CHALLANGES BEFORE SOLARIZATION OF RURAL INDIA
India observes around 300 sunny days a year on an average, hence, considered as a potential source of power in India. Solar energy has been gaining interest from government, international organizations, societies and the private sector for the past few years. The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) aims to establish India as a global leader in solar energy and to achieve grid - parity in solar power by creating policies, aggressive Research and Development (R&D), and domestic production of critical materials for its diffusion across the country as quickly as possible. Due to this advent of grid - parity solar power systems are gaining popularity. The country has realized that it is cheaper to build and operate solar farms than to run existing coal-fired power plants.
This advancement in technology has made the technology more attractive to rural homeowners also. To save money, many homeowners are considering going green these days. More than 60% of India's population lives in rural areas, so to make the plan of solarization a success, solar power should not only stay limited to metropolitan cities, but also reach the rural and suburban areas. Nearly half of the households in rural India still face irregular or zero power supply due to lack of power grid, poor transmission facilities and rising electricity cost. Growth Of solar energy will also help mitigate dependence on Kerosene for lighting. So, solar power revolution using mini grids and off grid solar power systems can illuminate the homes of rural India. But there are various challenges before solarization of these regions
High Initial And Replacement Expenses
Affordable electricity is the key to economic and social development of India. Solar lamps are a quick, affordable, and effective way to provide basic lighting for households in rural areas, But, the market for solar products is hampered by a lack of awareness and willingness to pay (WTP) for solar technology. Even if installation is offered almost free of cost, then the cost of replacement of components of the solar power system turns out to be costlier to rural households like battery replacement. This shows that their income pattern is not suited to the payments they have to make. Also, most of the mini-grid projects suffer from financial unviability which results in discontinuation of operation.
Subsidized Kerosene
Statistics show that irregular electricity supply or absence of an electricity grid have pushed nearly 85 million households in rural India to select kerosene as a source of Lighting. Subsidizing kerosene puts an unnecessary subsidy burden on the government itself. Moreover, use of kerosene can cause health related issues and fire hazards. So, apparently kerosene cannot compete with solar power. Government must focus on improving solar power adoption rate within the rural areas, rather than subsidizing Kerosene. With flexible financing models, offering subsidies to reduce the burden of initial investment, simplifying approval process and raising awareness, governments can motivate rural households to go solar.
Supply Side Challenge
The Lack of supply chain for components and spare parts in rural locations hampers the maintenance of these solar power systems. Supply chain constraints result in repairs being delayed. And if these types of delays are with Tariff based projects then delays lead to non - payment by consumer which further leads to negligence from the operator. Finally it ends up as a defunct system.
Lack of Skilled Manpower
The decentralized rooftop solar power system makes the owner of the power system more independent in terms of power generation and energy utilization. But optimum performance of the system needs proper maintenance. Servicing of these solar power systems requires technically trained personnel, lack of such skilled manpower leads to frequent stoppages of systems in rural areas, and solar PV systems are no exception. In rural areas, small energy generation systems, installed to provide electricity to small villages or communities, frequently last a few months before being abandoned
Land Acquisition & Its Cost
In rural villages, the process for obtaining the land needed for project development is unclear. Hence, Acquisition of contiguous land parcels for a large-scale solar project is still a big challenge for most project developers. Further there is delay in approvals, which is another hurdle. Large projects take time to get commissioned and delays add to the complexity in terms of execution time. The industry is asking for faster decision-making for making land available and simplifying government approvals to attract investments in power projects. The cost of acquiring the land is also very high. It constitutes about 6%-7% of a large scale solar project and indirectly consumers have to bear it in the form of tariffs.
Lack of Trust For Performance
Despite various benefits offered by the government in form of subsidies, direct and indirect tax benefits etc. consumers are not ready to invest. This is because there are huge doubts and lack of information about the performance of plants in India. A majority of the companies in the area have little or no experience as these companies are fairly new startups or mediators for foreign investors in this field, hence the gap in trust exists.
Solar Micro-Grid - Ideal Solution
Solar Micro grid is a ideal solution to all these challenges and for lighting dark communities in villages. Solar micro-grids consist of an array of Solar photovoltaic (PV) Modules that generates power and transmits to a central controller called the Power Conditioning Unit (PCU). The PCU then transmits electricity directly to homes, shops, offices, street lights, etc. Further during the day, if the power generated is not used or surplus power is generated, the PCU directs this to the battery bank which stores power. This power can then be used after the sunset. The solar micro-grid supplies the electricity for homes, street lighting for roads and lanes, and water pumps.
