Community

The adoption of local, community-based energy solutions like rooftop solar and batteries can help make the energy grid more flexible and reliable. Home solar and batteries will enable the growth of ‘prosumers’ who produce and share energy, as well as consume it.

Small and marginal farmers in the Muzaffarpur district of Bihar are making productive use of solar energy to reduce their losses and increase income, thanks to an innovative pay-per-use cooling service for perishable horticulture produce. 

The global off-grid solar appliance market began an uneven recovery from the worst ravages of the global pandemic in the second half of last year, according to market body GOGLA, but more finance and policy support must be made available to have any chance of achieving universal electricity access this decade.

Solar power generators have until June 15 to bid for the development of projects on a build-own-operate basis. The ceiling tariff payable for the electricity generated has been fixed at INR 3.10/kWh.

A new report states decentralized solar installations in climate-vulnerable regions of Assam, Jharkhand, and Rajasthan lacked design to deal with future climate risks. The report authors, based on their study, outline considerations for policymakers, implementing agencies, vendors, and funding agencies to build resilient structures.

Italian start-up Genius Watter has developed a solar desalination solution that is claimed to be particularly suitable for remote areas with no connection to grid electricity. The system is able to produce up to 1,000 cubic meters of potable water per day at an opex of €0.20 per cubic meter.

The solar project—developed in the Amravati District of Maharashtra—uses 60,660 numbers of 330Wp polycrystalline PV modules and is expected to generate more than 78,600 MWh of power annually. 

pv magazine has taken part in a webinar examining the thorny issue of financing clean energy generation in developing markets.

The private-sector arm of the World Bank, which claims to leverage $3 of its own capital and $8 from third parties for every dollar invested in its blended finance funds, has attempted to quantify what devoting Covid recovery funds to green investment would mean for emerging economies.

The use of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells as backup power generation in solar microgrids could drive down costs and improve efficiency, according to an international group of researchers. They have proposed a new energy management system that could be ideal for hybrid solar-hydrogen microgrids in remote locations.