Rajasthan Government laid foundation stone for World';s largest Solar power plant

Government of Rajasthan has laid the foundation stone on 21st August, 2013 for the World's biggest solar power plant at Bhandla of Jodhpur District in the state.  The Solar plant will have a generation capacity of 3000 MW and will be commissioned in a phased manner.

The foundation stone for the Solar Park was laid by The Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Shri Ashok Gehlot.  He said this energy park would create a history in the development of the state.  The Solar park would generate 1000 MW in the first phase.  The solar park would be established in an estimated area of 10000 hectares land and a loan of 3000 crores is being provided by Asian Development Bank for development of transmission lines for this solar park.


M/s Clinton Foundation would be providing the technical assistance for the solar park as per the agreement between the Rajasthan Govt. and Clinton Foundation in 2010.   Three more solar parks would be coming in Jaisalmer, Barmer and Bikaner districts with the help of the same company.  Some of the key features of the solar park are listed below.

Key Features of the Solar Park

• 3000 MW capacity of solar power plant will be set up
• 10000 hectares of land identified for the solar park
• 58 cusec of water reserved from Indira Gandhi canal
• Construction of 400 KV GSS under progress
• Work for setting up of 7 solar power projects of 75 MW has started
• Construction of road from Nure ki Bhurj to Bhandla has started
• MoU signed between Rajasthan Government and M/s Clinton Foundation in 2010 

MOU signed with Clinton Foundation in 2010

Delhi Government planning to offer incentives for Solar Energy

Are you generating power from your roof top solar panels?  Delhi Government is planning to provide incentives for generation of solar power.   Delhi has a new solar policy called "production based sibsidy" which means that the Government will pay you for the units of energy you are saving using solar power.  At present there is a "capital subsidy" scheme in Delhi state which provides a fixed amount on installation of solar waters.

This policy  will definitely inspire consumers to invest in solar energy, but some guidelines are to be framed by the Government on net metering system.  If the consumer is generating more than his requirements, then excess power can be returned to the Grid.


As per the scheme, the consumer is paid for the units he generates in excess. The Delhi Govt. also is planning to give small subsidy to producers of solar power.  Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) is yet to fix the tariff and net metering system before getting approval from the cabinet.

The problem with solar water heaters is that even though the capital subsidy was provided to the people, they were not using it.  People are not maintaining the solar water heater systems and stop using them after some time.   So the Government though that if the subsidy is generation based and customers are reimbursed every month, they will maintain it.


The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission already prepared the guidelines on net metering which may be released next week.  The guidelines include every detail on net metering, energy accounting and how the transactions can be done. Any State Govt. can use these guidelines straight away.  These guidelines are based on net metering in Germany and USA.

Solar Cooking Tips

'Solar cookers'  or  'solar ovens' are increasingly becoming popular through out the world in recent times.  The solar cookers are used to reduce the people's dependence on firewood and other fuels.  Even if you have electricity, a solar cooker can be an energy saving option to your cooking needs.  So let us see some tips on solar cooking.

Solar cooling is not much difficult and it is very easy to master the skill of solar cooking.  Many of the skills which we use for traditional cooking methods are applicable for solar cooking too.  The only factor which will have much effect on solar cooking is that the time required for cooking and also the weather as well as efficiency in preparing and putting all the ingredients together.

Tips for Solar Cooking

 Here are some tips while solar cooking.

• The most ideal time for solar cooking is between 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM.  This is the ideal time during summer season when the Sun is directly overhead for longer period of the day.  In the middle of Winter season, the ideal time would be between 11:30 AM to 2:30 PM. 
• You need to decide on your menu ahead of time; You should plan in advance about which meal you want to prepare in solar cooker and then start cooking.
• Prepare most of the ingredients ahead of time and even one day before so that they are ready when the sun light comes for cooking.
• Pre heat your solar cookers one or two hours before before using them
• You can use a food thermometer if you are not sure of temperatures for proper food safety
• The number one factor for best cooking results is to make sure that you start cooking your food as early as possible.  It takes longer time for most of the foods
• Dry beans and other legumes can take all day long to cook, where as pastas normally take 30 to 40 minutes.
• Soups, stews, chilli and meats can be left all day long in a solar cooker to slow cook
• Rice normally cooks within half an hour to one hour.  If you pre heat your cooker and water, this applies to pasta also.
• The more times you uncover the solar cooker, the longer it takes to cook.  So take out the lid as little number of times as possible
• If time is a major factor, consider cooking your dishes in stages, even over a two day period, refrigerating ingredients until final cook stage.
• The size and amount of food affects the cooking time.  So do not fill the cook pots more than 2/3rds full and cut the food portions into small pieces as possible
• The foods which have moisture content do not need added water to cook.. Water only increases the cooking time.  So you can add water only to the food which need water like rice, pasta etc.
• Use a thin, shallow aluminum or steel cooking vessels for faster cooking and do not over load them.
• In order to have more concentration and retention of heat inside the solar cooker, use over cooking bags to enclose the jars and pots.
• Keep your reflector panels and the transparent door cover clean, free from dirt and food marks.  This ensures more effective concentration of the sun rays onto the cooking pot and food.

World's thinnest solar cell developed by MIT

A team of researchers at MIT have developed a technique to create very thin solar cells which are two molecules thick.  Even though this kind of solar cell offer conversion efficiency of only 1 or 2 percent, it is possible to increase the overall capacity by placing multiple cells on top of other as compared to conventional cells.

For more details please read article on "MIT produces world's thinnest solar cell".

Tips and Tricks for every Solar Energy User

We all know that Solar Energy has  changed the lives of millions of people around the world.  The people who already started using solar energy to power their homes are already seeing the financial rewards of their investment.  Here are some tips to use solar energy efficiently.

• Solar Panels : There are two types of Solar Panels available in the market.  Mono-crystalline solar panels are more efficient and also more expensive.  Poly-crystalline panels are cheaper and produce less electricity.  It is better to purchase the most efficient panels even though the cost is a little bit higher.
• Always keep the solar panels clean.  The dirtier they get, the less efficient the solar panels in generating power.  It is true that rain and wind often take care of cleaning of panels but you should also some times clean the solar panels to get more output from them.
•  The next point to keep in mind is that of the shade issues while installing solar panels. A solar panel which loses a quarter of its light can lose half of its power production.  If any trees are growing between solar panels and sun light, try to trim them often.
• Adjustable Panels :  While buying a solar system for your house, make sure that they can be easily adjustable.  The sun angle changes as seasons change.  So your panels need to be adjusted every three months or so. 
• Warranty of solar panels : Always look into the warranty period of the solar panels that you are buying.  A quality solar panel should have at least 20 years of warranty. If you get lesser warranty for the panels, then you can think of buying from a different supplier.  It may cost a little more but it is worth to buy panels with more warranty.
•  The Solar Energy system not only saves money, but it helps you to make money.  If your solar system produces more energy than required by you, you can then sell it to the local energy company in your area.  
• If you have enough money and resources and space, then think of sun tracking panel system to generate solar power.  These sun tracking systems follow the sun as it moves during the day.  It costs more to install this kind of system but the additional energy produced will make your investment worth of it.

How Solar Air Conditoners Work?

We all know that the conventional Air conditioning consumes lot of electricity which in turn releases millions of tons of carbon di oxide, a green house gas which is known to be harmful to environment.  The green house gas emissions have increased by 25% in the last 150 years since the industrial revolution. 

The demand for air conditioning is growing as the temperatures are increasing.  Heat waves cause health problems and some times even death too.   There was news in year 2003 that around 35,000 people died in Europe from a heat wave.  So the demand for air conditioning units is increasing day by day.  But using the conventional electricity lot of green house gases are being released into atmosphere. 

 It is the time now to put a brake to the effects of climate changes by replacing conventional energy with renewable and natural energy like Solar Power.  The only option till now for reducing the energy consumed by air conditioners is to simply turn them off.  But the Solar Air Conditioners take the advantage of the sun shine and use that energy to cool you during the hottest part of the day.  Let us see how a solar air conditioner works..  Let us first know about how a conventional air conditioner works and then go to solar air conditioner.

How a conventional Air Conditioner works?

 You may be knowing that the compressor in your air conditioner is used for raising the temperature of the refrigerant fluid which is necessary to produce cool air. The idea is to use Solar Energy to raise this temperature and reduce the compressor's work load and allow the compressor to consume less energy.   Let us see how a conventional air conditioner works and then go to solar air conditioners.

The Refrigerators and Air Conditioners use a fluid called refrigerant to produce cool air.  The refrigerant works like a sponge, soaking up the heat from indoor air and then transporting it to outside where the heat is squeezed out of the sponge into the air.   The refrigerant flowing through a coil - a series of metal tubes - inside the air conditioner's air handler is very cold ( -6 to +4 degrees celcius).  We all know that heat always flows from hotter place to cooler place.  So if the indoor air at 37 deg. celcius is blowing through the air handler, heat will be removed from the air and absorbed by the refrigerant which is much cooler. So the temperature of the air reduces as heat is removed.   So the air leaving the air handler is much cooler than the room temperature.  

The metal coil inside the air handler is called as evaporator.  The heat absorbed by refrigerant causes it to evaporate and turn it into gas.  Here comes the actual problem.  We know that heat always flows from a hotter place to cooler place.  We want to send the heat absorbed by refrigerant into outside air but if the refrigerant gas is at temperature of say +12 deg celcius,  and outside air is at +26 to +40 deg celcius, this won't work.   We need to find out some way to increase the refrigerant gas temperature to be higher than outside temperature so that the heat absorbed by refrigerant can be dumped to outside.  

We know that by compressing a gas increase its pressure which also increases its temperature.  So the job of a compressor in an Air Conditioner is to compress the refrigerant gas coming from the evaporator coil so that its temperature is raised from 12 deg to 75 deg celcius or more.  With the temperature of refrigerant more than outside temperature, the heat stored in refrigerant is transferred to outside air.

So how the Solar Energy helps

We know that in order to keep the room cooler, the hot refrigerant gas has to be released to outside air and its temperature has to be higher than outside air in order this to happen.  We can send the refrigerant through a solar energy collector before it reaches the compressor, and the solar energy can do a portion of the work of the compressor - heating of the refrigerant.  This allows the compressor to run less and consume less electricity or to operate at lower speed and thus save electricity.    Please see the diagram given here to know about this process.

How the heat is dumped outside?

The hot refrigerant gas which leaves compressor flows into another coil called as the condenser coil.  This coil is similar to car radiator, radiating heat from the hot refrigerant into the outside atmosphere as one fan pulls outside air across the coil.  It is called as condenser coil because the refrigerant gas condenses back into liquid form as the heat is given to outside air.

The refrigerant cools while moving through the condenser coil to around 29-43 deg celcius. Another trick is used to get the refrigerant back to -6  to +4 deg celcius which is necessary for cooling.  As compressing increases the temperature of refrigerant,  we expand it to reduce the temperature.  This is done by forcing the refrigerant through a tiny opening - called as an expansion valve - which allows the refrigerant's pressure and temperature to fall drastically as it comes out from the tiny passage.   

When the refrigerant cools back to -6  to +4 deg celcius,  the cycle repeats.

Oman to use Solar Power to extract oil from oil wells

Oman's oil fields have lot of oil beneath the sands. But it is very difficult and expensive to extract the oil from the wells.  In order to reduce the costs, the Oman's national oil company is now looking towards a new technology - The Solar Power for extracting oil from the wells.

For many years, oil producers depended on steam, created natural gas to heat the rock below the surface and make the oil flow better.  But now natural gas is not easily available. 

 The current process for extracting oil in the oil fields involves burning natural gas to produce steam.  The steam is then injected under ground which heats up the rock and oil and allows the crude oil to flow more smoothly which can be extracted.  22% of the Oman's natural gas is being used for the oil fields and the country is importing natural gas at higher costs.  So the Oman National Oil company is trying to use the Sun's energy to heat the rocks.

The actual process of extracting oil by heating rocks with solar energy uses a system of mirrors which focus the sun light on a pipe colored with absorbent in black color which heats up water which is co produced along with the oil. The system uses very light mirrors made out of aluminum thinner than that of a soft drink can.
  

Oman has contacted a California company called GlassPoint Solar for building a 4-acre, 7 mega watt solar plant to generate steam for the oil fields. So the solar technology replaces most of the natural gas.   The System has been running for the last one year.  It is only a pilot project.  At full size, which is 100 times of the pilot would replace 80 percent of the natural gas which would otherwise needed.  

How solar power is used for extracting oil from oil wells

The system uses mirrors to focus sun light onto a black colored pipe containing water.  The pipe heats up due to sun light and the water inside gets converted into steam.  The total system is enclosed in a green house to protect the super thin mirrors from dust and wind.  This steam is injected underground and used to push the oil from bottom.