siliconindia | | October 20189installed generating capacity is required. Coal is becoming more difficult to obtain, sources of domestic gas are shrinking, and there is more focus than ever on sustainability.The result stakeholders are scaling back expectations that conventional energy sources can fulfill India's power needs. India's renewed focus on solar power, led by the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM), could not have come at a better time.Solar power in India is a fast developing industry. The country's solar installed capacity reached 20 GW in February 2018. India expanded its solar generation capacity eight times from 2,650 MW on 26 May 2014 to over 20 GW as on 31 January 2018. The 20 GW capacity was initially targeted for 2022, but the government achieved the target four years ahead of schedule. The country added 3 GW of solar capacity in 2015-2016, 5 GW in 2016-2017 and over 10 GW in 2017-2018, with the average current price of solar electricity dropping to 18 percent below the average price of its coal-fired counterpart.With approximately 300 clear and sunny days in a year, the calculated solar energy incidence on India's land area is about 5000 trillion kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year (or 5 EWh/yr). The solar energy available in a single year exceeds the possible energy output of all of the fossil fuel energy reserves in India. The daily average solar-power-plant generation capacity in India is 0.20 kWh per sq. mtr. of the used land area, equivalent to 14001800 peak (rated) capacity operating hours in a year with available, commercially-proven technology. Solar will become a crucial component of India's energy portfolio in the coming decade. We believe the solar market can develop fairly quickly, going from nothing to several billion-dollar solar-centric firms within a decade. India has various other advantages as well:The Growing Demand· Expansion in industrial activity to boost demand for electricity.· Growing population and increasing penetration and per-capita usage to provide further impetus.Higher Investment· Investment in the solar energy sector in the country rose to over $10 billion in 2017. The figure was about $4 billion a year ago.Attractive Opportunities · Ambitious projects and increasing investments across the value chain.· Diversification into renewable sources increasing growth avenues.Policy Support · 100 percent FDI allowed in the power sector has boosted FDI inflows in this sector.· Schemes like Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) and Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) have already been implemented for rural and urban areas respectively.By 2022, India has set a target to achieve total production 175 GW from renewable resources out of which by 100 GW will be produced from solar power. As a part of the green corridor project, the power lines would transmit 20 GW of power capacity from 34 solar parks across 21 states. Declining solar power prices as compared to thermal power have prompted the government to switch to the renewable energy resources. Three coal power projects have been shelved in Odisha, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh due to the low rate of renewable solar energy at $0.038/kWh. In order to meet the increasing demand for electricity in the country, massive addition to the installed generating capacity is requiredKushagra Nandan
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