New renewable energy model combines solar, bio-gas and H2

To provide 24x7 uninterrupted power from renewable energy sources, experts from the UK and IITs are now working together to create a new model which combines the best of solar power, biomass energy and hydrogen.
The first-of-its-kind UK-India experimental Bio-CPV project on development and integration of biomass and concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) system will soon light up a remote tribal hamlet in Shantiniketan, 180 km away from here.
"The problem with dependence on solar power is that sunlight is not available 24x7 and 365 days a year. Therefore we are integrating it with biomass so that the power supply remains continuously available," project leader Prof Shibani Chaudhuri told PTI.

She said that this was the first time that the three sources of green energy would be integrated together in India.
The installation work is expected to begin in October, this year and the entire model would be ready by 2016.
Chaudhuri, who teaches environment at Visva-Bharati University in Shantiniketan, said the idea was to use solar power during the day and match it with biomass generation from local sources of organic material during the night.

Hydrogen would also be used for emergency use.
The UK-India research project is jointly funded by Research Councils UK (RCUK) and India's Department of Science and Technology.

From the UK, experts from the University of Leeds, University of Exeter, and University of Nottingham are sharing their inputs with scientists from Visva-Bharati, IIT Madras and IIT Bombay.