Ministry Of New And Renewable Energy Research Articles

Performance analysis of a 50 kW grid-tied PV system on energy productivity in a technical institution building and mitigation method to improve the low power factor problem

A 50-kW grid-interactive solar photovoltaic (SPV) power plant was installed on the rooftop of the Government College of Engineering Kannur (GCEK) in Kerala, India (11◦59′9″N, 75◦22′55″E) on 28th May 2018. The plant was funded by an initial capital investment of ₹36 Lakh, including a subsidy of ₹16 Lakh from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) of the Government of India. The plant has been operating smoothly, with an average energy production of 150 kWh per day. However, a review of the monthly electricity bills of the institution showed that the interconnection of the PV plant has resulted in a power factor penalty of approximately ₹3.5 Lakh for a period of 3 years. This prompted further analysis to identify the cause of the low power factor. The goal of this work is to study and analyze the 50-kW solar plant, focusing on the reasons for the low power factor and suggesting methods to improve the power factor of the GCEK power system. This type of analysis will be useful while designing a SPV power plant for a technical institution in a country like India with similar load profile.

Solar Energy Adoption in India: A Comparative Analysis across States with a focus on West Bengal

Solar energy development is paramount for India to achieve environment-friendly energy and fulfil sustainable development goals. It will help reduce the country’s energy demand and supply gap. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and NITI AAYOG are working together to achieve the alternative energy requirement through solar power. The government of India set the target in 2015 to reach 175 GW of renewable energy by 2022 and 100 GW only from solar power. In line with the Central Government, the states should develop policies to promote solar energy to meet the target. Under the circumstances, this paper attempts to compare the approaches taken by different states in the country and compare such policies to see where West Bengal is falling behind and to discover the barriers and challenges to solar power development in West Bengal.

Self reliant India: renewable energy an emerging alternative for country’s self reliance in energy sector

India's electricity sector is dominated by fossil fuels, in particular coal. During the fiscal year 2019-20, fossil fuels produced more than three-fourth (1044.44 GWh of total 1385.1 GWh) of the country’s total generation. The government is making efforts to increase investment in renewable energy. Share of renewables in India’s total installed capacity has increased from 12.25% as on 31 March 2012 to 23.45% by 31 March 2020. Similarly, the share of renewable energy sources in country’s electricity generation is gradually increasing and it has reached to 9.96% in FY 2019-20 which was only 5.83% during FY 2013-14. Renewable sources have emerged as an environment friendly and potential energy resource. India is blessed with suitable conditions for renewables, as the number of sunny days is more and having a 7517 km long coastal bank. Government is committed for faster growth of renewable sector and India is now ranked fourth in the world in total installed renewable capacity, which has become possible only because of remarkable efforts of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). Therefore, for India to become self reliant in energy sector and to achieve the goal of sustainable development, the role of renewable energy is vital. Renewable energy can help a lot to achieve the dual objective of fulfulling the growing energy demand and curb the emission of pollotants and thus to comly with country’s committment at international forums towards reduction of emission. In this way, renewable energy may be one of the best alternatives for sustainable development and self-reliance of India in energy sector.

An Experimental Case Study on Generation of Bio-Energy as Clean Technology Initiative in a Food Industry

India is a country with huge potential for Biomass Energy (BE) generation numerically estimated as 20GW. The country is making some serious efforts in terms of both scientific interventions and fiscal incentives to economically attract more projects of BE for its renewability properties. Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) Government of India is encouraging clean technologies (CT) to get adopted by revenue generating organizations through provisions of certificates for emission reduction, Carbon-Credits or giving preferential tariffs. These initiatives have been welcomed by industries as they often have large amount of bio-degradable waste to send to treatment facilities. Anaerobic Digestion (AD) process has got much attention in industrial waste treatment ventures in this framework. Bio-chemical breakdown process of waste releases biogas that can be utilized in electricity and steam generation and simultaneously landfill expenses can be avoided. Present study is based on an experiment of converting potato peels of a food industry to generate biogas. Standard AD process is utilized with a suitably selected pre-treatment mechanism to make the process of BE generation more efficient according to the scale of industrial dimensions. This venture is one of the many CT initiatives taken by the industry for achieving sustainability goals of the EHS (Environment-Health-Safety) division. The process is estimated to produce 16 lt methane gas per 1 kg of potato peel waste. This process of generation of BE is capable to off-set of 3000 Kcal amount of energy required for industrial operation. Further a SWOT analysis has been carried out to critically analyze the suitability of the experiment as per industrial scale.

Bagasse-Based Sugar Cogeneration Potential in India: A Source of Renewable Energy

India has been suffering from an acute shortage of electricity for several decades. The main reason is that there is a large gap between the demand and supply of electricity. Therefore, the government of India has recently promoted cogeneration in the sugar industry. The national power generation potential from bagasse cogeneration, according to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), a study by the Government of India, is about 3,500 MW, while Maharashtra's potential is 1,250 MW. Indian Sugar Industries has the potential to produce an excess capacity of up to 5,000 MW in all sugar mills. Maharashtra again became India's leading sugar-producing state five years later. It overtook Uttar Pradesh in sugar production. The total sugar production in Maharashtra is 138 thousand metric tonnes for 2021–2022. In India, the sugar industry is the second-largest agro-industry and contributes significantly to the socioeconomic development of the country. Sugarcane is the main raw material for sugar production in India. Sugar cogeneration is the concept of producing two types of energy from one fuel. One form of energy must always be heated, and the other may be electricity or mechanical energy. In the cogeneration industry, very high-efficiency levels in the range of 75% to 90% can be achieved.

Evaluation of Information and Public Awareness Programme of MNRE in India

The Information & Public Awareness (I&PA) Programme of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has been existing since the inception of the Ministry in 1992. The programme is being implemented as a central sector scheme with full funding from the central budget. The Ministry uses variety of media like electronic, print and outdoor publicity through exhibitions, bus panels, hoardings, kiosks, paintings and other outdoor media activities for popularization of new and renewable energy systems and devices throughout the country. The Ministry participates in different Districts, States and National level exhibitions mainly through State Nodal Agencies (SNAs). With the analytical frame of reference, the study has taken into account mixed approaches to suitably take the feedback of stakeholders. In the study, the purpose was to analyze the progress of programme at all India level. Accordingly, data and information were collected through survey method and participatory discussion with target groups i.e. rural women, farmers (solar pumps), rooftop solar users, other sources of renewables, etc. There were several meetings with renewable energy beneficiaries/potential users and agencies created at State/district level to implement ministry’s scheme. Both quantitative and qualitative information have been garnered. The evaluation study attempts to assess the impact of I&PA and to identify specific bottlenecks in implementation and optimum levels of support needed for effective implementation. It is found that the implementation of I&PA Programme is meeting the desired objectives. Awareness about the scheme is found among the state governments and public in the field. Thus, the scheme has largely been effective in the promotion of renewable energy, in its overarching objectives.

Collaborative governance for urban sustainability: implementing solar cities

ABSTRACT Today, when rapid urbanization has become an environmental concern all over the world, the concept of solar cities assumes a crucial role to play in realizing not only the sustainability potential of cities but also to transform urbanization into an opportunity. The Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India in 2008 launched the Solar Cities Programme to promote alternate sources of energy and reduce dependency on conventional energy sources. Chandigarh was the first city to be declared as model solar city. This study attempts to empirically analyze the measures taken to make Chandigarh a model solar city while focusing on adoption of roof-top Solar Photovoltaic (SPV). The data collected was analysed and interpreted using percentages. Descriptive analysis of the responses of government officials, residents, NGOs and private empanelled agencies was done. Findings revealed that the whole idea of participatory local planning was sidelined, awareness generation remained piecemeal, no formal co-ordination mechanism was established and yet empirical targets were not only achieved but surpassed. However, the implementation failed to convince residents to shift towards solar energy, jeopardizing the long-term sustainability of the solar city plan.

How will COVID-19 impact renewable energy in India? Exploring challenges, lessons and emerging opportunities

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the Indian renewable solar and power sector, supply chains, and businesses and severely hindered the sustainable energy climate transition. This paper assesses the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on power demand, the financial condition of power distribution companies, impact on electricity generation, increasing share of renewable energy sources, impact on the solar industry, under-construction solar projects and operational projects in India. This study further scrutinized the Indian renewable power and solar sector as a case study and explored issues and challenges currently being faced to manage the consumer load demand, including the actions taken by the utilities/power sector for the smooth operation of the power system. This paper also presents the different policies and regulations by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), providing relief to renewable energy developers with a slew of support measures announced over the last few months. Finally, opinions on post-COVID era strategies for the Indian renewable energy sector are presented to support the government/policymakers/utilities not only to overcome the current crisis but also to overcome future unforeseeable pandemic alike scenario.

Solar potential assessment over canal-top using geospatial techniques

This study has been carried out to assess the solar potential over canal-top. Remote sensing, geographic information system (GIS), and cloud environment have been applied to assess the solar potential available over canal-top in Roorkee Tehsil, India. Satellite image from Google Earth has been downloaded to extract the usable area for solar photovoltaic (PV) over Ganga canal-top. A geodatabase has been created using QGIS, by digitizing the canal within Roorkee Tehsil. Global horizontal irradiance (GHI) has been taken from a pyranometer and website developed and maintained by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), United States, in collaboration with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), India, for calculations. These GHI values have been converted into a tilted GHI to get an accurate solar potential assessment. A Perl script has been developed to convert the GHI into the tilt GHI. A solar potential assessment of the Salhapur village has been performed. Buffer analysis over canal has been performed to estimate the number of villages and towns for solar potential assessment. Buffer analysis over canal shows that 83% of towns and 46% of villages can be benefitted with the canal-top solar energy in Roorkee. The average solar potential assessed over Ganga canal-top for 15 years, i.e., from 2000 to 2014 is 12.746 GWh/year. The instantaneous value (18 September 2018) of solar potential at canal-top using pyranometer data is 1.85 GW. It is sufficient to fulfill the requirements of farmers, villages, towns, and educational institutes at Roorkee.

Renewable energy: The future of Indian power sector

India, the world’s fastest-growing economy having population of more than 1.4 billion, will play the vital role in the future of the global energy markets. Sensing the requirement of energy, the Government of India has made impressive progress in recent years in facilitating citizens’ access to electricity and clean cooking. The Govt. of India has also implemented numerous energy market reforms successfully and carried out a huge amount of renewable electricity deployment. Forwarding ahead, the government has laid out an ambitious vision of providing affordable and sustainable energy to all its citizens. This in-depth research is to support the energy utilities with a focus on energy security and energy affordability. Keyword: IREDA (Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited), MNRE (Ministry of New and Renewable Energy), CEA (Central Electricity Authority), TPES (Total Primary Energy Supply), TFC (Total Final Consumption), IEA (International Energy Agency), MW (Mega Watt), GW (Giga Watt).

Sustainable entrepreneurship development in the renewable energy sector: Insights from Gujarat, India

Sustainable development lies at the heart of sustainable entrepreneurship. In the context of this view, the current paper explores the linkages among sustainable development, entrepreneurship, and innovation. Since Gujarat ranks among the five top Indian states in terms of renewable energy (RE) potential, we studied this sector using a case study approach. The study explores factors that affects the shift from conventional to sustainable entrepreneurship. These factors include major opportunities, as well as challenges for RE entrepreneurs. The findings suggest that RE entrepreneurs are driven by a mix of economic, personal commitment for the environment and social concerns. Institutional support in the form of skill development programmes, subsidies and easing entry level barriers to RE serve as opportunities for entrepreneurs. Technological expertise is another enabler for RE entrepreneurship. Major challenges identified in this study include inadequate access to formal and institutional finance, especially for start-ups, bureaucratic obstacles, limited number of government-accredited certification labs, and inconsistency in the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) guidelines. Knowledge barriers in the form of lack of information regarding usage, maintenance and utility of solar technologies are also challenges for this sector. Technological risks related to the adoption of RE technologies also puts them at a cost disadvantage in comparison to conventional technologies.

Offshore wind energy status, challenges, opportunities, environmental impacts, occupational health, and safety management in India

Offshore wind is at its infancy in terms of technology and capacities in India. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) announced medium and long term offshore targets of 5 GW and 30 GW by 2022 and 2030, respectively. The location of the first offshore wind park has recently been identified, and the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has signed a contract with the Government of Gujarat to establish the 1000 MW of offshore wind energy capacity by 2019. To achieve the ambitious targets, India will require demand and resources planning, and policy support at an unprecedented scale. The MNRE notified the country’s offshore wind energy policy in 2015, and draft offshore wind energy lease rules in 2019. In this paper, several offshore wind energy challenges have been identified, and a clear policy road map and effective support schemes required to trigger offshore wind development activity for medium to long term are suggested. The environmental consequences of European offshore wind farms are assessed to optimize future monitoring of offshore wind programmes in India. Furthermore, the occupational health and safety management requirements are highlighted to ensure that the accidents, vulnerabilities, and hazards are avoided. The research and development (R&D) considerations are provided to assist policymakers, potential investors, stakeholders, designers and manufacturers, contractors, professional advisers, and wind farm developers in their decisions and planning.

A Comprehensive Review on Renewable Energy Development, Challenges, and Policies of Leading Indian States With an International Perspective

Clean and environment-friendly energy harvesting are of prime interest today as it is one of the key enablers in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well as accelerates social progress and enhances living standards. India, the second-most populous nation with a population of 1.353 billion, is one of the largest consumers of fossil fuels in the world which is responsible for global warming. An ever-increasing population is projected until 2050, and consequently, the energy demand in the upcoming decades will be co-accelerated by the rapid industrial growth. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) with the support of National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog is working to achieve the Indian Government's target of attaining 175 GW through renewable energy resources. Many Indian states are currently increasing their renewable energy capacity in an objective to meet future energy demand. The review paper discusses in-depth about the three Indian states, namely Karnataka, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, which pioneers the renewable energy production in India. The global energy scenario was discussed in detail with Indian contrast. Further, the barriers to the development of renewable energy generation and policies of the Indian government are discussed in detail to promote renewable energy generation throughout India as well as globally since the challenges are similar for other nations. This study analyzed various prospects of the country in renewable energy which has been done in a purpose to help the scholars, researchers, and policymakers of the nation, as it gives an insight into the present renewable energy scenario of the country.

An Evaluation of Decentralized Electrification through Solar Energy with Special Reference to Solar Street Lights: ACase Study of Punjab

Electrification is the backbone of the economy for its socio-economic development. Majority of areas in India are highly dependent on centralized supply of power generated by conventional methods or they have access to electricity and are facing energy deficit due to multiple factors. Photovoltaic products have potential as a technology for decentralized electrification. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has introduced a scheme “Off-grid and Decentralized Solar Application” to promote, support and sustain off-grid solar applications. This paper has explored the development of solar street lights (SSLs) in electrifying Punjab while assessing the perspective of beneficiaries towards use of solar street lights and by analyzing the role and functionality of Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA) (state nodal agency) to deploy SSLs effectively. The study has highlighted some gaps like less awareness, lack of maintenance policy, expensive and low quality products, lack of information to beneficiaries which have affected the implementation of SSL scheme in Punjab.

Risk Analysis in Implementation of Solar Energy Projects in Kerala

India’s growth rate is slow in the deployment of solar power projects when compared to other developing and developed countries. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) have often criticized Kerala for their inability to meet target for solar power projects installation. The aim of this study is to explore the state of solar projects in Kerala, with an objective to create a knowledge base of multifarious risks and control procedures. This study enables to identify the main risk in implementing solar energy projects and develop a guideline which could serve to reduce the risks associated with investments in solar projects. In this study, survey was conducted amongst the different players of solar power project installation and operation to identify the various risk factors and sub factors. These factors were categorised and further quantified using the decision making tool, Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Political risk, technical risk, financial risk and environmental risk are the prominent risk factors involved in solar projects installation. The impact of the sub factors are identified using AHP. Payback period and non-approval of on grid small scale projects from KSEB are the critical factors. The inattention in reduction of risks at organizational level, and project level, can substantially affect the solar projects at a catastrophic level. Overall, the need for future research is established in this study for investigating the capability of Project Management Offices in risk assessment and management.

Feasibility study of TEG-integrated biomass cook stove for electrical power generation specific to rural areas with inadequate electricity

ABSTRACT Access to standard form of energy in cooking and lighting has been a serious concern among most of the people residing in rural parts of the world. More than 2 billion people concentrated mostly in rural areas of India and sub-Saharan Africa use firewood in inefficient (thermal efficiency is <8–10%) traditional cook stoves. Around 15% of input energy from fuel is stored within the stove body as waste heat. Further, the annual per capita electricity consumption is just over 1000 kWh compared to world average of more than 3000 kWh. Whereas, the figure drops to 314 kWh in the northeastern state of Assam, India. Thermoelectric generator (TEG) can be used to recover the waste heat and utilize it in the conversion into electricity on the principle of Seebeck effect. This research work is attempted to test the feasibility of integrating a TEG module with an Ministry of New and Renewable energy (MNRE)-approved improved clay made cook stove named Sukhad using fundamental heat transfer and thermoelectric equations. Preliminary tests of the TEG-integrated cook stove showed a potential of generating 2.7 W of electrical power and illuminating a 3 W LED bulb.

Experiences in discharge measurements at Small Hydropower Stations in India

As a part of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India programme for promoting small hydropower (shp) development, efficiency testing and performance evaluation of Small Hydro Power plants is mandatory for receiving financial incentives by plant developer. The task of efficiency testing and performance evaluation of shp plants was assigned by MNRE to Alternate hydro Energy Centre (AHEC) Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee in the year 2003 along with financial support to acquire the required instrumentation and develop expertise. Over 200 small hydro plants (SHPs) of different capacity (1–25 MW) as well as types viz dam toe based, run of river and canal fall based have been tested for efficiency and performance evaluation during the period 2005–2018 in different states of India as per IEC-60041, IEC-62006, ISO -1438-1 and ISO-748 to the extend feasible as per available resources and time. During efficiency testing of hydro plants, it has been found that discharge measurement is very challenging activity as the most of the plant owners did not provide the required space and provisions for mounting/fixing the instruments for discharge measurement. After commissioning of the plants it becomes extremely difficult to select the ideal/suitable locations and providing the provisions for mounting different measuring instruments. Various problems observed during discharge measurement are discussed in this paper and may be helpful for testing in future.

Design and Modeling of Solar Photovoltaic System Using Seven-Level Packed U-Cell (PUC) Multilevel Inverter and Zeta Converter for Off-Grid Application in India

DOI : 10.26650/electrica.2019.18053 In the present study, standalone operation of the solar photovoltaic system with storage is evaluated with the recently introduced seven-level packed U-cell (PUC) multilevel inverter. Zeta converter is used to regulate the output voltage of the photovoltaic (PV) array with the help of the MPPT algorithm. Level-shifted modulation scheme is applied for the PUC inverter. The standalone operation is taken into consideration keeping in view the application/penetration of the solar PV system in remote areas. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India has set up the plan to establish the standalone solar PV system for off-grid application in the regions to meet the power requirement of those communities and regions that are difficult to connect with the grid. The climatic condition in the central and western parts of India is conductive for solar PV generation. In contrast to the other well-known inverter topologies, such as neutral point clamped, flying level capacitors, and cascaded H-bridge, among others, PUC inverter requires the least number of switches and capacitors for the same output levels. The system is modeled in the MATLAB®/Simulink using the Waaree Energies WSM-315 modules to supply a load of 2 kW. To optimize the solar PV-based system, incremental conductance optimization technique is used. Cite this article as : Azeem A, Ansari MK, Tariq M, Sarwar A, Ashraf I. Design and Modeling of Solar Photovoltaic System Using Seven-Level Packed U-Cell (PUC) Multilevel Inverter and Zeta Converter for Off-Grid Application in India. Electrica, 2019; 19(2): 101-112.

Recapitulation of Renewable Energy Generation in India

Renewable energy sources and technologies are the eco-friendly keys to the sustainable growth of a country. India has abundant supply of renewable resources. It has one of the leading programs in the world for deploying and developing renewable energy products and markets. An exclusive ministry, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) launched as one of the world’s largest and ambitious programs on renewable energy developments in the year 1992. Since then, the government designed policies/schemes for conducive environment to furnish foreign investments and ramp up the renewable energy market at a rapid rate. India has an estimated potential of 900 GW for electricity generation from renewable energy (RE). The goal set by the government for capacity addition from REbased electricity generation is 175 GW by 2022. This paper is an attempt to provide an overview of India’s renewable power sector at a glance. Efforts have been made to highlight the current status, major achievements, ongoing and future plans of renewable expansions in the country.

Implementing an Energy Calculator in a Mobile Based Application for Solar Potential Measurement

Solar photovoltaic (PV) technology has matured to become a technically viable large scale source of sustainable energy. Understanding the rooftop PV potential is critical for utility planning, accommodating grid capacity, deploying financing schemes and formulating future adaptive energy policies. The NIWE (National Institute of Wind Energy) under MNRE (Ministry of New and Renewable Energy) is an esteemed institute dedicated to Indian wind and solar renewable energy generation and monitoring. The SRRA (Solar Radiation and Resource Assessment) is a division under NIWE that is responsible for solar energy monitoring throughout India. They have created the Solar Radiation Map of India using high quality, ground measured solar data. This asks the question, whether it is possible to get a quick estimate of a solar installation. Thus, the paper explains the problems in the field of solar potential measurement and the deployment of a calculator in a mobile front platform. The mobile app would quickly and effortlessly give a rough estimate on what a solar installation could save in power consumption costs.