With the massive target of the National Solar Mission of 2022 looming large, the Government of India is going the extra mile to make energy consumers switch to solar PV power by providing financial rebates to the early movers, even though solar power is already financially viable for a lot of energy consumers in India. One such notable step in the direction has been the 500 MW rooftop Grid-connected Solar PV Rooftop Tender by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).

According to the SECI rooftop tender, a select category of energy customers across India can avail about 30% subsidy on the solar system cost. Some special states such as North Eastern States, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Lakshadweep and Andaman & Nicobar islands, etc. are eligible for up to 70% subsidy. In addition to that, the consumers also get 5 years of operations and maintenance free of cost. The eligible consumers for this subsidy are independent house owners, housing societies, schools, colleges, temples, hospitals, etc.. Therefore, if you are planning to take your home solar or happen to be running an educational institution or a hospital, you can benefit massively from this program, which is open to all 29 states and Union Territories.

While we have explained the rooftop solar subsidy for social and institutional consumers on our blog, here is how the residential users, individual houses, housing societies and RWAs can hugely benefit from this subsidy and substantially reduce their electricity bills while at the same time contribute to the environment and give a green environment to their families and the community at large.

If you like to do your Math, you would have by now run the MYSUN Solar Calculator and would have got your personalized Solar Scorecard. Countless electricity consumers who have run the MYSUN Solar Calculator across India have already reported huge potential energy savings and Return on Investment (ROI) in the range of 16~24% on their investment in rooftop solar PV panels.

With the prospect of this additional 30% subsidy on solar power rooftop panels/ systems, going solar now is like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for you. Just to quote an example, a solar system available for INR 60,000 per kW in Delhi can be obtained for Rs 40,000 under this subsidy. You can check your personalized and fairly accurate savings potential and system cost in a rather detailed fashion by running the MYSUN Solar Calculator that gives you a snapshot of your solarisation potential here. For a more detailed look at the state-wise allocation and solar power system subsidy in your state, you can view the list here. Moreover, there are additional benefits and you can check all the details with regards to the solar policy in your state by clicking here.

Let’s try and elucidate our point by taking say an example of two more cities - Hyderabad and Jaipur. Below you will see the solarization benefits for a typical residential energy consumer living in Hyderabad and Jaipur respectively.

Now taking into consideration the 30% SECI subsidy, just look at the exponential rise in the returns. The ROI for the customer in Jaipur goes from 20.27% to 31.28%, while the same for the resident from Hyderabad goes from 31.01% to 51.29%

SECI has enabled both, CAPEX(show) and RESCO(show) ownership models for systems, making the choice of ownership simpler. Moreover, you can also avail of the Net-metering facility in your state and your solar installer will help you get all the approvals for the same. Given that this is a limited time scheme, we urge you to make your decision fast and Register your Rooftop with MYSUN immediately. Remember, the early bird gets the worm.

As your solar enabler and an unbiased marketplace, MYSUN ensures that you get the most competitive quotes from a number of reliable solar installers near you. We promise to simplify solar for you, answer all your queries and doubts about solar power and to be there throughout your solar journey. Once you are on the MYSUN platform, we ensure that you get the best quotes from our list of pre-screened installers and developers who deliver you high quality solar systems adhering to MYSUN standards on quality, pricing, solar system design and engineering, maintenance, etc.. If you want to check the solar financing or loan options, you don’t need to look beyond MYSUN who has tied-up with several banks and financial institutes that help you with the right financial product. For the next 25 years, you can bank upon our team for complete support and assistance. We are literally an E-Mail or a phone call away, and you can find all those details right on our contact us page.

Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI) announced a 500MW Rooftop Tender. Significantly, this tender includes a Central Financial Assistance (Subsidy) of up to Rs 22,500/kWp* to those customers who are eligible. Under the program, only residential, institutional or social sector customers can participate. The subsidy is available on a first come first serve basis to the customers, so if you plan to go solar, we advise that you make the most of this opportunity and go solar. A very concise snapshot of the tender and its briefings have been captured in a separate blog post by the MYSUN team here. While the tender has listed Solar Financial Assistance for all the 29 states and Union Territories, most of them have a subsidy of up to 30%. There are special states such as North Eastern States, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Lakshadweep and Andaman & Nicobar islands that have a higher share of rebate, of up to 70%. Therefore it is critical to chart down which state has how much project allocation out of 500MW and therefore how much subsidy. We have collated that data and listed it for you below. It is worth noting that the tender has been divided into three parts, Part A, B and C depending upon the solar system size and ownership model, which has an affect on the subsidy that you can avail. Part A, B and C are detailed below:

Upto 25 kWp	– PART C (One project may comprise of several rooftop units)
25 kWp ~ 500 kWp	– PART A and PART B

Now that you are familiar with that nomenclature, below you will find the state-wise capacity allocation as well as the allocation for subsidy under the SECI program. With all that information handy, we sure we do not even need to invite you or share with you why we think this is indeed the perfect opportunity and time for you to go solar. So go ahead, register your rooftop with MYSUN and begin your journey to go solar and make the most of this limited time opportunity that SECI has presented. Image Source: The Hans India

Central Financial Assistance (Subsidy) upto Rs 22,500/kWp available to eligible customers

There is never really a bad time to start with something that will have lasting positive impact, as solar would, on our coming generations. Having said that, would it not be wonderful if there is even more incentive for you to take the jump and go solar? Thanks to the 500MW rooftop tender by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), a Government of India body, you can earn at least 30% subsidy on the solar PV system. The subsidy though, is available only to those who are eligible. The question of who can avail the SECI subsidy alongside several other points and things that you need to know about the subsidy are answered below:

Who is Eligible to get CFA (Subsidy)

S No	Category of Consumer	Coverage of Buildings
1	Residential	All types of residential buildings
2	Institutional	Schools, health institutions including medical colleges & hospitals, universities, educational institutions, etc. (applicable to not-for-profit registered organizations only)
3	Social sector	Community centers, welfare homes, old age homes, orphanages, common service centers, common workshops for artisans or craftsman, facilities for use of community, Trusts/ NGOs/Voluntary organizations/ Training institutions, any other establishments for common public use, etc. (applicable to not-for-profit registered organizations only)

While 30% subsidy is for most of the general states and Union Territories, there is a higher, 70% subsidy that is available for states and UTs that fall in the special category. This includes the North Eastern States, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Lakshadweep and Andaman & Nicobar islands. The below table summarizes the subsidy that is applicable:

Applicable Subsidy

Category	Gen category States/UTs	Special Category i.e. NE, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, HP, J&K, Lakshadweep, A&N Islands
PART-A(25 – 500kWp) CAPEX	30% of L1 quoted project cost of State or Rs 22.5/Wp, whichever is lower	70% of L1 quoted project cost of State or Rs 52.5/Wp, whichever is lower
PART-B (25 – 500kWp) RESCO	30% of benchmark cost i.e. Rs 22.5/Wp	70% of benchmark cost i.e. Rs 52.5/Wp
PART-C (Upto 25 kWp) CAPEX	30% of L1 quoted project cost of State or Rs 22.5/Wp, whichever is lower	70% of L1 quoted project cost of State or Rs 52.5/Wp, whichever is lower

Check the SECI subsidy available in your state here. You must have noticed from the table above that there are three categories to the tender, in the form of Part A, B and C. The parts here, determine the size of the project and ownership type (whether CAPEX or RESCO) and therefore the subsidy that you can avail. We explain the size of the projects below:

Size Of the project

Upto 25 kWp	– PART C (One project may comprise of several rooftop units)
25 kWp ~ 500 kWp	– PART A and PART B

SECI has also issued some guidelines when it comes to the connectivity of the plants based on their capacity. The connectivity guidelines are:

Connectivity

The maximum capacity for interconnection with the grid at a specific voltage level shall be as specified in the Distribution Code/Supply Code of the State and amended from time to time. Following criteria have been suggested for selection of voltage level in the distribution system.

Plant Capacity	Connecting Voltage
Up to 10 kW	240V-single phase or 415V-three phase at the option of the consumer Above
10kW and up to 100 kW	415V,Three Phase
Above 100kW	At HT/EHT level (11kV/33kV/66kV) as per DISCOM Rule

The maximum permissible capacity for rooftop shall be 1 MW for a single net metering point. The installers and developers who are participating in the tender will be expected to complete the following responsibilities:

Scope Of Work for the Solar Installer/ Developer

The Scope of work includes:

• Identification of buildings/leasing rooftop of buildings for 25 years.
• Obtaining an NOC (No Objection Certificate) from the DISCOM (Distribution Company) for grid connectivity.
• Complete design, engineering, manufacture, supply, storage, civil work, erection, testing and commissioning of the grid connected rooftop solar PV project.
• O&M (Operations and Maintenance) of the project for a period of 5 years for PART-A & Part C and O&M of the project for a period of 25 years for PART B after commissioning of the projects as per SECI’s acceptance.

  If you decide to go Solar under the SECI subsidy via MYSUN, we will ensure the following Warranties and Guarantees are taken care of by the Solar Installer/ Developer:

Warranties And Guarantees

• The goods supplied under this contract are new, unused, of the most recent or latest technology and incorporate all recent improvements in design and materials.
• Warranty covering the rectification of any and all defects in the design of equipment, materials and workmanship including spare parts for a period of 5 years from the date of commissioning for PART-A/PART-C projects and for 25 years for PART-B projects.
• The solar company shall transfer all the Guarantees/ Warranties of the different components to the Owner of the project.
• The responsibility of operation of Warrantee and Guarantee clauses and Claims/ Settlement of issues arising out of said clauses shall be joint responsibility of the solar installer/ developer and the owner of the project.

  SECI has laid down certain solar generation parameters that the systems set up by the solar companies  have to comply with. To ensure compliance, SECI has taken Performance Bank Guarantees (PBG) from these solar companies and has linked subsidy disbursement with actual generation from the project  These parameters would ensure that the customer gets the most returns and benefits when he goes solar. The following parameters must be complied with:

Plant Performance Evaluation

• The solar company shall be required to meet minimum guaranteed generation with Performance Ratio (PR) at the time of commissioning and related Capacity Utilization Factor (CUF) as per the GHI levels of the location during the O&M period.
• PR should be shown minimum of 75% at the time of inspection for initial commissioning acceptance to qualify for release of 30% subsidy.
• Minimum CUF of 15% to be maintained for a period of 5 years is one of the conditions for release of PBG. The solar company should send the periodic plant output details to SECI for ensuring the CUF. The PR will be measured at Inverter output level during peak radiation conditions.

  The subsidy that you are eligible for will not be disbursed at one go. The ratio of the disbursement is below:

Subsidy Disbursement by SECI

• For General category states, the 20% subsidy shall be disbursed after successful Commissioning and acceptance of project and balance 10% subsidy after completion of first year of successful O&M.
• For special category states the 46% subsidy shall be disbursed after successful Commissioning and acceptance of project and balance 24% subsidy after completion of first year of successful O&M

  SECI has also included definitions of certain terms. Aforementioned, wherever the following words are used, their definition is listed.

Definitions as per SECI

• CAPEX Model shall mean, the bidder/system integrator enters into an Agreement with the rooftop owner at the quoted project cost as per RFS for the Scope of work not limited to that indicated in the RFS as per mutually agreed terms and conditions. This model also allows energy sale at a tariff as per SECI Tender Document
• RESCO model shall mean where the bidders/Developers intend to take a rooftop owned by some other entity on mutually agreed terms and conditions including lease agreement from the roof top owner(s) and enters into the PPA with rooftop owner / DISCOM / others for supply of Solar power for 25 years at a tariff as per SECI Tender Document from the date of Commissioning of project.
• Rooftop Solar PV under the SECI tender shall mean solar PV array/system installed on the flat /inclined roof of the building / elevated platform on metallic or concrete structure minimum 10 feet above ground level / Ground mounted system (in the places where sufficient shadow free rooftop area is not available.) In such instance up to 40% Solar PV array/system capacity can be accommodated on nearby unutilized land subject to the SECI’s approval.

  Now that you have virtually all the information you need about the SECI tender and the subsidy that you are eligible for, you must act now and make most of the opportunity. Go ahead and Register your Rooftop with MYSUN to get going and start your journey towards solar now. If you are among those who are not eligible for the SECI subsidy, we request you to run the MYSUN Solar Calculator in order to determine your solar potential. If the unbiased view of the calculator is that you should go solar, you must Register your Rooftop with us and reach out to us via our Contact Us page in case you require easy solar financial assistance. Image Source: SECI

For a long time movies have been made inspired from incidents of real life. But what happens, when reel life actually inspires you to go ahead and define how the future would actually look? This seems to be the background of the work that Jayan Thomas of the University of Central Florida has been doing, inspired by the movie Back to the Future. The movie has been credited with inspiring a lot of work in the past with well-known brands such as Nike and Lexus turning to it for some inspiration.

Mr Jayan has developed filaments that are capable of trapping and storing solar energy while they are being sewn into various textile fabrics. Theoretically, this means, that these filaments can help you charge your personal electronic devices such as smartphones and tablets when you need to. The details of the working of the filaments have been published in a journal called, ‘Nature Communications’. The filaments are basically thin, flexible, copper ribbons that have solar cells on one side and energy storing layers on the other side. The filaments are then converted into square using tabletop loom and laced throughout the clothing. The filaments by the virtue of their presence will be able to provide energy when needed without needing to be recharged.

The application of clothes made with these special filaments is directed towards military primarily. Soldiers who spend a lot of time in the sun for example, can make most out of this technology, allowing them not to carry the heavy battery packs to recharge. A soldier carries as much as 30 pounds of battery on their body and if these filaments do become mainstream it would be a massive relief. Another application of solar powered clothes is helping charge electric vehicles. This is not the first time that someone has worked out a solar application when it comes to clothes. A couple of years ago in 2014, Tommy Hilfiger showed off an entire collection of solar power jackets that would help the customers charge their phones using the jacket. However, unlike the filaments used here, the jacket back in the day was decked with water resistant and flexible solar panels and was a more straight forward solution. Each of these jackets then cost $599 and could charge a device of 1500 mAh four times when it was fully charged.

It is not clear the sort of output and efficiency these filament based clothes will produce or if they can ever be practically used. However, pure from an innovation point of view, this is indeed a peek into the future, at least that is what we hope.

Source: 1, 2

Image Source: UCF

A solar PV system today, is not just a great source of savings, but is also a great financial investment which can give you an ROI as high as 20%. But what if we tell you there is an additional 30% capital subsidy for you? Too good to be true? Not really!

This limited time scheme, launched by GOI and SECI, has earmarked a capacity of 2 MWp for the residents of Delhi. You may be amongst the very few residents who can buy a solar PV system at approx Rs 40,000 per kW against a market price of approx Rs 60,000 per kW.

There has never been a better time to go solar, thanks to this opportunity. Don’t let it go. You can buy a Solar PV system up to 25kWp capacity. Check your ideal system size here.

See the illustration below for a Delhi residential consumer on his/her solarization potential without 30% capital subsidy:

Now, let us consider the 30% subsidy and see the impact below:

*Pls note that the actual system size and savings will vary depending on actual site conditions

Still lost in thoughts?, We have made it really simple for you to earn this subsidy and start your journey to go solar. Welcome to a first-of-its-kind consumer-focused online solar marketplace, MYSUN, where not only all your queries about solar are answered, but we connect you with multiple pre-screened solar installers to get the best price and quality solar system for you.

What MYSUN does?

• Simplifies solar for you
• Provides a trademark Solar Calculator to help you understand the benefits and to calculate your savings
• Allows you to Register your Rooftop and connects you with several quality solar installers
• Conducts safe and highly advanced Site Assessment service
• Ease and technical support of selecting the best installer for you with an online buying facility
• 25-year support from MYSUN including during installer selection, comparing different quotes, selecting the best quality product, installation and service

In short, MYSUN is your Solar enabler, so sign up now by visiting us here and earn all the benefits and more of going solar.

You can reach out to us using the details on our Contact us page here.

For those of you living in Delhi, our team will be visiting your neighborhood soon and will be pleased to answer any queries and to help you register your rooftop. To register your interest, please leave a comment below or reach out to us via our Social Media handles or E-Mail.

While Delhi has always been at the forefront in solar policy making with solar net-metering having been notified as far back as September 2014, on June 6th, 2016, the current government of Delhi lead by Mr Arvind Kejriwal has further buttressed the Delhi Solar Policy and has sold everyone the dream of a rooftop decorated with a solar system that would allow them to harness the immense power of sun to generate electricity. The announcement of the solar policy of Delhi 2016 aims to make Delhi a ‘Solar City’ with a target that by the year 2025, the state would be able to produce about 2GW of solar energy. This equates to solar contributing to more than 6.5% of electricity produced within the state. As of September 2016, Delhi claimed to have 35 MW of rooftop capacity installed, and if the target of another 1945 MW is to be achieved in the next 9 years or so, a large percentage of the 30 lakh residential and 12 lakh commercial, industrial and other consumers that are in Delhi must come together for the cause of going solar. The government has played its role by publishing the roadmap and a few convenience lead announcements such as those listed below, but the ultimate decision to go solar lies in your hand:

• Today, Delhi Residents can go solar through various options such as Net Metering (Including individual, virtual and group) and Generation Based Incentives
• Net metering is available for systems above 1kWp but less than 1MWp, subject to conditions such as your sanctioned load, the capacity of your local distribution transformer. The electricity generated into the grid will be paid at rates as determined by DERC.
• A Generation Based Incentive (GBI) of Rs 2 per unit is also being offered for three years, which may be further increased depending on the interest and popularity of the project and scheme. The funds for the same will come from the Green Fund that has been set to promote solar energy. This GBI will be available only for those who cross the threshold of producing 1100 solar energy units (kWh)/ annum/ kWp.
• The government has also announced group and virtual net metering offerings for residents in Delhi.
• Both the models of rooftop solar PV usage will be made available: self-owned net metering (CAPEX model) as well as the third party owned PV net metering (RESCO model).
• It is also mandatory for all existing and upcoming government buildings, aided hospitals or schools or educational institutes like colleges to host solar plants especially if they have a rooftop area of 500 m2 and more.
• The Delhi government has announced that the height of the structure installed to carry the solar system will not be counted as an extra towards the permitted height of the building unless the building is located near the airports.
• There will be absolutely no need to take permission from municipal corporations or development authorities such as DDA to put up solar panels.

These are just some of the key highlight announcements that the government of Delhi has made in order to increase the push for rooftop solar in India. With >300 days of bright sunshine expected annually in the capital city of the country, and with government backing and making things simpler than ever to go solar, it is the perfect time for you to go solar. You may just be wondering as a resident of Delhi, how much of a difference you will see by going solar? The short answer is, a lot. We have developed an infographic of a typical Delhi-based resident, by inputting his details in our Solar Calculator, on the impact he would have when he decides to go solar. As per this illustration above, purely from a return on investment(ROI) point of view, a typical residential energy customer in New Delhi (Image above) stands to make an ROI of ~21% annually for 25 years for a system that would cost just Rs 90,000 (1.1kWp), and this is even before the benefits of Net Metering or Generation Based Incentives are factored in. Of course, the size of the system and ROI will be different on a case to case basis. Compare this to an investment you would make in say stock markets or mutual funds and the gamble you take. Not only will going solar help you make huge lifetime savings, the contribution to the environment will be a gift for your children and several generations to come. Surely, this initiative from you will go a long way in ensuring that Delhi does not remain one of the most polluted cities in the world. So go on Delhi, Register your Rooftop now with MYSUN and take action, because going solar has and will never be simpler and MYSUN makes sure that your journey to solarization is as simple as counting 1-2-3. With a list of pre-screened partners on board, MYSUN connects those interested in going solar to the best and pre-rated solar suppliers. We are literally just a call or an E-Mail away from you throughout your journey and you can find the details on the contact page. Also, if you are interested in knowing the state wise solar rooftop policies of each individual states in India, you can find them all collated at one place, right here.

MYSUN takes immense pride in bringing value-added services for all those who are in the solar industry. Being a neutral platform, MYSUN finds itself uniquely positioned where not only can it help a vast population of the country take their first steps towards going solar but also provide tremendous value to its partners by lowering their cost of customer acquisition. Beyond the acquisition, we help our partners profile the users through our state of the art algorithms that factor in information gathered during our meticulous site visits and detailed socio-financial profiling. This allows our partners, not just to expand their business by having access to interested customers, but also just the right information about each customer catering to their business individually.

Becoming a partner on MYSUN brings a host of benefits. Depending upon whether you are looking at our marketplace driven offerings that are aimed at enhancing the business growth of our partners, or you are looking at the consulting and strategy offerings, you can go ahead and register with us. This is a simple two step process and we have broken it down in detail for you.

Step 1)



The first step requires you to be on the right page. To be able to Register yourself as a partner on MYSUN, you will need to be on the 'Partner with Us' page here. When you are here, you will see a form in the box on the right-hand side the page that needs some attention.

• Select the service that your company provides as listed in the dropdown.
• Input your name.
• If you are a partner registering from outside India, click on the appropriate box stating you are registering from outside India.
• Input your mobile number and click in send OTP.
• Once the OTP arrives, input it in the OTP field, accept the terms of use and press on the icon forward.

Step 2)

• Input the legal name of your company in the first field.
• The second field requires your personal E-Mail ID. You will need to use this to log in to MYSUN.
• Enter a password.
• Click on Go and you are registered as a partner on MYSUN, which will be confirmed by an SMS and an E-Mail.

While this is all that it takes to register as a partner on MYSUN, we need to know a little more about you and your company in order to know you better and filter out leads to customers that would be perfect for your business. This is why after your registration, you will be required to complete your profile by logging in here. You will be requested for details about rooftop projects that you have completed, their capacity, a bit about your company, if you are an MNRE partner, and some basic documents like your PAN card and a canceled cheque. Once your profile is completed with all the mandatory fields, the process is complete and you are ready to reap the benefits of being a MYSUN partner.

If you have been following MYSUN on our social media channels or generally keeping an eye out on what we have been up to, you would be well aware of the fortnightly series, where we bring to you some cool applications of solar. In our series so far, we have seen a solar-powered tuk-tuk and a solar-powered boat. This time around, we thought of moving away from the world of transportation towards something that has been making a lot  of headlines and turning heads.

In this edition of 'Interesting ways the world is utilising solar' we are set to feature solar rooftop tiles. As you would know rooftop solar is very dear to us here at MYSUN and we are excited by the potential of this latest unveiling by Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla. The idea behind solar rooftop tiles, in theory at least, looks to be just the right solution for those who are worried about the aesthetics of their rooftop when going for a solar panel installation. There is another myth that added weight of a solar system could lead to a collapse of roof altogether, and while the truth could not be far away, having your rooftop made up of tiles that are sufficient to produce power without the need of an over-bearing structure is sure to give a lot of people more peaceful nights when looking to make the decision. As a concept it looks wonderful and something that would gauge a lot of interest, but you wonder, just like other Tesla products, whether it is a solution for the future more, than being a solution for right here, right now.

The product is expected to land in the markets in time for the next summer. If you are design conscious you would be glad to know that the solar rooftop tiles can indeed be manufactured in a range of styles to go along with the overall design aesthetics of the home.

Some of these include: Tuscan, slate, textured, and smooth. There is little information on the pricing of the tiles, but Elon Musk did add in his keynote that the cost of going with solar rooftop tiles would be cheaper than the traditional roof plus solar rooftop solar system installation. He did add via his Twitter feed that, "Solar glass tiles can also incorporate heating elements, like rear defroster on a car, to clear roof of snow and keep generating energy". If you are worried about the robustness of the tiles, in theory at least, they seem to be able to stand load better than the conventional tiles as seen in the video below thanks to the tempered glass covering. According to Musk, they should last you as long as 50 years.

Solar roof glass tile vs. conventional roof tile pic.twitter.com/AnGWJ07jub

— Tesla (@TeslaMotors) October 29, 2016

MYSUN's take on Tesla Shingles-

Even though these shingles or solar tiles look quite attractive aesthetically, and promise to be simpler in terms of installation, they are likely to be less efficient and more expensive than the traditional rooftop solar systems in terms of energy generation and upfront costs respectively. So this may end up being a rich man’s solar system who anyways may not want too much savings on energy bills. Purely from an Indian market perspective, which traditionally is much more price sensitive, it may be a few years before such fancy products become mainstream. Having said, the traditional rooftop solar is all set to go mainstream in the next couple of years due to the huge price arbitrage solar power offers today in comparison to what consumers pay for grid power today.

image source

A famous superhero movie once carried a dialogue, 'with great power comes great responsibility'. What it failed to add is that with great power, comes good publicity and therefore a lot of half knowledge. Needless to say, that has been the case with solar with plenty of opinions shared, some true and some not so. It is interesting to note that several high profile people have voiced their opinion on how solar still does not look to be a viable option and that fossil fuel is still the more practical solution. Sure to say that these people are well aware of the impact that fossil fuel has on the environment. So, before you are swayed here is a comparison on why solar indeed is a superhero that the world today deserves, and wants. And just like some of the real life super heroes, it indeed does not wear a cape. Here are ground realities and an apple to apple comparison.

Chinese Panels

Among the top 10 module suppliers, 9 are Chinese. Each of these top five module suppliers has a capacity in excess of 3500 MWp. Total installed capacity of Tier 1 module suppliers in the world is 45435 MWp out of which Chinese Tier 1 module capacity is 37150 MWp. This constitutes more than 80% of the Tier 1 Module capacity globally. We too have used Tier 1 Chinese modules and they have been in the field for more than 5 years and we have not experienced any issues.

Degradation of modules

Module suppliers specify the power degradation of modules over 25 years and they offer a power warranty as well. The most common rate of degradation specified by the modules suppliers is 2.5% in the first year and 0.7% linear YOY. We have not seen more than 0.5% degradation YOY in our plants so far. Wherever possible, we have taken the warranty from the parent company and also third part insurance from companies like Re-Munich or Powerguard just in case the manufacturer is unable to serve the warranty. There is a detailed report by a US acclaimed lab, NREL, on the degradation of modules where they have studied a large number of modules across the world and confirmed the mean degradation rate at 0.5% YOY for crystalline silicon module technology.

Land Requirement for Solar is vast

The Government of India’s capacity target by 2022 is 100 GW (100,000 MW) of solar. The capacity allocation for ground mounted systems is 60 GW and rest 40 GW is from rooftops. As per the wasteland atlas released by Ministry of Land Resources, Ministry of Rural Development in 2011, the availability of wasteland in some of the key states from the point of view of solar insolation is given in the table below:

States	Wasteland Area (sq.km)
Andhra	37296
Gujarat	20108
Karnataka	13030
MP	40113
Maharashtra	37830
Rajasthan	84929
TamilNadu	8721
Total	2,42,027

The area required for the 60 GW of ground mounted solar capacity is 3,00,000 acres or 1214 sq.km. It is only 0.5% of the total wasteland area of the above states. In fact, wasteland area of Rajasthan alone is sufficient to meet India's solar capacity target. Thermal power plants require on an average 1.8 acres/MW as per Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). Over 40% of this area is used for disposing of ash. As per a publication by Down to Earth dated February 28, 2015, if we add the land used for coal mining, water reservoir and ash pond to this, then a 1000 MW plant requires 21745.27 acres over its lifetime. Converted to per MW requirement it works out to be 22 acres* per MW in the lifetime of a coal plant. In comparison, Land requirement of 5 acres per MW by solar is just a fraction of this need. Moreover, the land used for solar can be easily put to the other use after the life of the plant is over.

Water Requirement is a lot

Cooling towers require water and much of it is lost due to evaporation. The average water requirement for Indian coal based thermal plants is 4 liters/kWh. Some old plants require as much as 9 liters/kWh. Many thermal plants in India have to be shut down in summer for want of water. Water shortage has resulted in coal plant shutdown in West Bengal, Karnataka and Maharashtra. NTPC, Adani, Mahagenco, GMR, KPCL were the affected companies. Total revenue loss due to a shortage of cooling water in 2016 alone was Rs. 2400 Crore. This situation is likely to be accentuated further as more thermal capacity is added. In a country where water for domestic consumption is not available, the public reaction is expected to be exasperated and unknown.

In contrast, Solar requires water only for cleaning of panels and that too most plants need only 18-24 cleanings in a year. In monsoons, the panels are automatically cleaned by rain water. There is no evaporation loss and water used for cleaning is absorbed by the ground. The water consumption for cleaning is minuscule at 0.12 liter/kWh.

Looking at the data, the externalities of a solar plant is much less compared to coal based thermal power plants. In short, going solar looks to be a genuinely viable option. For once, the hype and interest that you see around you is the real deal. It is time to move on from the sources of energy that we have historically relied upon cause something truly magical is indeed here.

Disclaimer: The figures and information written in the article are from the perspective and experience of the author whose biography follows the article or referenced from published articles or reports which have been duly credited with a corresponding link in the article content. MYSUN does not claim ownership of the same.

About the author: This article has been contributed by Dr Amitabh Verma, CTO at Solar Power Aditya Birla. He has lead projects in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Telangana etc adding up to a capacity of 80 MW in total. He is a dear contributor at MYSUN as a guest author.