According to scientists at the Indian Meteorological Department, the amount of solar radiation available to be converted into electricity by solar panels is alarmingly decreasing at many places in India.
Solar radiation availability status
- Solar Photovoltaic (SPV) is the amount of radiation that can be practically available for conversion into electricity by solar panels.
- At present SPV in all the stations. A general decline in capacity has been observed in cities including Ahmedabad, Chennai, Goa, Jodhpur, Kolkata, Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi, Pune, Shillong, Thiruvananthapuram and Visakhapatnam.
- India’s largest solar parks are located in the north-west region, especially in Gujarat and Rajasthan.
- SPV in the cities of these two states also. There is a reduction in capacity.
- As per the present situation, India’s installed solar power capacity is about 81 GW or about 17% of the total installed power capacity.
Due to reduction in solar radiation
Aerosol load
- Scientists have considered increased aerosol load to be the main reason for decreasing solar radiation.
- Aerosols are mainly produced by carbon emissions, fossil fuel burning and fine particles from dust.
- Aerosols absorb sunlight and scatter it away from the Earth.
Dense clouds
- Dense clouds formed from aerosols and other pollutants block sunlight.
- The efficiency of solar panels is greatly affected by the amount of sunlight falling on them.
Uncertain trend of solar radiation
- The role of aerosols in blocking Earth’s available sunlight has been evident since the 1980s.
- However, there is variation in it with time and place.
- A generally decreasing trend in global solar radiation was observed from 1981-2006.
- The year 1971-2000 saw more recession than the year 1981-2006.
- There was a reversal in trends after 2001 and the exact reasons are not clear.
- The continuous decreasing trend in solar radiation may affect India’s achievement of renewable energy production targets.
India’s solar energy target
- India has ambitious plans to generate about 500 GW of electricity from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030.
- This will require adding at least 280 GW of solar power capacity by the target year.
- This means that in the current scenario India will have to produce about 40 GW of solar energy per year.
- In the last five years it has barely crossed 13 GW.
- However, the government has claimed that Covid-19 has affected this trajectory.
- India is on track to add 25-40 GW annually in the coming years.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this year launched the P.M. to install rooftop solar power in at least one crore homes across the country. Surya Ghar free electricity scheme was announced.