakshadweep Islands with Capital Subsidy from MNRE. This scheme aims to develop Carbon Free Islands by phasing out the use of diesel for the generation of electricity and contributing to the National Action Plan on Climate Change and Greening of the Islands along with the reduction in the cost of electricity generation.

Development of Solar Parks and Ultra-Mega Solar Power Projects:-  The main objective of this project is to overcome the challenges of small-capacity individual solar projects and plants, namely- higher transmission losses, extra per MW cost for procuring water, land, drawing extra transmission lines, and building other infrastructure. This project was rolled out in 2014. Its capacity is from 20GW to 40GW, and these parks are proposed to be set by 2021-22.

Challenges and Measures:-

One of the main challenges for India is its import dependence on solar products, which are mainly manufactured in China. Their solid manufacturing base is giving substantial challenges to domestic manufacturers. Land availability for Solar Parks and large projects is also a practical challenge in front of us. Proper management of Solar Waste which is 1.8 million by 2050, is also a principal concern.

To improve these gaps, MNRE is taking aggressive and robust R&D initiatives, and numerous projects are ongoing in various Institutes and Universities across the country. Some of the notable achievements are- 

·       Crystalline silicon solar cells with 18% efficiency had been developed by National Centre for Photovoltaic Research and Education (NCPRE) at IIT Bombay. Solar inverters of various capacities had also been developed;

·       IIT Kanpur has developed organic solar cells;

·       World Renewal Spiritual Trust, Mumbai has successfully developed a 1 MWel. (3.5 MW) solar thermal power plant with 16 hours thermal storage for continuous operation;

·       IGNOU Community College, Kolkata has installed an innovative floating solar power plant of 10 KWp capacity;

·       A Center for Excellence in the area of Solar Passive Architecture and Green Building Technologies has been set up at the Center for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT), Ahmedabad. CEPT has developed the Generation of the database for Building Materials and a Laboratory for testing building materials. This is the first kind of Laboratory in Asia for Green building.

Conclusion:-

It is evident from the data that India has been improved significantly in building solar energy capacity in the past decade. However, it is still far away from the target of installed solar energy capacity is 100 GW by March 2023 — 40 GW rooftop solar and 60 GW ground-mounted utility-scale. We have managed to install only 43.94 GW till July 31, 2021, according to the CEA(Central Electricity Authority) data. The rooftop solar installation has been particularly dismal at 7GW till December 2020, according to Bridge to India, a renewable energy consultancy.

Besides this, we also need to focus on improving greater and quicker financing and funding for the Research and Manufacturing of solar projects and products. This may include low-interest loans to manufacturers, initial financing support for household users, revising the framework for quick decision-making both in the public and private sector, and of course, building public awareness

Written By: Arka Roy