Research on solar fisibility

7/27/2019 Research on solar fisibility

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/research-on-solar-fisibility 1/14

Introduction to Project

India occupies 2% of the world’s land mass and generates over 2% of the total

world’s electricity, mostly using coal. India has a share of 16% of the total World’s

populat ion. To achieve a modest ly high leve l of economic growth , the domest ic

generation capacity needs to be increased at least ten times the current generation.

Even with the full usage of all existing commercially exploitable domestic power

sources, this level of increased generation capacity cannot be sustained for more

than a few decades. For a country like India, heavy imports of fuel or energy are

neither affordable nor strategically right. Though the world is undergoing a

recession but demand for energy in India is increasing by 2% every year. To meet

this increasing demand and to sustain economically as well as environmentally solar

power can play an importan t ro le . (A. Rajan, 2009)

India has a h igh l eve l of so lar insola t ion , which means i t has h igh capaci ty

to u t i l i ze h igher amount of so lar energy on i t s sur face . Many par t s of

count ry are ye t not connected to any e lec t r i c gr id thus showing a grea t

scope for so lar powered water pumping which wi l l e l iminate 4 to 5 mi l l ion

diesel powered water pumps(A. Rajan, 2009) , which wi l l save a huge amount

of e l ec t r i c i ty . Another major use can be for domes t i c s t and a lone

consumpt ion which can provide benef i t s to both the consumers as wel l as

gr id .

Objectives of Study

From the above discussion we can know that solar power system would be next big

thing in coming decades and there are companies investing a huge amount in this

sector, but the main question which needs to be resolved is are we ready to acceptthis technology? Thus to know the answer this study has been conducted. The major

objectives for this study are:

To know the level of awareness towards solar energy in youth

To know the attitude towards solar energy



Acceptance of solar energy for domestic usage

To know the purchasing attitude for solar energy

Factors affecting purchase decision

To achieve the above stated objectives a study on youth of Surat city is conducted

using a structured questionnaire. The youth of the city were asked to fill up a

questionnaire regarding their views on installing domestic solar energy system. To

know exact views and believes different questions were framed which would draw

out the result for desired objectives.



Introduction to Industry

The Installed Capacity of the country as on 31st December, 2011 was 1,86, 655 MW.

Coal based generation contributes major part of the installed capacity and

contributes to about 68.6% of the total energy generation (year 2008-09). In addition

to above, the installed capacity of captive power plants of 1MW and above is of the

order of 24,986 MW at the end of 2007-08.The energy generated from captive power

plant s during the year 2007-08 was 90477 GWh. (R.K. Gera , el al , 2013)

Actual Power Supply Position

The country has been facing growing shortages over the past five years. During the

year 2007- 08 (1st year of 11th Plan), the peak deficit was about 18,000 MW

(16.5%) and the average energy shortage in the country was about 73 Billion kWh

(10%). During the year 2008-09 (2nd year of 11 th Plan), the peak deficit was about

13,000 MW (12%) and the average energy shortage in the country was about 86

Billion kWh (11%). During the year 2009-10 (3rd year of 11th Plan), the peak

deficit was about 15,157 MW (12.7%) and the average energy shortage in the

country was about 84 Billion kWh(10.1%)(R.K. Gera, el al, 2013)

Thus from the above data we can see that there is huge gap between required and

available energy capacity in the country showing a huge scope for new non

conventional energy sources to take up. Solar system has a huge potential observed

by many scient is t and researcher s. With about 301 clear sunny da ys in a year ,

India's theoretical solar power r ecept ion, jus t on i t s land area, i s about 5Ph/ year

(i.e. = 5000 trillion k Wh/ yr ~ 600TW). The daily average solar energy incident over

India varies from 4 to 7 kWh/m with about2, 300 – 3,200 sunshine hours per year,

depending upon location. This is far more than current total energy

consumpt ion. For example, even assuming 10% convers ion ef f iciency for PV

modules , i t wi l l s t i l l be thousand t imes greater than the l ikely elect r ici ty

demand in India by the year 2015. (A. Rajan, 2009) These data supports the solar

energy alternative for the usage i n near future.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peta-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watt-hour

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tera-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tera-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watt-hour

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peta-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India



Solar energy has the greatest potential of all the sources of renewable energy. If only

a small amount of this form of energy could be used, it will be one of the most

important supplies of energy specially when other sources in the country have

depleted energy comes to the earth from the sun. This energy keeps the temperature

of the earth above than in colder space, causes current in the atmosphere and in

ocean. It causes the water cycle and generates photosynthesis in plants. The solar

power where sun hi ts atmosphere is 10 17 W. The solar power on the surface of earth

is 1016 W. The total worldwide power demand of all needs of civilization is 10 13 W.

Therefore, the sun gives us 1000 times more power than we need. If we can use 5%

of this energy, it will be 50 times what the world will require. electrical energy that

can be produced from the solar energy by photovoltaic solar cells. SPV cell converts

the solar energy directly to electrical energy. The most significant applications of

SPV cells in India are the energization of pump sets for irrigation, drinking water

supply and rural electrification covering street lights, community TV sets, medical

refrigerators and other small power loads. Sunshine available in India is for nearly

300 days in a year. (R.K. Gera, el al, 2013)

For the increasing use of this technology, government is also promoting many

schemes like The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) have initiated

schemes and incentives — l i ke subs idy , sof t loan , concess ional duty on raw

material imports, excise duty exemption on certain devices/systems etc. — to

boost the product ion and use of so lar energy s ys tems. The Indi an Renewable

Energy Development agency ( IREDA) provides r evolv ing fund to f inancing

a nd l e a s i n g c o m p a n y ’ s offering affordable credit for the purchase of PV

systems. An Expert Committee constituted by the Planning Commission has prepared

an Integrated Energy Policy which envisions a10 million square meter solar

coll ect or a rea, to b e se t up by 2 022 , an d ca pab le o f conserving electrici tyequivalent to that generated from a 500 MW power plant. The state of West Bengal

has initiated to make the use of solar power mandatory in newmulti-

s tor i ed bui ld ings . However the Indian government suppor t i s ins igni f i cantco

mpared to the support solar energy receives by governments in Europe and East

Asia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_New_and_Renewable_Energy





With high deployment price as the main hurdle for solar market, many organizations

organizations have developed an innovative funding schemes to catalyze solar's

attractiveness. One of the most successful examples is the solar loan program in

India, sponsored by UNEP in partnership with two of India's major banking groups -

Canara Bank and Syndicate Bank, and their sponsored Grameen Banks. It was a

four-year $7.6 million effort, launched in April 2003 to help accelerate the market

for financing solar home systems in southern India. Foreign Direct Investment up

to100 percent is permitted in non-conventional energy sector through the automatic

route.

The Multilateral Development Banks like World Bank and Asian Development

Bank are helping India but, the funding from MDBs on solar energy enhancement is

negligible compare to other clean energy support in India. Investment by private

companies is a trend that has just started. (Examples include Signet Solar ,U.S.-

based Cypress Semiconducto r, SunTechn ics Energy, etc .) (A. Rajan, 2009)

Thus looking at all the above details provided on different factors of domestic solar

to be installed it can be noted that all the development and policies are giving a

heads up for this new technology and also shows great potential in the near future.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Solar_Loan_Programme

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signet_Solar

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signet_Solar

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Solar_Loan_Programme



Findings and Interpretation

Out of the total respondents in the survey the gender distribution is almost equal, i.e. number of

male respondent and female respondents is almost same. Total female respondents were 39(51%)

and male respondents were 38(49%).

The distribution of the respondents based on age was clear, as the survey was done for youth

perception the majority of respondents were in the age group of 18 to 25 years, 64 respondents

(83%) remaining 13(17%) respondents were in a age group of 26 to 35.

Male

49%Female

51%

Gender

18-25

83%

26-3517%

Age Group



The distribution of the income level of the respondents was varied. 24(31%) respondents were

having income below 2.5 lacs, 16(21%) had between 2.5-5 lacs, 23(30%) were in the range of 5-

8 lacs and 14(18%) were having income above 8 lacs.

Majority of respondents were observing power cut and majority in that too were observing power

cut quite often. 51(53%) respondents had an issue that they observed power cut minimum once a

month rest 48% had low frequency but still 18% respondent complaint about power cut in every

six months

Below 250000

31%

250000-500000

21%

500000-800000

30%

Above 800000

18%

Income Level

Never

8%

Once a week

31%

Once a month

22%

Once in six month

18%

Once in a year

21%

How often do you observe power cut at your

home



There is large number of respondents (48,62%) who are aware about the usage of solar energy

system for domestic purpose and around 29(38%) of respondents were not aware. This large

number of awareness is a positive sign for the growth of this technology.

The willingness to install solar energy for domestic use is very high as per the survey. 60(78%)

respondents were willing to install such setup for domestic use and only 17(22%) were not

willing to install which again boost the morale for the technology developers

Yes

62%

No

38%

Are you aware about the solar photovoltaic

system for domestic usage

Yes

78%

No

22%

Would you like to install a photovoltaic

system for domestic consumption



The two main reasons for adopting solar technology given by the respondents were, To save the

environment (26, 43%) and To save cost (19, 32%). These reasons shows the better

understanding of the concept of solar system other 22% and 3% respondent would opt for this

technology for reliable power source and to add value to house

The major reasons for not adopting to this system are Lack of awareness (6, 35%) and happy

with power grid (6, 35%). Thus spreading awareness among people could be beneficial for

adoption of the technology. Again expensive initial cost is also a major reason for not adopting

to this technology.

For reliable Power

source

22%

To add Value to my

house

3%

To save cost

32%

To saveEnviornment

43%

If yes, Why

Expensive Initial Cost18%

Happy with Grid

power

35%

Lack of awareness

35%

No use

12%

If No, Why



Majority of respondents are ready to install solar system for domestic purpose, if the prices go

down of installation. 39(51%) of respondent are very much sure about installing. Around

30(39%) of respondents are not sure but may be convinced to install. Only a small number

(8,10%) respondents were not ready for switching.

The majority of respondents (64%) are ready to pay around 1 to 20% more than conventional

energy sources which indicates that any price above that will attract less number of buyers as

only 35% of respondents are ready to pay over and above it, so this gives developers a clear

indication on how to set their prices.

Surely

51%

May be

39%

Never

10%

Would you buy Solar photovoltaic system if its

price would come down

1-10%

34%

11-20%

31%

21-30%

27%

More than 30 %

8%

How much more would you pay for solar photovoltaic

system over conventional energy sources



There is a belief in people that the solar project takes long time to repay, around 62% people

agree to this thought that solar projects repay very slowly. Only a small number of respondents

(9%) disagree to this thought.

Majority of respondents (82%) agree to the thought that solar projects helps in reducing pollution

and helping environment, which is again a good indication for attracting more and more users of

this technology.

Strongly agree

13%

Agree

49%

Undecided

29%

Disagree

6%

Strongly disagree

3%

Solar photovoltaic system takes long time in getting

return on investment

Strongly agree

27%

Agree

55%

Undecided

13%

Disagree

5%

Solar photovoltaic system helps in reducing pollution



The above chart indicates that majority of respondents (63, 82%) feels solar projects can

generate savings in long term, thus indicating their interest in investing in this projects. Only a

few respondents were not sure about it but none of them disagreed to this.

Majority of respondents feel that solar projects are a good alternative for a reliable source of

power. 52 (68%) of respondents agree to the reliability of solar power which is a good indication

for the future of this technology.

Strongly agree

25%

Agree

57%

Undecided

18%

Solar Photovoltaic generates savings in long term

Strongly agree

21%

Agree

47%

Undecided

28%

Disagree

4%

Solar photovoltaic system can provide reliable source of

power



In this question the majority respondents(46%) feel that there is a huge maintenance cost

attached with solar technology but also 38% of respondents were undecided regarding their

choice may be due to lack of awareness, thus there is a chance of spreading awareness and

gaining attraction out of it.

Strongly agree

17%

Agree

26%

Undecided

38%

Disagree

19%

Solar photo voltaic system costs heavy maintenance



Recommendation and Conclusion

There is a huge level of awareness regarding the use of solar project for domestic purpose in

youth of Surat city (62%).

Not only awareness, but also there is a huge level of acceptance for solar projects (78%).

The major reasons for accepting solar power projects are, to save cost and to save environment in

a longer run.

The major reasons for rejecting solar power in Surat city is that grid is very healthy and people

are happy with that. Other major reason is the expensive initial cost.

There are many misconceptions regarding the domestic solar power system which needs to be

clarified to all the consumers.

Another major take up from the survey is that many people are unaware regarding the somestic

usage of the

Documents

Research on solar fisibility