Letters: Solar impulse

Apropos the article "All that glitters is not solar" (June 24), the writer is rightly concerned about India's solar photovoltaic (PV) investment announcements and whether they are going to bear fruit. With the government engaging Pricewaterhouse-Coopers (PwC) to develop a road map for the scale-up of solar energy, we hope several issues highlighted in the article receive attention.

The PwC report should take note of the writer's call for improving the evacuation network and increasing the penetration of solar energy in under-served areas through the off-grid model.

In addition, we offer the following suggestions:
First, solar power should not only be measured in mega watt (Mw) rather than US dollars, as the writer suggests, but also in energy delivered, that is, mega watt hours or million units, so that long-term investments could be separated from those made for the sake of gaining tax benefits.

Second, we should emphasise on rooftop solar. Readers should be made aware that with the right mix of policy and technical support, rooftop solar can go a long way in raising solar capacity. If gross metering models are allowed to co-exist with net metering, it would encourage entrepreneurs to come forward to lease available roof spaces for solar panels.

Third, on the issue of domestic manufacturing of solar cells, we believe the $4-billion investment by SunEdison-Adani and the 2Gw TrinaSolar-Welspun project are steps taken in the right direction. Besides providing local jobs and building local expertise, the investment could trigger further cost reductions to help expand the market.

Fourth, state-level renewable energy institutions need to be strengthened and implementation issues need to be resolved before we can strengthen solar capacity in India.

Done right, the rallying cry for the future could possibly be roti, kapda aur makaan, solar panels ke saath

Bharath Jairaj & Deepak Krishnan
World Resources Institute, India

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