TJ Joseph, managing director of Anu Solar Power Pvt Ltd, speaks to DNA on the importance of solar energy to solve the power woes of the country.
What is the significance of solar power, given the current power crisis?
Of late, there has been an increase in generation of renewable energy like solar and wind energy. Among the traditional methods, less than 5,000MW of hydro-electric power is generated all over the country. Thermal power generates around 85,000MW, which is the highest. The disadvantage of thermal power is that it is highly polluting. For example, when you generate 1KW of power, around 1.2 kg of carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere.
Electricity generated through this method is a major pollutant in any country. That’s why the need to look for cleaner energy arose, which gave birth to nuclear energy.
However, power generated through nuclear energy is negligible. Also, the byproduct of nuclear energy is nuclear waste and 1 gm of nuclear energy is more harmful than the carbon dioxide!
What are the benefits of using solar energy?
If solar energy is used for heating purposes, there will not be any electricity shortage for the next few years. About 70% of the electricity is used for heating or cooling purposes in our country.
What is the current market position for solar products?
The more people are aware of solar energy, the more likely they are to use it.
The capital cost is not very high. If the customer feels it is affordable they will purchase it. Unfortunately, as is the case with solar energy, you put it on your roof-top, there is no scope to show it off. Since it is not seen as a lifestyle product, selling becomes difficult.
What is the cost of solar electricity?
Solar energy is the cheapest. The cost per unit is only about 15 paise. The life of a solar water heater is about 20 years. While the initial cost may be high, in the long run, it turns out to be a fraction of what we pay for other forms of electricity.
What is the government doing to support the industry? Is it enough?
The government has a beautiful plan, the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission. It is an ambitious project that was brought about last year. It is expected that by 2022, around 20,000MW will be added to the energy sector towards renewables.
There is no major industry putting in investments into this business. Solar water heating is restricted to small-scale companies. This is a big drawback for rapid growth.
The government should allow enough time for the industry to perform. Subsidies have only recently started having an impact. If the subsidies are transparent, faster and smoother the industry will grow.
Now, the government has made it compulsory in Karnataka for an individual to buy a solar water heater if he wants an electricity connection. It’s good that the government has made it mandatory, but it should be linked with the floor area space or on a per bathroom basis.
What are the other products consumers can buy?
Energy saved is energy produced. All our products are related with energy savings. For instance, we have LED lights, these take only one-tenth the energy of an incandescent light bulb. So a 40watt bulb is equal to about 3 watts of an LED light. This also will effectively bring down consumption. There are many things we cannot do without electricity. For instance, solar water heater cannot run a motor, but to heat a metal we can use solar power.
Is there any affordable way of converting sunlight into energy?
This will be more costly as we have to collect energy and transfer it. This can be done on a large scale, but it works out to be more
expensive.
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