Solar Power Sector | aatmanirbhar bharat rozgar yojana?
As the covid era is ending, all countries around the world are trying to recover their economy. A new debate has arisen to choose the correct economic growth model to kickstart the economy.
The traditional quantitative economic model depends on fossil fuels for energy and the new qualitative economic growth model depends on renewable energy. Major countries around the world have already shown signs of a clear shift from the old economic growth model to the new economic growth model. India is also committed to using clean green renewable energy for economic growth
It has set an ambitious target to use 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022 including 100 GW of solar and 60 GW of wind power capacity.
Benefits of Solar Power Sector Boom in India
To fulfill our dream to make Aatmanirbhar Bharat Solar power sector has a large potential as India is a tropical country and it gets plenty of sunlight throughout the year.
The development of the Solar Power Sector can help India in achieving self Reliance by:
● Employment:- Solar Power Sector can provide employment to all kinds of laborers (skilled- manufacturing of solar equipment, semi-skilled- development of solar power plant, unskilled- installation and maintenance of rooftop solar panels).
● Rural Development:- Demand for the installation of rooftop solar panels will create entrepreneurship and jobs in rural areas. The availability of power will promote cottage and small industries and build a bridge for income disparity between rural and urban India.
● Less fuel cost:- India depends heavily on fuel imports and pays a huge sum of money for energy costs. Developing a solar power sector can reduce the cost of fuel we import from other countries.
● Less dependence on Gulf countries:- Today we are highly dependent on some countries for fuel. If we can be Aatmanirbhar in fuel then it places India's strategic interest and also can enhance sustained growth rate.
● Clean Environment:- The whole world is talking about climate change boosting the solar power sector will immensely help us to reduce greenhouse gas and will enhance our quality of life.
The average time needed to make a Solar Power Plant is very less as compared to traditional Thermal or Hydel power plants. The cost of construction for a solar power plant is also lesser than thermal or hydel power plants.
India is an energy deficiency country. Power shortage and load shedding are very common in most parts of the country. We have a good opportunity to solve these kinds of problems by just switching to new renewable sources of energy.
Problems for Solar Power Sector
- Is solar power the answer to each and every problem?
- Is it so simple?
- The answer is No.
Problems that we face to make the sector work in India
● Slow progress:- Big solar plants that are ground-mounted solar projects have increased to approx 36.6 GE capacity in India till 2020 our target is to attain a capacity of 60 GW by 2022. Whereas the rooftop solar panels only have a capacity of 2.8 GW which we aimed to increase to 40 GW.
So we are progressing but very slowly. According to some experts, the demand for the rooftop solar power sector for both residential as well as industrial areas has not been effectively tapped.
● Land Shortage:- India is a very densely populated country and land here is very costly. Installation of a solar power plant needs lots of lands. For example, the installation of a 1 MW solar power plant requires nearly 5 acres of land. So land shortage is inevitable in India.
● Water shortage:- Large solar power plants require between seven to twenty thousand liters of water for washing and cleaning twice a year. It is antithetical to think of this much water in such a country where clean water is a problem in many parts.
● Toxic waste:- Life of a solar panel is only 25 years after that it does not work. What will happen to the megaton of toxic trash that will be generated after 25 years?
● Local environment:- Some studies show that solar power plants may have an adverse effect on the local environment as well as the local economy. It increases temperature locally and also increases water stress and the alienation of crops or grazing land.
Some scientists claim that solar power plants are a false solution. It may cause more problems than they solve unless they are subject to stringent environmental and public critique.
What are the solutions?
India relies heavily on coal-fired power plants which we import from different countries.
Coal-fired plants generated nearly 60% of our total energy needs last year. Whereas solar energy generated merely 9% (approx). In India, there is tremendous scope for solar power plant
Here are some ways through which we can overcome these problems.
● Domestic manufacturing:- India heavily depends on China for manufactured imports and technology for solar power panels. We have to develop domestic manufacturing units if we want to make aatmanirbhar Bharat.
● High Investment:- The Government of India should do investment in this field and should also give subsidies or incentives to promote the use of solar power panels.
● Solar canals:- Solar panels can be installed upon canals to save land areas as many states like Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra have long canals and depend only on them for irrigation. This also saves water from evaporation from canals and hence gives dual benefits.
According to a report published in World EnergyOutlook India has a solar potential of around 750 GW from the solar power sector.
We now consume all sources of energy which are traditional and renewable sources only 350 GW of energy. So we can make nearly 2 times what we consume now.
Solar power plant construction is expensive. We have lots of problems to deal with and lots of work to do. But if we can cash cheque this opportunity it will be of great benefit for our country.
Lallu Yadav:
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