The First Solar-Powered Village in India

Modhera, a village in Gujarat's Mehsana district, was recently dubbed India's first solar-powered village by the prime minister.

What Standout Features Define India's First Solar-Powered Village?

• Modhera Village is well-known for its Sun Temple, a revered historic landmark located on the Pushpavati River. It was constructed in 1026–1027 by Chalukya dynasty King Bhima–I.
• The temple will get a 3-D projection system that will educate visitors about Modhera's past.
• Solar Power Generation: The solar power village will utilise 1000 solar panels that have been installed on the village homes to generate electricity 24 hours a day for the people. This will make the town self-sufficient in solar energy generation.
• It is created using a ground-mounted solar power plant and more than 1300 rooftop solar systems on homes and government structures that are all connected to battery energy storage devices (BESS).
• A BESS is a particular kind of energy storage device that stores and disperses energy in the form of electricity using batteries.

Benefits:

• The project will show how India's expertise in renewable energy can empower local residents.
• Instead of paying for electricity, the villagers might start selling it and profit from the solar panel's energy output by selling it to the public grid.
• In the long run, it will raise living standards by creating jobs at the village level.
• It will improve the long-term execution of numerous welfare programmes in the region.
• Residents would be able to save between 60 and 100 percent on their electricity costs.
• It will lessen the tedium experienced by rural women and girls who must travel great distances to gather fuel wood and cook in smoky kitchens.
• Additionally, it will reduce the likelihood of developing lung and eye conditions.

What is India's Solar Energy Situation?

• The installed solar energy capacity, which now stands at 56.6 GW, has multiplied 19.3 times over the past eight years.
• India has also set a lofty goal to produce 175 GW of renewable energy by the end of 2022, which will increase to 500 GW by 2030. The largest expansion strategy for renewable energy exists right now.
• India ranked third globally and second in Asia for new solar PV capacity. In terms of overall installations, it came in at number four (60.4 GW), passing Germany (59.2 GW) for the first time.
• Rajasthan and Gujarat, which accounted for 53% and 14%, respectively, of installations as of June 2022, were the top states for large-scale solar, followed by Maharashtra with 9%.

Related Initiatives:

• Solar Park Scheme: Across multiple states, the Solar Park Scheme aims to construct a number of solar parks, each with a capacity of close to 500 MW.
• Rooftop Solar Scheme: By mounting solar panels on home roofs, the Rooftop Solar Scheme intends to harvest solar energy.
• Atal Jyoti Yojana: The AJAY initiative was introduced in September 2016 to install solar street lighting (SSL) systems in states where less than 50% of households are connected to the grid (as per Census 2011).
• The National Solar Mission is a significant effort by the Indian government and state governments to encourage environmentally friendly development and address the country's problem with energy security.
• SRISTI Scheme: To encourage rooftop solar power projects in India, the Sustainable Rooftop Implementation of Solar Transfiguration of India (SRISTI) scheme.

What are the difficulties India has with solar energy?

• India is heavily dependent on imports since it lacks the capacity to produce enough PV cells and modules.
• The annual production capacity for solar modules is currently 15 GW, although domestic output is just about 3.5 GW.
• Additionally, only 3-4 GW of the 15 GW of module production capacity are technologically competitive and deserving of being deployed in grid-based projects.
• Supply of Raw Materials: The most expensive raw material, silicon wafer, is not produced in India.
• Currently, it imports 80% or more of its cells and 100% of its silicon wafers.
• Other important raw materials, such the metal pastes used to make electrical contacts out of silver and aluminium, are likewise virtually entirely imported.
• Solar PV cell inefficiencies: The utility-scale solar PV market is still struggling with issues like significant T&D losses and other inefficiencies, land costs, and grid interconnection difficulties.
• Biodiversity-related problems: There have also been disagreements with neighbourhood residents and laws governing biodiversity protection.
• Pricing problem: Although India has achieved record-low tariffs for utility-scale solar power generation, this has not translated into cheaper power for end users.

Way Forward

• In the short term, working with the industry to provide them with trained human resource, process learnings, root-cause analysis through appropriate testing, and in the long term, developing India's own technologies will be necessary for India to become a manufacturing hub. India is making significant progress in the development of solar PV modules.

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