Solar energy has wide range of applications in different sectors. There has been continuous

research in developing economically feasible solar technologies throughout the world. Increasing

concern is shown by the Government and other agencies towards solar and other renewable

energy options in view of the dwindling conventional sources of energy. Solar energy can be

used for agriculture, industry, transportation and domestic needs which can effectively provide a

cushion for ever increasing electricity demand.

Energy production from conventional sources like fossil fuels is getting more and more costly as

the supply and availability of these fossil fuels is becoming lesser and lesser and available at

higher depths . On the other hand the energy from sun is unlimited and is available at no cost,

except the cost of conversion of solar energy into a convenient form. India is blessed with

appropriate climatic conditions which are suitable for maximum exploitation of the sunlight.

Majority of the states in our country will have more than 300 sunny days in a year. If this

sunlight can be tapped there will be surplus energy which can positively impact economic

growth in the country.

Even though sunlight is everywhere in India, there should be sufficient solar infrastructure

needed to convert the solar power into a consumable energy type of our choice. This requires a

heavy investment towards manufacturing of solar cells and other related materials. At present our

country is importing many of the components from the developed countries. There should be

constructive research in the area of solar technologies which can help in inventing more efficient

solar absorbing materials like solar cells and solar energy collectors which can also reduce the

cost of solar energy generation. At present solar energy’s contribution to the Global energy

supply is very insignificant. In many of the developing countries like India, much of the energy

needs are met with fossil fuels that are imported from other countries. Since the cost of fossil

fuels is volatile and is influenced by various political and other geographical factors, it is putting

a severe pressure on the government’s exchequer. So there must be a sound energy policy which

can promote the production, and usage of clean, sustainable and sufficient energy supply which

can develop the economy further into the 21st century.

In this chapter the policy of the central and some of the important state governments on solar

energy, is discussed. The solar energy policy of the central government is presented separately

for different technologies. Viz. Grid connected solar power, Off-Grid Solar applications, solar

water heating systems, and concentrating solar technologies for clear understanding of the

policy. The central Government made a number of policies from 1974. But they could not be

implemented so as to result in the establishment of power plants, rooftop panels, cookers and

water heaters. The reasons for poor implementation may be:

1) Crude oil was available at a cheaper price, so oil based power was cheaper.

2) Technology was in primitive stage and less efficient.

3) Cooking gas was available at a lower price

4) Electricity through other sources other sources was available at cheaper price.

5) The cost of solar energy was many times more than the cost of power generation through

other means.

Hence, the policies developed by the Central and State Governments are presented briefly.

The policies announced after 2000 are presented in detail.

History of Indian Solar Policy

The need for renewable energy generation was emphasized by the government by

various schemes from time to time.

Minimum Needs Programme (MNP)

The Minimum Needs Programme (MNP) was introduced in the first year of the Fifth Five

Year Plan (1974–78), to provide certain basic minimum needs and improve the living

standards of people. It aims at "social and economic development of the community,

particularly the underprivileged and under served population".

The objective of Minimum Needs Programme was to cover at least 60 percent of villages in

each state and union territory under the rural electrification programme by 1990; A target of

46,464 additional villages was fixed for the sixth plan (1980-85) under the MNP. The actual

achievement, however, was estimated at 34,489 villages.1

Kutir Jyothi Scheme

1 Seventh five year plan ( Vol.2), P 19.1, Government of India, Planning commission

This scheme was launched in the year 1988 for extending single-point light connections to

households of rural poor families below the poverty line, including Harijan and Adivasi

families. Under this programme funds were provided as Central assistance to the states in the

form of partly grants and partly loans. The areas covered under the MNP for the purposes of

rural electrification were remote, far flung and difficult villages with low load potential.

Electricity Act, 2003

The Electricity Act, 2003 is a major enactment which regulates generation, transmission and

distribution of electricity in India. This law is well supplemented with a set of by- laws, policies,

codes, rules, and regulations covering all aspects of power sector. The impact of such a sound

legal framework can be easily witnessed by analysing power sector performance post-2003. The

Central law provided an enabling framework to stimulate private investments for capacity

augmentation in a de-licensed regime, ushered required competition in the power market,

established regulatory and monitoring agencies/ bodies and contained features like open access,

captive generation, cogeneration etc. Various provisions of the Electricity Act, 2003 give a major

thrust to the renewable energy sector & puts forth the need and priority to promote renewable

energy through its enabling provisions.1

National electricity policy- 2005 (NEP)

The policy formulated by central govt. in pursuance of sec. 3 of the Electricity Act, 2003 aims at

laying guidelines for accelerated development of the power sector, providing supply of

electricity to all areas and protecting interests of consumers and other stakeholders keeping in

view availability of energy resources, technology available to exploit these resources, economics

of generation using different resources, and energy security issues. Accessibility to electricity

and availability of power by 2012 to all are the twin goal set out in the NEP. The policy in order

to meet its various objectives emphasises in harnessing power from renewable sources of energy.

It postulates a decentralised distributed generation facility from renewable sources of energy for

establishing a reliable rural electrification system. It also provides for the necessity & importance

1 Scheme and framework for the promotion of solar water heating systems by utilities and regulators, ABPS infrastructure pvt. Ltd. Jan 2010,p.53

of grid connected renewable energy. The policy outlines following measures for the promotion &

generation of renewable energy.1

• To make efforts to reduce the capital cost of projects based on non-conventional and renewable

sources of energy by promoting adequate competition within such projects and promotional

measures.

• To make efforts for research, development, demonstration and commercialization of

nonconventional energy systems which meets international standards, specifications and

performance parameters.

• The spirit of sec. 86 of Electricity Act has been given a new life in the policy by mandating

following to the SERC :

o To specify percentage of RPO (Renewable Energy Purchase Obligation)

o To determine applicable tariffs for renewable energy power

o Such purchase of power by distribution companies shall be through competitive bidding

process

o To determine an appropriate differential in prices to promote renewable energy

technologies.

• The cogeneration of electricity should be promoted to encourage energy efficiency and grid

stability. The SERC to facilitate necessary arrangements between co-generator and distribution

licensee for purchase of such surplus power.

Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY)2

Ministry of Power launched Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) as one of

its flagship programme in March 2005 with the objective of electrifying over one lakh un-

electrified villages and to provide free electricity connections to 2.34 Crore rural BPL

households. This was a major initiative towards universal electrification. Under the

programme, 90 percent grant is provided by the central government and 10 percent as loan by

1 National electricity policy, Government of India, Ministry of power,2005, p.22 Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana, Government of India, Ministry of power,2005,rggvy.gov.in

the Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) to the state Governments. The REC is the nodal

agency for the programme.

Ministry for New and Renewable Energy (MNRE)

The role of new and renewable energy has been assuming increasing significance in recent times

with the growing concern for the country's energy security. Energy self-sufficiency was

identified as the major driver for new and renewable energy in the country in the wake of the two

oil shocks of the 1970s. The sudden increase in the price of oil, uncertainties associated with its

supply and the adverse impact on the balance of payments position led to the establishment of

the Commission for Additional Sources of Energy (CASE) in the Department of Science &

Technology in March 1981. The Commission was charged with the responsibility of formulating

policies and their implementation, programmes for development of new and renewable energy

apart from coordinating and intensifying R&D in the sector. In 1982, a new department, i.e.,

Department of Non-conventional Energy Sources (DNES), that incorporated CASE, was created

in the then Ministry of Energy. In 1992, DNES became the Ministry of Non-conventional Energy

Sources. In October 2006, the Ministry was renamed as the Ministry of New and Renewable

Energy.

Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission

The National Solar Mission is a major initiative of the Government of India and State

Governments to promote ecologically sustainable growth while addressing India’s energy

security challenge. It will also constitute a major contribution by India to the global effort to

meet the challenges of climate change.1

The objective of the National Solar Mission is to establish India as a global leader in solar

energy, by creating the policy conditions for its diffusion across the country as quickly as

possible.

The Mission was proposed to be implemented in three phases, spanning the four year period

from the year 2009-2013 as Phase 1, the next four years i.e from the year 2013 to 2017 as

Phase 2 and the 13th Plan (2017-22) as Phase 3.

1 Introduction, Towards building Solar India, Government of India, MNRE , p.1

The immediate aim of the Mission was to focus on setting up an enabling environment for

solar technology penetration in the country both at a centralized and decentralized level. The

first phase (up to 2013) will focus on capturing of the low hanging options in solar thermal; on

promoting off-grid systems to serve populations without access to commercial energy and

modest capacity addition in grid-based systems. In the second phase, after taking into account

the experience of the initial years, capacity will be aggressively ramped up to create conditions

for up scaled and competitive solar energy penetration in the country.

For implementing the Mission successfully the following targets1 were set:

To create an enabling policy framework for the deployment of 20,000 MW of solar

power by 2022.

To ramp up capacity of grid-connected solar power generation to 1000 MW by 2013 and

an additional 3000 MW by 2017 through the mandatory use of the Renewable Purchase

Obligation (RPO) by utilities backed with a preferential tariff. This capacity can be more

than doubled – reaching 10,000MW installed power by 2017 or more, based on the

enhanced and enabled international finance and technology transfer. The ambitious target

for 2022 of 20,000 MW or more, will be dependent on the ‘learning’ of the first two

phases, which if successful, could lead to conditions of grid-competitive solar power. The

transition could be appropriately up scaled, based on availability of international finance

and technology.

To create favourable conditions for solar manufacturing capability, particularly solar

thermal for indigenous production and market leadership.

To promote programmes for off grid applications, reaching 1000 MW by 2017 and 2000

MW by 2022 .

To achieve 15 million sq. meters solar thermal collector area by 2017 and 20 million by

2022.

To deploy 20 million solar lighting systems for rural areas by 2022.

1 Chapter 4 , Introduction, Jawaharlal Nehru national Solar Mission, MNRE annual report 2012-13, Government of India, MNRE,p.2

The Government  has  also  decided  to  approve  the  implementation  of  the  first phase  of  the 

Jawaharlal  Nehru  National  Solar  Mission  during  2009-2013  and the target to set up 1,000

MW grid connected ( 33 KV and above) solar plants,100 MW of roof  top  and  small  solar 

plants  connected  to  LT/11  KV  grid  and  200  MW  capacity equivalent off-grid solar

applications  in  the  first phase of  the Mission,  till March, 2013. An amount of Rs.4337 crore

has been approved  for  the activities proposed under  the first phase of  the Mission till March

2013.

The  implementation  of the  target  of  1,000 MW  of  grid  connected  (33 KV  and above) 

solar  power  plants  will  be  through  NTPC  Vidyut  Vyapar  Nigam  (NVVN),  a trading

subsidiary of NTPC Limited. NVVN will directly purchase  the solar power  from the project

developers as per the norms and guidelines fixed in this regard.

100 MW capacity of solar roof top and small grid connected solar power plants  will be 

connected  to  LT/11  KV  grid  of  the  distribution  utility  and  the  solar  power  will  be

directly purchased by  the distribution utilities as per  the norms and guidelines  fixed  in this

regard.

200 MW equivalent capacity of off-grid solar applications, both solar  thermal and photovoltaic

will be  implemented    through a combination of  low  interest bearing  loans and  /or  central 

financial  assistance.  as  per  the  norms  and  guidelines  fixed  in  this regard.

In addition, the Mission will support various activities, as considered necessary, on R&D, 

Human  Resource  Development,  Technical  Assistance,  training,  publicity  and awareness etc.

for successful implementation of the Mission

Grid connected solar power

The phase 1 of the Mission comprises of two sub-components viz.,

i) 1000 MW of large grid solar plants connected to 33 KV and above grid line, and

ii) 100 MW of rooftop and small solar plants, connected to grids below 33 KV.

In order to facilitate grid connected solar power generation under the first phase, without any

direct funding by the Government, it was decided to put NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN)

as the nodal agency to purchase 1000 MW of solar power from the project developers, bundle it

with the unallocated power available from NTPC coal based stations and sell this “bundled”

power to the Distribution Utilities. It was decided to select projects with a capacity of 500 MW

each, based on solar thermal and solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies. Considering the relatively

longer gestation period of solar thermal projects i.e. over two years, the selection of projects for

500 MW was completed in FY 2010-11. The size of solar thermal projects was in the range of 20

MW to 100 MW per project developer.

The selection of PV grid power projects with a capacity of 500 MW was decided to be done in

two batches over two financial years of phase 1 i.e., 2010-2011 and 2011-2012. The size of PV

projects in the first phase in 2010-11 was fixed at 5 MW per project.

In all a total of 704 MW capacity grid connected solar power projects were selected, which

comprised of 500 MW capacity of solar thermal power projects and 204 MW of PV power

projects. The Ministry also announced payment security mechanism to provide comfort to the

bankers for payment by NVVN to solar project developers in the event of defaults by the

purchasing state utilities. A provision of Rs.484 crore has been kept in the solar payment security

account.

Figure 6.1: 50 MW solar energy project phaldi, Jodhpur,Rajasthan under JNNSM

100 MW capacity Solar power plants

MNRE announced the guidelines for rooftop and other small solar power plants connected to

distribution network (below 33KV) in June 2010. This component of Mission was designed

essentially as a state driven scheme to encourage the states to declare their solar policy for grid

connected projects focusing on distribution network and strengthen the tail end of the grid.

Under this scheme, the state utilities purchase power from any of the generation companies

based on the tariff fixed/approved by the respective State Electricity Regulatory Commissions

(SERCs). Another purpose of the scheme was to encourage as many states as possible to set up

small solar grid connected projects. This would help to create a database of performance of solar

plants under different climatic and grid conditions. This was considered necessary for large scale

replication in future, particularly for meeting rural needs in the next phase of the solar Mission.

Under these guidelines, a cap of a maximum 20 MW capacity projects per state was put. The

project was limited to a maximum capacity of 2 MW to be connected to distribution grid. The

role of the Ministry was limited to providing a fixed generation based incentive (GBI) to the state

utilities at a rate equal to the difference of the CERC tariff for 2010-11 (Rs.17.91 per kWh) and

a reference rate of Rs. 5.5 per kWh. The projects were registered with IREDA through a web-

based process, and 78 projects were selected to set up 98 MW capacity projects from 12 states.

69 projects with a total capacity of 88.80 MW have been connected to grid.

Table 6.2 : Commissioning status of solar PV projects under Batch 1,Phase-1 of JNNSM

Rooftop PV and small solar power Generation Programme (RPSSGP)

S.No.

State Solar PV capacity to be commissioned as per PPA(MW)

Solar PV capacity to be commissioned (MW)

Balance of capacity to be commissioned (MW)

1 Andhra Pradesh 10.5 9.75 0.75

2 Chattisgarh 4 4 0

3 Haryana 8.8 7.8 1

4 Jharkhand 16 16 0

5 Madya Pradesh 5.25 5.25 0

6 Maharashtra 5 5 0

7 Odisha 8 7 1

8 Punjab 8.5 6 2.5

9 Rajasthan 12 11 1

10 TamilNadu 7 5 2

11 Uttarakhand 5 5 0

12 Uttar Pradesh 8 7 1

Total 98.05 88.80 9.25

Source: Government of India , MNRE ,Annual report, 2012-13, chapter 4, JNNSM, p.5,

Off-grid Solar Applications including Solar Heating

The guidelines for implementation of Off-grid solar applications were announced on 16 th June

2010 by MNRE. A provision of 30 percent capital subsidy and /or soft loan @5 percent was

made for general category states. In case of solar photovoltaic applications, a capital subsidy

limited to a maximum of 90 percent of the benchmark cost is available for Government driven

projects in the special category states viz, NE, Sikkim, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh

and Uttarakhand and also the international border districts and islands, keeping in view special

needs of the region and overall policy of the Government. Indian Renewable Energy

Development Agency (IREDA) has been assigned the task to provide refinance to the interested

banks to enable them to offer loans to consumers at 5 percent annual interest rate. In order to

encourage multiple channel partners to access support and reach out to the people, a process of

accreditation of solar system integrators has been introduced by the Ministry. Reputed agencies

such as Credit Rating Information Services of India Limited (CRISIL) and Investment information and

credit rating Agency (ICRA) have been involved in the process.

Out of the 200 MW capacity, Ministry fixed a target of sanctioning 32 MW capacity projects in

2010-11 against which 40.6 MW capacity off-grid solar PV projects were sanctioned in 2010-

11.Another 77.471 MW have been sanctioned during 2011-12 against a target of 68 MW for the

year. During 2012-13, projects with a capacity of 55 MW have been sanctioned so far. The total

capacity sanctioned so far thus becomes 173 MW. For solar thermal collector area during the

first phase, about 6.17 million square meter of collector area has been installed against a target of

7.0 million sq.m.1

Off-grid solar photovoltaics

Under the off-grid Solar applications scheme of Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission during

2012-13, the Ministry continued to provide subsidy of 30 percent of the project subject to a

maximum of Rs.81 per watt peak2 for installation of solar lanterns, home lights, street lights,

water pumps and stand alone power plants for various applications to different beneficiaries in

all states . In special category states, NE regions, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh,

Uttarakhand, Union Territory island and districts with international borers the subsidy of 90

percent of the project cost subject to a maximum of Rs.243 per watt peak was provided for the

central and state Government ministries, departments and their organizations, State Nodal

agencies and local bodies. The ministry sanctioned projects of about 57 MW capacity till 31st

December 2012.These included solar street lights in Nagaland and Manipur, mini-grid plants in

1 Annual report, 2012-13, chapter 4, JNNSM, page no.6, MNRE, Government of India

2 Wp - Watt-peak - maximum power output of a 1 square meter solar panel at 25 degrees centigrade. This unit of output is devised to compare the performances of various types and makes of solar panels. A 100 Wp panel is supposed to produce 100W. In real life a solar panel performes less. Use as a rule of thumb 80% of the Wp value.

the villages of Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh, solar lanterns in Bihar and Himachal Pradesh,

solar plants in various colleges and hostels in Jammu and Kashmir, solar power plants in jails

and police stations in chattisgarh, solar power plants in all block offices in Azamgarh district of

Uttarpradesh and solar power plants in bus depots in Andhra Pradesh.

The Ministry for New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is providing subsidy through National

Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and Regional Rural banks (RRBs) &

commercial banks for installation of solar lighting systems and small capacity PV systems to

individuals. Under the scheme NABARD extended the subsidy of 40 percent of the benchmark

cost which is Rs.270 per watt peak limited to Rs.108 per watt peak to RRBs and Commercial

banks for purchase of the solar PV systems having module capacity from 10 W to 210 W. The

RRBs and other commercial banks extended the loan for balance cost of the systems at normal

interest rates. About 29 RRBs and 18 commercial banks are extending loans to the consumers

and directly disbursing subsidy for solar home lighting systems and small capacity PV systems

under the financing of off-grid solar applications programme.

To make the solar PV projects demand driven, Ministry has allocated specific PV capacities to

176 system integrators and Renewable Energy Service provider companies, registered as channel

partners. These channel partners got themselves accredited by the rating agencies through a

system of accreditation to access the scheme.

Under the SPV off-grid and decentralized solar application programme, the ministry has

approved number of systems of about 57 MW, capacities as given in table 6.3.some of the major

projects sanctioned during 2012-13 are as follows:

1.10000Solar Power packs for individual households in Kerala.

2. 8877 solar street lights in 24 districts of Uttar Pradesh

3. 3000 solar pumps of total capacity of 8840 kW, for installation at various locations in

Rajasthan for horticulture and irrigation purposes.

4. 4200 solar street lights in 139 villages in the state of Nagaland

5.Stand alone power plants/packs (of cumulative capacity of about 4.53 MW) for various

organizations/sites namely Government institutions, industries, educational institutions,

SC/ST hostels, individuals etc.

Table 6.3: Details of projects sanctioned under off-grid solar applications

under JNNSM as on 31st December,2012

S.No.

States/Union territories

Systems sanctioned

Beneficiaries Capacity(kW)

1 Andhra Pradesh

Power Plants Bus stations 3015

2 Assam Power Plants Panchayats 28103 Bihar Pumps, Lanterns Various villages 10584 Chandigarh Power Plants Government buildings 7305 Chandigarh Power Plants,

power packsIndustries,SC,ST hostels, individuals, Educational Institutes

4531

6 Gujarat Power Plants Various locations 1327 Haryana Power Plants Various locations 258 Himachal

PradeshPower Plants, Lanterns

Remote villages, sheep and goat rearers 132

9 Jammu & Kashmir

Power Plants Government and private Institutions 752

10 Jharkand PowerPlants,pumps, Minigrid

Various villages and locations 502

11 Karnataka Power Plants Schoola,villages,various locations 66012 Kerala Power Plants,power

packsVarious locations 10155

13 Madhya pradesh

Power Plants University 55

14 Manipur Power packs,street lights

Individuals, various locations 1261

15 Nagaland street lights Various locations 31116 Punjab Power packs Individuals 50017 Rajasthan Power plants Industries,various locations 894618 Tamilnadu Powerplants,power

packs,streetlights, pumps

Government and private institutions, panchayats,PHCs, various locations

601

19 Uttar Pradesh Power plants,street lights

Block offices,bank branches,villages 937

20 West Bengal Power plants Various locations 5021 Others/channel

partnersPower plants, pumpsPower packs, street lights, Minigrid

Industries,colleges,paramilitaryforces,Bankbranches,Educational institutions, semigovernmentorganizations,schools,villages,individuals etc.

20809

Source: Annual report, 2012-13, chapter 4, JNNSM, page no.8, MNRE, Government of India

Solar water heating systems

The gross and realizable techno-economic potential for solar water heating systems in India is

estimated at 140 million sq.m and 40 million sq.m collector area respectively. A total of nearly

6.37 million sq.m collector area has so far been installed in the country, of which about 0.7

million sq.m has been installed during the year 2012-13, against a target of 1.4 million sq.m

collector area.

In response to model regulation/building bye-law circulated by the ministry of Urban

Development to all states and union territories for installation of solar assisted water heating

systems in new building necessary order have been issued in 21 states. Nearly 100 Municipal

corporations/Municipalities are implementing the same. Municipal Corporations are being

encouraged to provide rebate in property tax for those dwelling/buildings where solar water

heating system have been installed. Electricity utilities in states are being encouraged to provide

rebates in electricity tariff to such users.

BIS standards have been established for flat plate solar collectors along with appropriate test

facilities. Evacuated Tubular Collector (ETC) based systems are also being promoted.

Development of BIS performance standard for solar water heating systems based on both types

of collectors has also been established. As a part of testing network besides Solar Energy Centre,

there are five Regional Test Centres for certification and development testing at Devi Ahiliya

Viswavidyalaya, Indore. University of pune, Pune; Madurai Kamaraj University, Madhurai;and;

Sardar Patel Renewable Energy Research Institute, Vallabh Vidyanagar, Gujarat and a newly

started Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram University of Science and technology, Sonepat (Haryana).

Figure 6.2: 2200 litres per day capacity ETC based Solar water heating system at Surabhai

Hotel,Kullu,Himachal pradesh.

Efforts are being made to mainstream use of solar water heating system in new buildings

including multi-storeyed housing complexes. A provision to this effect has been made in various

codes and rating systems, such as, National building Code, Energy Conservation Building Code

(ECBC), and GRIHA- a rating system for buildings. ECBC provides that, solar water heaters

meet at least 20 percent of the design capacity for water heating. The GRIHA prescribes 70

percent or more of the annual energy requirement for heating water to be met through renewable

energy based water heating systems, primarily through solar water heater systems. An energy

labeling scheme, similar to the star rating scheme for air conditioners and refrigerators, is also

planned to promote quality solar water heaters.

There are over 60 BIS approved manufacturers for producing solar water heating systems using

flat plate collectors. In addition over 100 manufacturers have been empanelled for evacuated

tube collectors tested with water solar heaters systems. These manufacturers are eligible to

supply solar water heating systems under the interest subsidy scheme.

Solar water heaters have become popular in Benguluru, Pune and several other cities in

Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, TamilNadu and Andhra Pradesh. Efforts are being made to

extend this coverage to the other states and cities too. A special programme has been launched

by MNRE to meet the hot water requirement through solar in the Ladakh region. Efforts are also

being made to promote solar water heating systems in various sectors including hotel, hospitals,

industries and commercial establishments. Various central government Ministries, such as,

Urban Development, Tourism, Defence, Railways, Textiles, Health, Food processing industries

etc., have been approached for adoption of solar water heating systems as part of the energy

infrastructure under their respective sectors.

Extensive publicity and awareness campaigns are taken up through print and electronic media in

a large number of cities in various states where potential for installation of water heating systems

is high. Manufacturers are also provided support for publicity. A number of seminars, workshops

and business meets are organized with different stakeholder group with focus on accelerating

solar water heater deployment in different sectors. During the year 2012-13, seminars for

different stakeholders namely, builders, developers, housing boards, development authorities,

manufacturers, and banks were organized By MNRE and its associates in Delhi, Bengaluru,

Gurgaon, Srinagar, Mumbai and Pune.

Concentrating Solar technologies (CSTs)

Concentrating solar systems are suitable for cooking food for large number of people in

community kitchen. The systems have also found suitable application for Process Heat, Laundry,

Cleaning, Drying, Evaporation, Distillation, Pasteurization, Cooking, Boiler Feed Water Heating,

Heating/Cooling.

The MNRE has sanctioned installation of Solar Steam Cooking system for cooking food for

10,000 children/ students from below poverty line and 5000 devotees who visit Mathas of Sree

Siddaganga Math, Tumukur. The systems have been installed and commissioned. The Solar

Steam Cooking system is utilized for making two meals for 15,000 people approximately. It

saves Rs.25,00,000 annually in the fuel cost namely LPG and wood.

Further, during the year 2012-13 a number of systems with various capacity and size having total

collector/reflector area 19,000 sq.m. approximately were also sanctioned to various channel

partner for cooking application in domestic, community and other institutions.

Solar Air Heating

A scheme on solar air heating systems comprising of solar flat plate collector for various

applications in the industries which require hot air at low temperature (50-800C) as process heat

for drying of various products such as tea leaves/coffee beans/leather, textile, chemicals, rubber,

paper and pharmaceuticals and also processing of fruits, spices, cearals, papad, fish etc. is being

implemented with financial support of the Ministry. Small Cabinet-type Solar fish dryers have

been found very useful for small fisherman groups. Five such systems have been installed by

Cochin Corporation in Kerala State for fish drying. Large volume fish drying plants have been

developed based on solar water heating systems. Two such dryers of capacity 250 Kg/day have

been installed at Kanjikuzhi panchayat in kerala and Indian Council for Agricultutal Research

(ICAR) Complex Imphal, Manipur. Nearly 2,000 sq.m. of collector area has been installed under

these systems during the year 2012-13 for drying daal, papad, chemicals and other products.