Search

The surge in interest surrounding renewable energy stems from concerns regarding pollution and the finite supply of nonrenewable resources. Solar PV and wind hybrid renewable energy systems (HRES) are increasingly recognized as practical and cost-effective solutions, particularly in remote areas. However, the intermittent nature of solar and wind power presents a challenge. To address this, incorporating a hydrogen source into the system has been proposed. This study focuses on modelling and sizing a hybrid energy system tailored for remote areas, accommodating both home and electric vehicle loads. The simulation is conducted for Siliguri, West Bengal, India, with the goal of optimizing productivity, minimizing expenses, and considering economic factors using HOMER Pro software. The integration of green hydrogen-based power generation with photovoltaic and wind HRES emerges as an effective solution. Solar power, in particular, showcases promising opportunities for the electrolysis process and HRES systems. The presented work facilitates the modelling of a green hydrogen-based green energy system, taking into account capacity, cost, and emission constraints. Various case studies are conducted to enhance system efficiency and reduce the costs of energy (COE). In this paper, three cases of grid-connected and three cases of off-grid or grid-disconnected systems are considered for highlighting the benefits of hydrogen energy incorporation in both types of systems. This research contributes to sustainable energy solutions, advancing a greener and more efficient energy landscape, especially in addressing the recent development in load combinations of home and electric vehicle loads in both grid-connected as well as grid-disconnected system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India has abundant solar power assets. Many districts get better than expected insulation compared with different parts of the world. The essential innovation for incorporating and changing sun‐based energy into electrical energy in India depends on photovoltaic (PV) cells. Concentrated solar power (CSP) plants have barely added to the nation's general introduced solar‐based force limit. The difficulties that have restrained the development of CSP and CST are part of the discussion and potential arrangements recommended. The primary difficulties for CSP and CST are identified as the absence of a dependable direct normal irradiance database, indigenous assembling, and rivalry from PV. The after‐effects of a contextual analysis evaluated the effect of indigenous assembling and economies of scale on capital expenses and levelized cost of power. We will evaluate the current status of CSP plants in this paper. The paper shows different incorporated technologies in solar thermal application in India with indigenous manufacturing and the energy policy supporting the solar thermal analyzing the barriers to implementation of Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission. Also, the techno‐economic evaluation of the CSP and CST is covered. This paper provides a framework of CSP and CST technology in India's industrial sector with their impact on goods and services provided by the sector and the cost‐effectiveness of the product and technology. Furthermore, the environmental aspects and base electrical load accumulating are researched, and various policy measures and amendments are suggested to the government from this study‐based study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep learning models in recent times have shown promising results for solar energy forecasting. Solar energy depends heavily on local weather conditions, and as a result, typically hundreds of models are built, which need site and season-specific training. The model maintenance and management also become a tedious job with such a large number of models. Here, we are motivated to use transfer learning to accommodate local variations in the solar pattern over the available global pattern. It may also be noted that apparently transfer learning has been rarely/never used for solar forecasting. In this paper, we have proposed a bidirectional gated recurrent unit (BGRU) based model, which employs transfer learning for short-term solar energy forecasting. The said model yields better forecasting accuracy compared to site-specific models with a lower variance. It also takes 39.6% less parameters and 76.1% reduced time for training. The current literature suggests that selection of base scenario for transfer learning is an open problem and in this paper, we have also proposed an intuitive strategy for the same. The effectiveness of the same is established through empirical study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews and assesses India's energy policy in the context of its commitment to achieve the target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2070. It emphasizes the central role of green electrification, particularly through the expansion of solar power capacity. It discusses policies outside the energy sector that need to be part of a strategy of achieving this target, including the use of information technology, infrastructure development, and transportation. Furthermore, it examines possible policy options for accelerating the target date to 2050, especially with the use of carbon capture to manage the transition from the current heavy use of coal. The paper also discusses the possible financial and growth implications of various strategy options, arguing that feasible external financing commitments can allow India to achieve net-zero goals without sacrificing economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to inexpensive, safe, consistent, and clean energy is a critical necessity for all to achieve the SDGs. India's renewable energy (RE) currently accounts for more than a third of the 482 GW of installed capacity and more than 40 percent of power production (including large-scale hydropower). Reforms such as the establishment of a single national power grid have improved access to electricity for people, and the ambitious development of renewable energy, which is the world's third-largest energy generator and third-largest electricity user, has helped in achieving these aims. As a result, the expansion of national targets signifies and reflects the country's optimism and goal for the forthcoming generation. Standardization of the guidelines and development of the stable grid and transmission networks will only enable the country to achieve the ambitious target of 500 GW of green and clean energy by 2030. This paper highlights the important development in the power sector regarding the energy security of India. As well as specifically examining the initiative of NSMs for achieving the 2030 targets, the key challenges, and the way forward to increase the cumulative installed capacity, comprehensive studies of various policies and government initiatives are also discussed. Furthermore, the key challenges usually faced by the developers in the industry, along with the steep decline and rise in the tariffs of solar projects and the previous trends in capacity installation, are also pointed out. This research work also highlights the potential key challenges to achieving the targets, and will thus provide a focus for power developers, policy makers, researchers, and industry practitioners and help with their planning. In the current scenario, the supply of food and the clean energy nexus are required to meet the demands of people's livelihoods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In India, solar tariff has been witnessing a continuous fall since the announcement of revised targets for the National Solar Mission (NSM) in the year 2015. This paper discusses components that decide the solar tariff and demonstrates the role of various incentives being provided in bridging the tariff gap between solar and conventional power. The paper concludes with a comparison of various incentives (viability gap funding (VGF), accelerated depreciation (AD), generation-based incentive (GBI), etc.) based on the cost-effectiveness index. Based on the analysis, it is recommended that as levelised cost of energy (LCOE) is coming down, the government may think of pulling back some of the incentive schemes such as VGF, AD, and GBI while some hidden incentive schemes such as waiver of inter and/or intrastate transmission charges and losses, etc may continue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Solar power prediction has been done by ensemble machine learning (EML) models. • Impact of meteorological parameters on solar power generation is investigated. • A comprehensive test-bed is designed for feature selection of training parameters. • Algorithm performance have been validated by a 10kW p solar power plant data. • Stacking and Voting EML algorithms demonstrates superior prediction accuracy. The challenges in applications of solar energy lies in its intermittency and dependency on meteorological parameters such as; solar radiation, ambient temperature, rainfall, wind-speed etc., and many other physical parameters like dust accumulation etc. Hence, it is important to estimate the amount of solar photovoltaic (PV) power generation for a specific geographical location. Machine learning (ML) models have gained importance and are widely used for prediction of solar power plant performance. In this paper, the impact of weather parameters on solar PV power generation is estimated by several Ensemble ML (EML) models like Bagging, Boosting, Stacking, and Voting for the first time. The performance of chosen ML algorithms is validated by field dataset of a 10kWp solar PV power plant in Eastern India region. Furthermore, a complete test-bed framework has been designed for data mining as well as to select appropriate learning models. It also supports feature selection and reduction for dataset to reduce space and time complexity of the learning models. The results demonstrate greater prediction accuracy of around 96% for Stacking and Voting EML models. The proposed work is a generalized one and can be very useful for predicting the performance of large-scale solar PV power plants also. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The most admired alternative to conventional energy sources is solar energy. In north-eastern regions of India, where availability of sun is unpredictable but irradiance level is high, special observation is needed to upgrade the solar collection systems. The main objective of the research work is to develop a renewable system, which can extract maximum voltage using dual axis movable surface and design a cascaded converter, which can further increase the voltage while maintaining high efficiency. The output of the smart independent self-regulating solar panel hardware model proposed in this paper is fed into a DC–DC cascaded Boost-SEPIC system for renewable-based applications. The newly created renewable system is built to move the panel so that the most voltage is extracted. The DC–DC cascaded converter receives power from the solar panel's output. To assess the system's effectiveness and voltage gain, a thorough circuit analysis is carried out. The converter is tested using various duty cycles. With a 50% duty ratio and 90% efficiency, the suggested converter produces a 40 V DC output from a 20 V DC input voltage from a solar panel. Results from an experimental prototype are used to verify the converter's viability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In India the milk is consumed both in the raw (un-processed) as well as processed forms with the raw milk being consumed locally. The use of processed milk is prevalent through both the organized as well as un-organized sectors. The milk processing in the organized sector (20% of the total milk processed) is undertaken to produce the pasteurized liquid milk as well as other value-added products. Solar energy is a cheap, omnipresent, and indigenous source of energy that produces a clean, pollutionfree climate. In recent years, the use of solar energy has risen to new heights. Its driving force is the ongoing quest for an alternative power source due to the perceived shortage of fossil fuels. As the price of fossil fuels continues to increase, it has become much more common. The planet absorbs more energy from the sun in a single hour than the entire world consumes in a year. Its use has proved to be the most cost-effective, as most systems in individual applications only need a few kilowatts of electricity. Solar collectors transform solar energy into thermal energy for heating applications, which is the easiest and most effective way to do it. The dairy industry is one of the industries where thermal processing is a crucial unit activity. Solar energy can thus be used to heat water, sterilize cans and bottles, and pasteurize milk. This paper examines the use of solar energy in the pasteurization of milk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solar photovoltaic (PV) power is emerging as one of the most viable renewable energy sources. The recent enhancements in the integration of renewable energy sources into the power grid create a dire need for reliable solar power forecasting techniques. In this paper, a new long‐term solar PV power forecasting approach using long short‐term memory (LSTM) model with Nadam optimizer is presented. The LSTM model performs better with the time‐series data as it persists information of more time steps. The experimental models are realized on a 250.25 kW installed capacity solar PV power system located at MANIT Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. The proposed model is compared with two time‐series models and eight neural network models using LSTM with different optimizers. The obtained results using LSTM with Nadam optimizer present a significant improvement in the forecasting accuracy of 30.56% over autoregressive integrated moving average, 47.48% over seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average, and 1.35%, 1.43%, 3.51%, 4.88%, 11.84%, 50.69%, and 58.29% over models using RMSprop, Adam, Adamax, SGD, Adagrad, Adadelta, and Ftrl optimizer, respectively. The experimental results prove that the proposed methodology is more conclusive for solar PV power forecasting and can be employed for enhanced system planning and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current study aims in finding the combined effect of using rectangular fins, gravels (G) and phase change material (PCM) on the performance of pyramid solar still. Two solar stills, one of conventional type (CSS) and other of modified solar still (MSS) which uses fins and PCM inside the basin, are fabricated. Experiments are conducted at Greater Noida (28°28′N, 77°30′E) of Uttar Pradesh, India, during May 2023. The influence of solar still design modifications (CSS and MSS) and adding gravels (CSS + G and MSS + G) on the performance of solar stills is investigated in terms of productivity, energy, exergy, economic, and environmental parameters. Experimental results show an enhancement of about 84 %, 38 % and 32 % in daily productivity for MSS + G, CSS + G and MSS, respectively, than CSS. The MSS + G shows the highest improvement in energy (81.1 %) and exergy efficiency (273 %) with significant reduction in costs per liter of yield produced (29.2 %) and payback period (29 %) when compared with CSS. About 76 % rise in carbon credits earned is observed for MSS + G than CSS while mitigating the CO 2 emission of 19.14 tons. Conclusively, the innovative design (MSS + G) not only offers cost-effective yield production but also plays a crucial role in promoting environmental sustainability by reducing CO 2 emissions. • This paper develops and tests a modified solar still that uses PCM and fins. • The combined effect of fins, gravels and PCM is investigated. • The experiments conducted in Greater Noida, India, during May 2023. • MSS + G improved daily productivity by 84 %. • MSS + G reduces costs/l of water by 29 % and mitigates CO 2 emissions by 19.14 tons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents modeling, simulation and analysis of heat transfer and fluid flow in the tapered receiver used in solar cycloidal concentrating system which is a novel concept. The main objective of this paper is to analyze performance of solar cycloidal concentrating system by utilizing novel concept of tapered receiver for enhancement of system efficiency. This solar cycloidal concentrating system is used for testing purpose from Jan 20-April 20 in Pune city, India. The calibrated device Pyranometer is used to provide values of solar irradiance. Readings are taken daily after each one hour for the whole day. Modeling of the tapered receiver tube which is novelty of this research is done using SOLIDWORKS software. The governing equations of fluid flow and heat transfer in the system are solved by using ANSYS-CFX CFD software. The obtained results show efficiency increment and rise in temperature. Experimental results and analysis using software shows that using novel concept of tapered receiver, there is noticeable decrement in thermal losses as there is decrement in the area of receiver from inlet to outlet of receiver tube and hence increase in the efficiency is observed. The tapered receiver is designed in such a way that, the entire receiver tube of 20 feet is cut into a separate 20 pieces. Each piece is having 304.80 mm in long. Total 20 pieces are separately designed for manufacturing of taper receiver. For each piece cut of 0.9 mm from inlet to outlet is taken for OD as well as for ID using CNC machine. Tapered receiver was manufactured by using various operations which includes MS rod cutting, machining, welding, arrangement for sensor fitting at said location and end nozzles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the possibilities of a small-scale floating solar PV integrated Pumped Storage Hydroelectric (PSH) system in India, where a subsidized Time-of-Day tariff is employed. Finding and utilizing new reservoirs and water bodies in hilly areas for electrical energy storage and renewable energy integration is vital for more extensive renewable energy exploration. Prior studies in India have not explored the possibility of integrating floating solar PV systems with small-scale PSH systems. PSH systems and floating solar PV systems are modeled from fundamental relations. Objective function and constraints are formulated based on the operating conditions of the system and the grid energy tariff in India. The levelized cost of solar energy and the levelized cost of stored energy is estimated to analyze the economic aspects of the proposed system. For optimal scheduling, developed a linear programming solver-based optimization algorithm. In addition, this study utilized particle swarm optimization for optimal sizing of the system. The results of this study validate the feasibility of the proposed method. Economic savings of floating solar PV resulted in a levelized cost of 0.8518₹/kWh, and the availability of existing cascaded reservoirs brought on a levelized cost of 4.2713₹/kWh for stored energy. Compared to the grid-alone system, the proposed system reduced the daily operating cost and loss of load probability. The proposed system performs economically in a subsidized static tariff environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Power system operation has become more complex with larger use of renewable energy sources, strict requirements of environmental controls, and need to maintain adequate security and stability norms. To meet the environmental norms now, Flue-Gas Desulphurization (FGD) plants have to be installed in old thermal power plants. With larger share of wind and solar energy resources, flexible operation of conventional thermal and hydro power plants is needed. The paper reviews various recent issues pertaining to power system operation in India and the challenges posed to ensure efficient grid operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global energy needs have risen in recent years, and traditional energy sources such as fossil fuels are no longer viable. To meet the growing electricity demand, attention has moved to renewable energy sources such as solar and wind energy. Furthermore, the development of clean energy is vital for combating climate change. Various studies have shown the effectiveness of using hybrid systems (combination of solar photovoltaic and wind energy systems) for generating power. However, a significant amount of energy gets wasted. To prevent the wastage of energy, a dual-energy generation system for integrated grids has been suggested in this paper. The load data have been collected from various regions in Rajasthan, India. An optimal grid system configuration is designed using net present cost and cost per unit of energy. Other factors such as the tilt angle of PV array optimization, wind energy, and inverter optimization have also been used for increasing the reliability and stability of the system. Sensitivity analysis has been performed to analyze the effective variations of the capital costs on the developed system economy. The results obtained from the simulations show that the overall costs of generating electricity from diesel systems and nongrid-based systems have been reduced to 20% at 10% annual capacity shortage allowance. Upon cost analysis, we found that the total cost for installing the suggested system is 49,500 USD, whereas for other systems, the costs came out as 66,000 USD, 56,500 USD, and 56,300 USD, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable development lies at the heart of sustainable entrepreneurship. In the context of this view, the current paper explores the linkages among sustainable development, entrepreneurship, and innovation. Since Gujarat ranks among the five top Indian states in terms of renewable energy (RE) potential, we studied this sector using a case study approach. The study explores factors that affects the shift from conventional to sustainable entrepreneurship. These factors include major opportunities, as well as challenges for RE entrepreneurs. The findings suggest that RE entrepreneurs are driven by a mix of economic, personal commitment for the environment and social concerns. Institutional support in the form of skill development programmes, subsidies and easing entry level barriers to RE serve as opportunities for entrepreneurs. Technological expertise is another enabler for RE entrepreneurship. Major challenges identified in this study include inadequate access to formal and institutional finance, especially for start-ups, bureaucratic obstacles, limited number of government-accredited certification labs, and inconsistency in the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) guidelines. Knowledge barriers in the form of lack of information regarding usage, maintenance and utility of solar technologies are also challenges for this sector. Technological risks related to the adoption of RE technologies also puts them at a cost disadvantage in comparison to conventional technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need of reducing emission of carbon dioxide became possible with the increased penetration of solar photovoltaic (PV) power generation. The variable and intermittent nature of solar PV power generation affects the stability of the distribution grid. It comes to be necessary to forecast the generated PV power to avoid such type of uncertain conditions. This paper presents the empirical comparisons of six developed supervised learning algorithms to predict the solar power generation for the Dehradun region in India. The algorithms namely multiple linear regression (MLP), ridge regression, decision tree (DT), random forest (RF), support vector machine (SVM) and K-nearest neighbor (KNN) are modified in accordance with the higher prediction accuracy. The detailed empirical comparisons of results are discussed on the basis of mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) and root mean squared error (RMSE). It is found that the best performance of RF method with MAPE as 2.2790% and RMSE as 0.8792%. Tree based algorithms have shown the improved performance among all the methods while SVM and ridge techniques perform quietly low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic assets play a key role in the growth of renewable power projects and depend on financial scenarios and policy structures offered by government policies. The focus of the study is to assess the impact of the existing economic scenarios and related government policies on wind and solar power deployment in India. The financial analysis of wind and solar power projects, along with parametric and sensitivity analysis, were performed based on the techno-economic parameters of recent wind and solar energy projects. Factors incorporated into the study are capital cost, annual cash flow, project terminal cost, discount rate, cost of capital, tax rate, capacity factor and technological degradation factor. The results show that the values of levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) calculated for recent wind and solar projects are ₹4.89/kWh ($0.0698/kWh) and ₹4.05/kWh ($0.0578/kWh), respectively, which can be reduced to ₹2.36/kWh ($0.0337/kWh) and ₹2.12/kWh ($0.0303/kWh) through proper amendments to the existing policy, an improved financial framework and technological enhancements. The study will be beneficial to policymakers and project developers, helping to boost the future deployment of wind and solar power projects. (Note: USD ($) was converted to Indian rupee (₹) at an exchange rate of 1$ = 70₹ throughout the paper.) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of non-imaging collectors has a wide scope in process heat applications based on its performance and economics. An experimental investigation of trapezoidal/concave cavity surface receiver (TSR) for non-imaging solar concentrating collector is carried out in this paper. The implementation of surface/coil receiver instead of tubular receiver for non-imaging collector is presented in this paper. A TSR with helical coil is developed for non – imaging concentrating collector, Elliptical Hyperbolic Collector (EHC). Experiments are carried to estimate the thermal performance of the system under various operating conditions such as two operating modes: series and parallel modes of operation of the collector, two circulation modes: passive and active modes. The stagnation temperature of the trapezoidal/concave cavity surface receiver is measured to be 118 °C on a clear sunny day in October and 102 °C on a cloudy day in February. The daily performance tests are performed under different operating conditions. Based on the experimental study, for the flow rate of 0.03 kg/min and 0.5 kg/min, the fluid outlet temperature is estimated to be 87 °C at 768 W/m 2 and 49 °C at 908 W/m 2 respectively. The corresponding instantaneous efficiency was calculated to be 9% and 40% respectively. The numerical model is developed to predict the temperature of the fluid along the receiver. The pressure drop across a receiver is estimated to be 9.3 kPa for a flow rate of 0.5 kg/min. Exergy analysis of the system is carried out and it ranges between 10 and 20%. The costs involved in fabricating the EHC system are compared to that of a non-imaging concentrating collector (CPC) of same aperture area. An economic analysis of the system is also carried out to study the feasibility of the system based on the life cycle savings method by estimating the annual solar savings from the EHC system. The present system can be a suitable option for low and medium temperature process heat applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we suggest how India can become atmanirbhar (i.e. self-reliant) in development of green energy technologies- solar, battery storage and green hydrogen, given its stated commitments in clean energy. First, we introduce a generalized policy design – a set of ten policy measures: seven necessary and three sufficient- with the former being on the supply side and the latter on the demand side. The paper argues that while the ideal policy mix would be technology dependent, based on technology maturity and the strategic positioning of the country, it should draw both from supply side (i.e., for domestic development) and demand side (i.e., for scale deployment). Then, we suggest the required individual strategies for each of the three technologies- such as a manufacturing focused policy for solar solely to develop competence in manufacturing; a bottom-up, manufacturing-led policy for battery storage with focus on deployment in parallel with technology development; and traditional top-down, research-led strategy for green hydrogen by entering via development through supply side and complementing via deployment through demand side. Finally, we compare these with the existing domestic energy industrial policies as well as those prevalent in other jurisdictions such as the US and China. • Create self-reliance for India in green energy technologies. • Develop generalized policy design with supply and demand side measures. • For solar, manufacturing focused policy for competence solely in manufacturing. • For battery storage, bottom-up manufacturing-led policy with deployment alongside development. • For green hydrogen, top-down research-led strategy where deployment follows development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China, India, and the USA are the world's biggest energy consumers and CO 2 emitters. Being the leading contributors to climate change, these economies are also at the core of environmental solutions. This paper investigates the causal relationship among solar and wind energy production, coal consumption, economic growth, and CO 2 emissions for these three countries. To do so, we use an advanced methodology in Machine Learning to verify the predictive causal linkages among variables. The Causal Direction from Dependency (D2C) algorithm set CO 2 emissions as the target variable. The obtained results were disaggregated and estimated in a supervised prediction model. The findings, confirmed by three different Machine Learning procedures, showed an interesting output. While a reduction in overall carbon emissions is predicted in China and the US (resulting from the intensive use of renewable sources of energy), India displays critical predictions of a rise in CO 2 emissions. This indicates that curbing CO 2 emissions cannot be achieved without conducting a comprehensive shift from fossil to renewable resources, although China and the U.S. present a more promising path to sustainability than India. Being an emerging renewable energy leader, India should further enhance the use of low-carbon sources in its power supply and limit its dependence on coal. • Renewable energies, coal consumption, economic growth, and CO 2 we examine. • We investigate the causal predicted relationship on China, India, and the USA. • An advanced methodology in Machine Learning is used. • India has a prediction of an increase in emissions of CO 2. • China and the U.S. present a more promising path to sustainability than India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural electrification is an essential requirement for improving the lives of people and improving their image among the international community. To install photovoltaic (PV) panels in isolated regions according to the government plans and regulations, solar-based microgrids are the best solution. However, there are several components required for installing and operating the microgrid, including its location of the microgrid. The present paper made an effort to explore the challenges encountered in installing solar-based microgrids, especially in hilly terrains of rural India. The review highlighted the varied technical difficulties including the stability, reliability, power imbalance, control and operation. Besides, the discussion on the stand-alone models of a microgrid along with its advantages, also been highlighted. Further, government initiatives like subsidies and funding for rural electrification also been presented. As a case study, two microgrids in India, one at Ladakh and one at west Bengal are presented. These case studies bring out the challenges faced during the rural electrification, and strategies adopted to overcome are given for the future scope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Comprehensive review on individual and hybrid wind-solar energy policy. • Evolution and current status of Indian wind and solar energy policy framework. • Techno-economic parameters for the hybridization of wind and solar power projects. • Barriers and recommendation regarding renewable energy policies. Wind and solar energy are currently the most prominent and reliable sources of renewable energy. Wind and solar power deployment largely depend on government policies and have a specific policy and regulatory provisions. The declaration of hybrid wind–solar policy has changed the dynamics of individual wind and solar power projects by introducing the scope for developing hybrid power projects to harness wind and solar energy simultaneously. The techno-economic structure and the existing scenarios of the fractional contribution of wind and solar sectors are going to play an important role in the development of hybrid power projects. This paper aims to present a comprehensive review of the impact of the existing individual wind and solar energy policies along with the recently declared hybrid policy in India and how this hybrid policy will affect the techno-economic structure of the existing and new power projects. Further, various kind of barriers faced by project developers while establishing renewable energy-based power projects and recommendations which can be practically implemented have been elaborated to facilitate and achieve the faster deployment of wind and solar power generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy transitions are accelerating in the Global South. Yet many large-scale renewable energy infrastructures are developed on public lands with unknown impacts on commons access and usage. A prime example of this is the Gujarat Solar Park (GSP) in India, which is one of the world's largest solar photovoltaic facilities. The GSP is situated on 2,669 acres of previously common property, which has historically been used by female pastoralists for firewood collection. In this paper, we examine the following research questions: How do gender and caste power shape natural resource access in this region?; Does the Gujarat Solar Park exacerbate already gendered social-economic-political asymmetries? Our study utilizes a feminist political ecology framework to analyze the social dimensions of the GSP, drawing on recent work in this vein that uses a postcolonial and intersectional approach to examine the production of social difference through the spatial processes and political economy of solar energy generation. We find that the enclosure of public 'wastelands' to develop the Gujarat Solar Park has dispossessed resource-dependent women of access to firewood and grazing lands. This spatial dislocation is reinforcing asymmetrical social power relations at the village scale. Intersectional subject-positions are (re)produced vis-à-vis the exclusion of access to firewood in the land enclosed for the solar park. Affected women embody this dispossession through inter- and intra-village emotional geographies that cut across caste, class and gender boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sagar Island which is located in the world's largest delta, the Sunderban, in the eastern coast of India faces severe power crunch. Due to its isolated location, the power infrastructure is underdeveloped. This has led to very unreliable power supply and frequent power cuts. The island being economically weak, power is inaccessible to most of its residents. Thus, the per unit energy consumption of the area is low and it has led to the lowering of the human development index of the area. However, Sagar Island, owing to its location, has huge solar and wind power potential. This paper discusses the prospect of developing a solar-wind hybrid power plant to supply power to the area. The developed hybrid renewable energy system (HRES) power plant will provide uninterrupted power to the island. Results show that the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) from the proposed power plant is 0.03707 $/kWh, which is lower than the LCOE from the available grid. Lowering the cost of electricity will make electricity accessible to most of the inhabitants of the island. This will, in turn, increase the per unit energy consumption and hence the human development index. The proposed power plant will also help the environment by reducing CO2 emissions by 1894.08 tonnes annually. It will also save 587.39 tonnes of coal in its lifetime. Hence, the HRES power plant will make power accessible and also help Sagar Island to become a renewable fed "Green Island.". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solar energy is an abundantly available free eco-friendly renewable energy source (RES). Solar energy holds great potential for providing a solution to the long-standing energy issues continuously faced by developing countries like India. The gap between power generation and demand is widening at an alarming rate in developing countries, especially in India. This gap can be filled by expansion of solar energy generation which has adequate potential to provide electricity. The current trends towards technical and economical potential of solar energy in India considering availability, current scenario, promotion scheme, recent investment, and strategies adopted for solar power generation has been presented in this paper. A detailed description of policies put forward by the Indian government in various states to encourage solar generation has been presented. In addition, the major achievements and future potential of RESs have also been described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The demand for solar photovoltaic (SPV) systems is growing all over the world due to the continuous increase in the cost of conventional means of power. India has the advantage of around 300 clear sunny days in a year. However, the biggest problem is conversion efficiency. In this paper, an attempt has been made for evaluating the second law efficiency of 160 Wp stand-alone SPV systems installed in RKGIT Ghaziabad premises. The performance of a SPV system depends on climate conditions like temperature, air velocity and a number of sunny days. The solar energy striking the solar panels gets converted into electric and thermal energy. In this work, we have considered the effect of ambient temperature and air velocity on the efficiency of solar panels. The average second law efficiency of SPV systems was found to be 10.7%, whereas maximum second law efficiency was 13.8% at 9am on the same day. The efficiency of the SPV system can be improved by maintaining the temperature of the module. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Hybrid energy system with photovoltaic-wind and battery is modeled. • The developed model is applied for three remote un-electrified villages in India. • Firefly algorithm is applied for solving the design problem based on minimum cost and reliability criteria. • System feasibility is checked at different levels of reliability. Solar and wind energy based hybrid energy system (HES) have received considerable global attention for remote applications where extension of grid supply is infeasible. This paper attempts to develop an optimal hybrid energy system model using available solar and wind energy resources with battery storage for fulfilling the electrical needs of three un-electrified remote villages located in Senapati district of Manipur, India. A Firefly algorithm based approach is used to find the optimal hybrid system configuration based on minimum cost of energy (COE) while satisfying a specified reliability criteria identified with loss of load probability (LOLP) reliability index. Further, system investigation has been carried out for optimal system feasibility at various values of LOLP. The optimal hybrid energy system is able to provide feasible solutions for LOLP values lying between 0 and 0.03. For LOLP value above 0.03, the system becomes infeasible as the COE increase with increase in LOLP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid development in technology and changing food habits have drastically altered the cooking method in recent years. Electric ovens are dominating the cooking sector in bakeries, restaurants, and domestic cooking. India holds the second position in terms of revenue generated by the sales of cookers and ovens. The electrical energy requirements are also adding up with electricity-based cooking. In addition, solar energy-dependent solar cooking appliances are available in the market, but they come with their own set of merits and demerits. This paper discusses the new concept and development of an Electric-Solar hybrid cooking appliance. The implemented control mechanism in the fully-featured hybrid OTG (Oven, Toaster, & Griller) oven shows the simplicity and ease of using solar energy in conjunction with electrical energy. The experimental and numerical results show that the temperature distribution inside an electric-solar hybrid oven saves energy up to 51% and takes much less cooking time than electric ovens and solar cooking appliances when operating in hybrid mode. The STEPCO (Solar Thermal-Electric Powered Cooking Oven) oven has demonstrated potential for a relatively quick return on investment, with a payback period of around 2.3 years in hybrid mode and 3.7 years in solar mode. Experimental testing has shown that the hybrid mode of the STEPCO oven achieves an impressive efficiency of 63%, which is significantly higher than that of the electric and solar modes, which are only 35% and 4.0%, respectively. Additionally, the STEPCO oven has the environmental benefit of emitting very little CO 2 during the cooking process when used in hybrid mode and zero CO 2 emissions when used in solar mode. • A novel cooking oven is designed and developed to operate in three modes. • CFD analysis is used to validate the temperature inside the oven in hybrid mode. • The hybrid oven saves up to 51% of energy and reduces annual CO 2 emissions. • The oven has shorter payback times of 2.3 and 3.7 years in hybrid and solar modes. • STEPCO oven has an efficiency of 63% in hybrid, more than solar and electric modes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The annual consumption of petroleum products in India was about 221 million metric tons in 2015. Of this, 84% was imported. The Indian industrial sector accounts for about 16%-20% of the total fuel consumption for thermal energy for different heating applications in the temperature range of 50°C--250 °C. Solar collectors can meet these temperature requirements and offer the possibility to mitigate the consumption of oil. This study highlights the fact that conversion efficiency from solar energy is much higher for process heating than for electricity generation and that process heating applications constitute a significant share of industrial energy consumption. In this paper, a methodology has been developed to estimate the potential for integration of solar collectors for process heating. The methodology employs process operating temperatures to select the type of solar collectors. The size of the solar field is estimated taking into account the thermal heat loads, working fluid and temperatures of these processes, the efficiency of the chosen solar collectors, location-based solar irradiance and capacity utilization of the solar collectors. The proposed methodology has been validated with a software tool called System Advisor Model (SAM). The techno-economic analysis will indicate the viability of solar systems for integration in industries. Therefore, the consociated parameters on economic (capital cost, fuel oil savings, monetary benefits), financial (Payback periods, Rates of Returns) and environmental (Carbon savings) are estimated. Further, the methodology has been applied to select Indian industries to verify its potential quantitatively. The industries selected include Textile, Pulp & Paper, Dairy, Leather and Automobile. Process-wise energy demands are considered while estimating the potential as the fuel requirement offset by solar energy in terms of absolute fuel oil savings, monetary benefits and carbon savings. The other economic and financial parameters mentioned above were estimated to verify the capability and present the market position of solar systems. Further, sensitivity analyses have been performed with respect to solar energy penetration and fuel oil prices to address the viability of integration of solar energy for process heating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do you sell a solar powered lamp to India's un-electrified, rural poor? This contribution to Anthropology for Sale explores the work of direct selling in rural India, reflecting on the forms of prejudice, difference and exclusion that are produced as multinational companies create markets for consumer goods in places of chronic global poverty. In the highlands of Orissa, India, a US company sells solar powered lights through a network of young male sales agents. The company and its products express empathy and proximity, attachment and connection to India's indigenous and low caste communities. Yet the company's salesmen are often more concerned with maintaining forms of structural advantage and their sales practices articulate social differences based on caste, class and gender. Rather than see prejudice as a peripheral effect of expansion and growth in emerging markets this paper proposes that we see it as a constitutive feature of markets at the 'bottom of the pyramid'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a comparative in-depth investigation of the energy standings, opportunities and the barriers that occur in the expansion of renewable energy in the Asia's two fastest growing economies, i.e. India and China. These two countries contain almost 36% of the world's population and constitute the fastest emerging hub for trade and industries in the energy sector in which different types of energy resources are sought to meet the energy demands. Non-conventional sources of energy are the inevitable alternative for the achievement of economic improvement, ecological balance, nature friendly environment and sustainable development. It is recommended to eliminate the obstacles to achieving the estimated energy targets of the 13th financial year plan (FYP) of both nations and stimulate the enhancement of the rate of green energy resources exploitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term “polygeneration” is referred to as “an energy supply system, which delivers more than one form of energy to the final user”, for example: electricity, heating/cooling, desalination can be delivered from polygeneration process. The polygeneration demonstrates unique integration of energy efficiency and renewable energy. It is the next generation energy production technique with a potential to overcome intermittence of renewable energy, reduce cost of power generation and greenhouse gas emissions. The feasibility study of this paper is divided in three sections: In first section of this study, solar and biomass have been arranged to produce steam for power generation. In the second section, cooling is produced by vapor absorption refrigeration (VAR; LiBr-H 2 O) system as per demand load requirement using steam, extracted from pass-out turbine. In the last section of this paper, multi effect dehumidification (MED) water desalination is produced by using limited amount of heat from water vapor (refrigerant; H 2 O) through HE1 of VAR cooling system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is clear that developing countries will have to be part of the global mitigation effort to avoid ‘dangerous climate change’, and, indeed, many of them are already undertaking significant actions on multiple fronts to help address this problem, even if they have not yet taken on legally binding commitment under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Since the deployment of GHG-mitigating technologies is already a significant part of this effort and likely to be even more so in the future, drawing lessons from existing programmes can help accelerate and enhance the effectiveness of this deployment process. Accordingly, this article aims to examine the deployment of wind and solar power in India, paying specific attention to the role of public policy in incentivizing and facilitating this deployment, how these policies have evolved over time, what has shaped this evolution, and what the learning has been over this period. Through this analysis, the intention is to draw out key lessons from India's experience with deployment policies and programmes in these two sectors and highlight the issues that will need to be given particular consideration in the design of future domestic policies and international cooperation programmes to enhance the move towards climate-compatible development in India. Many of these lessons should also be relevant for other developing countries that are attempting to balance their climate and developmental priorities through the deployment of renewable energy technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last decade the demand of power in India has increased manifold, therefore Government has announced the National Solar Mission of generating 100 GW of solar power up to 2022. Around 60% of the total National Solar Mission target is allotted to the national/international large-scale solar power developers/investors. Hence, it becomes important to know the ground reality of large-scale solar PV developers/investors. This paper deeply analyzes the key barriers and bottlenecks faced by solar power developers in achieving the target and their growth. This article also suggests some motivational factors of solar energy which play an important role in attracting large solar players around the world to invest in Indian subcontinent. It concludes by highlighting some key policies of the Government that can help in addressing some identified barriers in order to ensure a secured sustainable energy future of India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the current energy status and the obstacles related to the development of solar and wind capacity in India. The fast growing demand of electricity exerts huge pressure on the conventional energy sources. Due to the intermittent nature of irradiation and wind velocity, hybrid grid structure is more preferable in the present scenario. The use of alternative energy sources like solar and wind is the measure, which helps to attain eco-friendly, green environment. It decreases the dependency on fossil fuel energy for the highly populated country like India. Elimination of the hurdles discussed in the article works serves as a catalyst for the sustainable development of the country. The proposed paper deals with the problems which need to be solved in order to accomplish the solar wind energy project planned by the government of India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By considering the weight penalty of batteries on payload and total vehicle weight, this paper shows that almost all forms of land-based transport may be served by battery electric vehicles (BEV) with acceptable cost and driving range. Only long-distance road freight is unsuitable for battery electrification. The paper models the future Indian electricity grid supplied entirely by low-carbon forms of generation to quantify the additional solar PV power required to supply energy for transport. Hydrogen produced by water electrolysis for use as a fuel for road freight provides an inter-seasonal energy store that accommodates variations in renewable energy supply. The advantages and disadvantages are considered of midday electric vehicle charging vs. overnight charging considering the temporal variations in supply of renewable energy and demand for transport services. There appears to be little to choose between these two options in terms of total system costs. The result is an energy scenario for decarbonized surface transport in India, based on renewable energy, that is possible, realistically achievable, and affordable in a time frame of year 2050. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In India, uniform price was assigned to renewable energy certificate (REC) irrespective of renewable energy (RE) type, technology, and location. Moreover REC price bands are higher than existing preferential tariff. There are distinct renewable purchase obligations (RPOs) specified for various RE types, whereas there is lack of efficient tools to check RPO compliance. Because of these reasons, REC market stabilisation is getting delayed. This paper proposes a method using plant performance multiplier to convert non-solar and solar REC to single equivalent REC with competitive REC pricing, which can be traded on unified REC market. The method combines solar and non-solar RPOs into a single composite RPO, to make RPO compliance and its checking simple and efficient. A sample illustration of the proposed method is given. The benefits offered by the proposed method in REC pricing, REC trading and RPO compliance are discussed. A comparative economic analysis of present and proposed method is reported. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Equality between economic progress and environmental sustainability is essential for a developing country like India. In the present time, the economy of India is growing rapidly in a vibrant mode and an efficient way, which in turn demands huge uninterrupted energy supplies. The country's energy needs are met mostly by the usage of fossil fuels and nearly 70% of electricity is generated from coal based power plants. In India, nearly 840 million people depend on traditional biomass to satisfy their energy necessities. Approximately 74 million rural people do not have access to modern lighting systems and around 81 million households do not have access to electricity, which is a major challenge to India's energy security. In order to achieve stable sustainable energy in the long-run, significant progress in renewable energy sectors is needed. Favorably, due to India's geographic location, the country is blessed with abundant renewable energy resources, which has not yet been exploited completely. So the central and state governments of the country have framed various policies and are providing subsidies to encourage the utilization of solar photovoltaic systems. In this paper, a comprehensive review of the potential, current developmental status and prospects of solar energy of India is briefed. The various applications of solar energy such as water heaters, desalination units, pasteurizers, food drying units, water purifier, space heating systems, air-conditioning units, cookers, water pumps, aerators, solar-wind hybrid systems and grid connected photovoltaic systems are explained. The study also mentions the current renewable energy policies, the barriers blocking the progress of the solar manufacturing units and some possible future recommendations that might speed up renewable energy developments in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the performance of a solar assisted ground source heat pump (SAGSHP) system used for storage of solar energy in day time and space heating at night. Experiments were conducted to estimate the effectiveness of solar energy storage under the ground using a U-tube ground heat exchanger by absorbing solar energy from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. and utilize the stored energy during space heating in the night time from 7 P.M. to 3 A.M.. Using the experimental data, heat absorbed by the solar collector, heat injected into the ground, heat extracted from the ground and COP of the system have been computed. Results indicate that heat absorption by the solar collector varied from 2.07 to 2.56 kW with increase in mass flow rate. Due to heat losses, only 1.991–2.414 kW of solar heat could be injected into the ground in the day time. Increase in mass flow rate of heat transfer fluid in the collector and ground heat exchanger has resulted in 21% increase in heat injection into the ground. Due to charging of ground, thermal energy of 2.8–3.2 times the work input to the solar collector could be extracted additionally from the ground in the night time for space heating. Charging of ground has resulted in 23% increase in the COP of the system for space heating in the night time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solar energy is the primary resource for all biological, chemical and physical processes. The amount of global solar radiation is an important parameter for solar energy applications. It is common to estimate a monthly average of daily global solar radiation using different regression models. These models in turn exploit the correlation between solar radiation and various atmospheric factors. These factors are commonly derived from meteorological, geographical and climatological data that are readily available for majority of weather stations across the world. In this paper, a novel regression model that can predict location-independent daily global solar radiation is presented. The proposed exponential quadratic model captures the correlation between measured global solar radiation values, sunshine hour and Air Pollution Index for Indian cities. In addition to this, an extended study of several other regression models (e.g. linear, quadratic, exp.-linear and exp.-quadratic) is also presented. This analysis with real data from Indian cities suggests that air pollution is a more significant factor than location when predicting solar radiation. Finally, the model parameters (regression coefficients) for each model are listed out. Additionally, the generalised model equation for the best performing model is also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]