MARCH 20178By Divya Prabha M.V, Product Manager, Solar MangoIN MY OPINION ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTSolar Mango provides Consulting, Research, Software Development and Marketing support to the fast growing Solar & Other Renewable Energy sectors in India.Cleantech, standing for clean technologies, is perhaps the most im-portant industry in the world today, and yet few people have heard about the term. Cleantech is an umbrel-la term referring to green and clean technologies. The sector includes clean energy and clean environment sectors such as solar, wind, biofuels, water treatment, energy efficiency, pollution control.Cleantech reduces emissions, optimizes the consumption of natural resources and results in a cleaner, safer and more sustainable environment. In 2015, the UN set out the new Sustainable Development Goals, highlighting the importance of green, low carbon, and circular economy development. In the same year, emissions-cutting deal at the Paris Climate Change Summit was adopted, setting a foundation for countries to scale up clean technologies.The development of clean technology is touted as one of the most effective ways to tackle climate change and other environmental issues.Now, Where do Mobile Apps Come In?While cleantech solutions are a critical need, these solutions have their share of challenges. The convergence of information technology and clean technology is an exciting development that is expected to take care of some of these challenges.What we have done in this article is to point out some of the key challenges that can be taken care of by mobile apps, and have also provided specific examples of the same.Cleantech Challenges Where Mobile Apps Can Make a DifferenceLack of awareness of cost-benefits associated with clean energy solutions - Customers tend to be sceptical about claims that cleantech products have environmental benefits and cost savings. As a result, decision making is often delayed.Huge customer acquisition costs for businesses - Customer ac-quisition costs are extremely high in the case of renewable energy related businesses as it is a new and capital intensive business.Sub-optimal operation and management of clean energy solutions - Lack of awareness in handling the equipment coupled with inefficient management of the systems end up in stakeholders losing out financial returns.Inaccuracies while handling a huge amount of data - Be it a solar power plant, wind turbine or a sewage treatment plant, data entry and documentation associated with it could be cumbersome and prone to errors. Such erroneous data cannot be trusted upon for informed decision making.Divya Prabha M.V
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