Indian Solar Energy Plan Aims for 20 GW by 2020

India intends to implement a comprehensive and rigorous renewable energy plan, it emerged on August 4th 2009.  Through harnessing the power of the sun, India’ plan is to have electricity from solar energy feeding 20 GW (gigawatts) into the national grid by 2020.

20 GW represents a huge amount of electricity.  To put it into perspective, the IEA (International Energy Agency) envisages that, by 2020, total worldwide capacity from solar energy will be around 27 gigawatts.  On this basis, then, India’s solar electricity will represent approximately three-quarters of this.

Indian Solar Power

Below are listed some of the main features of the Indian solar power plan:

• Between one GW and 1.5 GW solar capacity to have been generated by 2010
• Between six GW and seven GW solar capacity to have been generated by 2017
• 20 GW to have been generated by 2020, based on the previous two deadlines having been hit
• CO2 emission savings of approximately 42 million tons to have been achieved through implementing this solar plan
• Governmental buildings, hotels and hospitals to feature photovoltaic technologies as a compulsory measure.  Financial incentives to be offered to accelerate the adoption of photovoltaics in urban areas.
• Feed-in tariffs to be offered to households that feed solar energy (beyond their own requirements) into the national grid. 

India intends to request both monetary and technological backing from developed nations in order to realise its solar dreams.  “In order to achieve its renewable energy targets, the Indian government expects international financing as well as technology at an affordable cost”, scientific and policy research organisation TERI’s Leena Srivastava explained. 

On this basis, some analysts are expecting India to highlight its solar energy vision at the forthcoming globally-involving climate change talks to be held in Denmark in December 2009, where representatives from 190 countries will discuss a new deal to replace 1997’s Kyoto Protocol.

Solar Energy Technologies

India has faced criticism over what critics have perceived as its reluctance to move away from fossil fuel burning and towards new renewable energy technologies.  According to analysts, its adoption of solar energy technologies will go a long way towards answering these critics. 

At present, just the idea of electricity represents an unreachable commodity for around 400,000,000 Indian residents.