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SOLAR PV COOK STOVES FOR CLEAN ENERGY COOKING

Globally, 2.8 billion people lack access to clean cooking facilities. By 2030, 2.3 billion people will still lack access to clean cooking facilities. In India, an estimated 780 million people rely on biomass for cooking., (almost 60% of households still cook with biomass). The country with the largest population without clean cooking access, Indian government promotion of LPG and improved biomass cookstoves means that over 300 million people gain access to clean cooking facilities by 2030, but more than one person in three remains without. In contrast with the huge strides made in electricity access in India, the number of people without clean cooking access over the last 15 years has only increased by 80 million. Women spend on average 1.4 hours a day collecting fuelwood and four hours for cooking and also suffer the most from household air pollution: they must be at the heart of finding solutions. An estimated 2.8 million people die every year from diseases linked to indoor air...
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SOLAR ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE: PLANNING FOR A SUSTAINABLE KERALA

"Earth has enough resources to meet people’s needs, but will never have enough to satisfy people’s greed" – Mahatma Gandhi     India represents a culture that calls our planet ‘Mother Earth’. Article 48-A of our constitution states “State shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country”. Article 51-A states that “It is the fundamental duty of every citizen to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes rivers and wildlife”. The nation’s development process is guided by the path of ‘development without destruction’. Energy consumption and production cause 2/3rd of Green House Gas (GHG) emissions. Therefore, Energy Efficiency (on demand side) and Renewable Energy (on the supply side) are considered as two pillars of our sustainable energy movement. Energy Conservation Act (ECA) encourages to efficient use of energy and its conservation. India’s Intended Nationally Determined ...

BENEFITS OF VIRTUAL NET METERING

Virtual net metering (VNM) is a bill crediting system for community solar. It refers to when solar is not used on-site but is instead externally installed and shared among subscribers. In this case, you receive credits on your electric bill for excess energy produced by your share of a solar garden . It is also known as virtual meter aggregation. Net metering simply allows a customer who installs a solar array to get the same value for every kWh produced, whether it is used immediately by the customer, or passed back to the grid and used at a later time. Utility customers are typically issued a meter to measure the amount of electricity being delivered from the grid. Organizations set up for solar net metering use specialized bidirectional meters that also track the amount of electricity flowing back to their local power grid. So when you’re (literally) burning the midnight oil, the bi-directional meter records how much electricity is being delivered to your facility. A...

Solar Batteries for Home Use

Going solar can save you money on energy bills and help the environment at the same time. A properly installed solar panel system can also eventually become an income-producing asset. Battery storage is a way to have additional control overpowering your home. Home battery storage is cheaper than ever, and new incentives available both nationally and in certain states are making going solar with batteries a smart move in more ways than one. The dream of powering your home with  off-grid solar  is still not quite “financially advantageous,” but having a battery in your home to save money on peak electricity costs and keep the lights on during a blackout is a reality today. There’s now a newer and more convenient alternative to solar grid panels in the installation of advanced batteries. These can be charged with extra sun power and used when the weather isn’t so good. There are a lot of benefits to using a battery instead of grid backup. They are as follows: Po...

MICROGRIDS FOR KERALA

The emergence of Microgrid-as-a-Service (MaaS) model for energy challenges is being acknowledged globally. Roof Top Solar only provides energy self-sufficiency, while, Microgrids can accelerate social development. The government of India is expected to firm up a policy on Microgrids by end of 2018. Microgrid development across India is likely to be core to achieving targets under NSM. A pilot programme is being implemented by Jharkhand Renewable Energy Development Agency (JREDA) to electrify 320 households across 11 villages through the development of Microgrids. The works also include turnkey implementation of decentralized distributed SPV power plants along with Power Distribution networks to unelectrified households. Microgrid projects are also attempted in Bihar and UP. Microgrid would also lead distributed energy investments for us. Such innovative business models bring radical changes in Industry. What is a Microgrid ?? Microgrids can be termed as an energy net...

Solar Powered Roadways For Future Energy Production

Kerala is moving full throttle on solar projects. This has set the stage for higher domestic manufacturing and thus lower the cost of solar products . With the consistent availability of sunlight throughout the year (for about 300 days), one of the most unique proposals is the implementation of solar surfaces for roads in India. This has the potential to generate massive megawatts of energy that can power numerous buildings and other infrastructure. Solar Roadways could change the face of transportation and help to keep the environment clean at the same time. These roads, manufactured partially from recycled materials currently polluting the environment, including trash bags, water bottles, and rubber tires, would generate electricity from solar energy, which would, in turn, be fed into the grid.  The heart of the Solar Roadway is the Solar Road Panel. Each individual panel consists of three basic layers: Road Surface Layer  - translucent and high-strength, it ...

Advantages of Using Solar Power in Petrol Pumps

India has over 50,000 petrol pumps catering to the demand of the country. And do you know how much electricity a petrol pump needs every day? It requires more than 5 KW of electricity every day for their operations. This amounts to a total capacity of over 1,440 KW of power required for a year per petrol station. Running your petrol pump on electricity is possible in the big and medium cities but the petrol pumps, especially in rural India, derive power from diesel generators sets as they do not have a continuous power supply or do not have power lines.  The operation cost for running the pumps on diesel generators sets is very high. So using solar panels is more advantageous than a diesel generator. Use of solar energy in petrol pumps has proven to offer reliable operations of dispensing units even in load shedding hours. The dispensing units last long as the solar system provides superior power quality. Advantages: Can be used on pre-installed inverters Economic, ...