Gujarat plans to store solar energy for use at night: Patel

The Gujarat government is planing to start projects to store solar energy produced during the day and use it at night time, Energy Minister Saurabh Patel said Tuesday.

He told this to a delegation from Colorado, a western US state, which is visiting Gujarat.

Patel said the state is planning to have four to five solar parks with installed capacity of 5,000 MW, of which the state has already invited "expression of interest" for installations for 1000 MW solar power.

"Gujarat is an ideal place for solar energy as it has wide track of unproductive land available with it," Patel told the delegation which consisted of representatives from the energy sector of Colorado.

"The state government is planning to set up four to five solar parks with installed capacity of 5,000 MW," Patel said, adding this will be a great opportunity for the energy sector of Colorado to invest here.

"Gujarat Energy Development Agency (GEDA) has already invited expression of interest for installation of 1000 MW of solar power," he said.

"We intend to use solar energy at night by establishing projects to store such energy produced during the day," he informed the delegation.

Solar panels can not produce energy at night. But rechargeable batteries can store electricity produced by photovoltaic panels. The electricity produced during the day charge the battery and this power can be used during nights, the minister said.

Patel told the delegation that there is a huge scope for the US industry to have strategic business partnerships for production of electric vehicles in India.

The delegation will visit and interact with various stake-holders of renewable energy during its three day stay in Gujarat, an official release said.

As per reports, Gujarat stands sixth in production of solar energy in the country. Karnataka, Telegana, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are ahead of Gujarat in solar energy production.