India

Karnataka has snagged the top spot on the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy’s State Rooftop Solar Attractiveness Index.

Transition to a green economy in India must be ‘just,’ keeping in mind vulnerable livelihoods. It would need to look at the labour surplus issue, especially for those employed in agriculture and informal sectors—said experts at a national consultative workshop held by sustainability thinktank The Energy and Resources Institute in New Delhi.

Floating PV arrays have the advantage of bypassing lengthy and costly land acquisition processes for developing megawatt-scale solar projects in India. When combined with the additional output from cooler modules and system-level advantages when located on hydro dams, the upside is significant. But durability of modules-on-water is of concern, and one about which there is little awarenesss, says Vivek Chaturvedi, regional business director for DSM Advanced Solar.

The solar tree—costing around Rs 3 lakh for 3 kW capacity—auto tracks the sun to generate 10-15% extra power.

Most residential customers buy PV systems by obtaining quotes directly from PV installers. However, this can prove time consuming, costly and ineffective. Homeowners need an online quote platform, which offers a seamless buying experience. This can increase solar power awareness among Indian homeowners and help grow the adoption of rooftop solar power in the Indian residential market.

The fossil fuel giant announced the plan in its latest annual results. The company envisages rolling out electric vehicle chargers at its petrol and diesel stations.

A total of three smart grid field pilots are to be set up—two inside the IIT Kanpur campus and one at two village hamlets in Kanpur—under a U.S.-India collaborative project on smart distribution system with storage. The deadline for EoI submission is August 30.

The utility has revealed plans to invest roughly $3 billion in the construction of a 5 GW solar park across two to three locations in Gujarat’s Kutch region. In a separate announcement, the New Delhi-based group opened global bidding to build 1.2 GW of grid-connected solar capacity throughout India.

Startups and individuals are invited to submit their innovative ideas to solve some of the key challenges through application of renewable energy. The innovation should at least be in prototype stage and feasible for deployment. The winner will receive a cash prize of Rs10 lakh, while the first runner up will earn Rs7 lakh and the second runner up Rs5 lakh. Applications close on August 31.

New incentive scheme will see state government offering up to 40% subsidy towards cost of residential solar systems with the aim of adding 8 lakh of new arrays by 2022.