Feature Article

The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) and the Gujarat Solar Policy have provided a large market for thin film technology. Until 2010, most of the country's solar energy development was dominated by off-grid systems based on crystalline silicon technology.

Private equity (PE) investment in the Indian renewable energy space surged ahead in 2011, with both deal volumes and average deal values increasing manifold over the previous years.

Over the past decade, many photovoltaic (PV) plant operators have observed the unexplained degradation and power loss of PV modules. Recent research shows that this is due to potential induced degradation (PID), also known as high voltage stress.

India plans to install 20,000 MW of solar capacity over the next decade - 10,000 MW each in the concentrating solar power (CSP) and photovoltaic (PV) segments. A huge market has been created along with supportive policies to optimise the abundant direct normal irradiance (DNI), large engineering tool and technical know-how on the power blocks.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has played a significant role in promoting renewable energy development. Incentives like accelerated depreciation and programmes like the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) have given a fillip to the wind and solar industries.

The bidding for solar photovoltaic (PV) projects under the second round of Phase I of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) yielded unexpectedly low tariffs, ranging from 7.49 per unit to Rs 9.41 per unit. While the results have been welcomed by some industry observers as an indication of the solar power sector inching towards grid parity, there are many who express serious doubts about the financial viability of projects awarded at such low tariffs. Sector experts discuss the implications of the JNNSM bid results.

Before the launch of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) in 2010, not much attention was paid to solar radiation assessment in India. The country had 45 meteorological stations managed by the Indian Meteorological Department to operate as weather observatories, which were not equipped to collect data on direct normal irradiance (DNI), a measure of solar radiation received per unit area, along with weather parameters at various locations.

The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) released the draft Terms and Conditions for Tariff Determination from Renewable Energy Sources Regulations, 2012 in November 2011, specifying technical parameters for tariff determination for renewable energy projects set up during the Twelfth Plan period. The draft regulations are a welcome step as they offer tariff visibility for the upcoming plan period and, therefore, help renewable energy developers in determining future expansion strategies.

In today’s conversations about oil and other natural resources, a common worry is whether the world is “running out” and will soon begin a confrontational scramble to gain access to what’s left for the picking. Before such visions become mainstream thinking, a reminder that we’ve been down this path before might provide some useful perspective. Every few decades, it seems, an event or conjunction of events creates enough anxiety to prompt these questions.

Seemingly everyone has an opinion of Walmart, and quite often these opinions diverge. But just about everyone would agree that Walmart sources its products in a manner that permits it to sell them at very low prices. The primary reason is that Walmart is itself a great shopper—for any given product, the company looks globally for the best price and encourages suppliers to compete with one another.