Plan to reduce solar energy cost

Centre working with IITs to come out with hybrid solutions.

The Centre is planning a project to reduce the cost of production of alternative energy to a significant level so as to promote the use of renewable energy and reduce dependency on the known energy sources.

As per the plan, the department of science and technology of the Government of India has formed a consortium taking eminent researchers from leading IITs to undertake research on solar energy production.

The project was initiated almost six months ago with a team of 55 researchers from different IITs across the country.

The team is expected to come out with the report during April-May, post which the government is planning to involve the private sector to make the project a success.

The government is evaluating the scope of developing a hybrid solution that is least dependant on transmission grid, and which can bring down to the cost of solar energy to Rs 9 per kilowattô hour from about Rs 12-14 kw/hour, with a minimal investment.

“The present day system to generate a megawatt of power requires over Rs 20 crore of investment, which directly impact the cost of the power which is delivered to the end users. Instead of looking at bringing down the cost in the short-term, we are looking at a hybird model where you don’t have to store electricity,” said T Ramasami, secretary, department of science & technology.

The project is expected to benefit certain belts in the country which do not have the transmission line.

“In those areas, without getting into the transmission challenge, we expect that the grid integrated solutions will be of immense help.” he said.