Solar pumps

Under the new Solar Policy 2018 announced on Thursday, Andhra Pradesh has set a minimum target of 5 GW of newly installed PV power capacity over the next five years.

The Indian Government plans to tender 60 GW of solar and 20 GW of wind capacity by March 2020. This would complete the planned auctions for its targets of 100 GW solar and 60 GW wind installations by 2022, leaving two years for project execution, according to an year-end review by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).

While Africa has emerged as a dynamic, fast-moving hub, Asia leads in capacity deployment with its total capacity more than tripling to nearly 4.3 GW in 2017 from 1.3 GW in 2008, finds IRENA. Particularly, in India, a strong policy has pushed deployment of off-grid solar for agriculture and public end-uses.

India’s Council on Energy, Environment, and Water (CEEW), which is actively working with the Indian government to update the country’s solar target, says increasing solar pump installations in India requires more than just subsidies.

The Indian government has introduced a number of subsidies under various categories of solar projects, from big PV parks to small rooftop and off-grid installations, in order to achieve its 100 GW solar target by 2022. The current status of the subsidies are summarized below.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) study of solar pump technology used in India assesses technical performance and explores innovative business cases to increase user adoption. The study also helps farmers to choose the right size of the pump according to their requirement or size of fields.