Solar energy dominant renewable tech as world moves to net-zero: R K Singh

The technology of solar energy generation is becoming more dominant as the world is moving towards net zero carbon emissions, Union Minister for Power and New & Renewable Energy R K Singh said.

"With every progressing year, the solar is becoming the more dominant renewable energy generation technology as the world moves towards net zero," the minister said at the standing committee meeting of the International Solar Alliance.

The eighth meeting of the standing committee of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) was held in New Delhi on June 6, 2023 under the chairpersonship of Singh, in his capacity as the power minister of India, the current president of the ISA, said a statement from the new and renewable energy ministry.

France as co-president of the ISA assembly was the co-chair of the meeting. Some representatives of member countries joined in person, while others joined the meeting online.

The eighth meeting of the ISA standing committee discussed ISA demonstration projects in member countries, Solar Technology Application Resource Centre (STAR-C), ISA SolarX startup challenge, solar finance facility and preparations for the ninth meeting of the ISA standing committee and preparations for the sixth session of the ISA assembly.

Singh said that the need for an energy transition is now a settled question.

"Whether the world today needs an energy transition is no longer in question. Rather, the question is how to achieve it, and how soon. A new global energy economy is emerging, with the rapid growth of renewables as the alternative source of energy," he said.

The minister underlined the crucial role of the development of solar energy in the world's achievement of making the transition to renewable energy.

The development of solar energy is one of the major contributors for achieving energy transition, he said.

The cumulative global solar PV capacity has reached approximately 942 GW since the last decade, he noted.

The solar PV market maintained its record-breaking streak with new capacity installations totalling 175 GW in 2021, he added.

The minister observed that the growth of solar energy is expected to get compounded as solar PV technology finds more applications in the distributed energy space.

"Productive use applications of solar PV, agro PV, and flexible and surface integrated solar cells continue to open new avenues for deploying solar PV technology."

The minister stated that the ISA has been striving tirelessly towards global solar energy transition.

He said the challenge to the environment is something which is now becoming more and more urgent and that the time left for humankind to address this challenge is limited.

"We cannot address this challenge unless and until we help the least developed countries to get access to clean energy, to make the energy transition. This has been recognised decades back, but we have not seen any conclusions coming forward. For the world to get to net zero, it will not happen by just a few countries getting to net zero. We need to ask our conscience whether we are doing enough."

The minister told member countries that while some green funds have been set up across the world, ISA needs to ask those green funds to channel some of those funds to African countries. The contribution to the green funds also needs to go up, he added.

The ISA is a collaborative platform for increased deployment of solar energy technologies to ensure energy security and driving energy transition in its member countries.

It is an international organisation with 93 member countries and 115 signatory countries and is the first intergovernmental organisation to be headquartered in India.