Residential PV

The OneBox, from Indian manufacturer Vision Mechatronics, consists of a lithium battery, hybrid inverter and solar charge controller to give a hassle-free solution for electricity back-up during power outages. Solar rooftop owners are offered a grid feed feature to maximize net metering income from any excess power generated.

15 GW of utility scale and 8.5 GW grid-connected rooftop solar by year 2030 is the new target set for the state which is currently chasing year 2022 target of 6.4 GW and 4.3 GW, respectively.

The state budget for 2020-21 has also allocated Rs 125 crore under Pradhan Mantri KUSUM Yojana to solarize 18,500 grid-connected pumps and for standalone offgrid solar power agriculture pumps.

An international research group has analyzed the visual impact of PV facades on buildings which include crop cultivation. Architects, PV specialists and farmers were surveyed and the results showed broad acceptance of such projects.

Consultancy Bridge to India has looked into its crystal ball to predict India will add 10 GW of solar capacity this year and the same next year before deployment slows to 7 GW per year in 2022 and 2023, dogged by hurdles such as an inexplicable ongoing demand for new coal-fired power plants.

The New Delhi-based developer posted a Rs136 crore loss from October to the end of December but has managed to shift current liabilities into the long grass as it aims to continue on an expansionist trail, backed by the Canadian pension fund which holds almost half its shares.

Product development company the Cambridge Design Partnership, working with compatriot solar business Solivus, has developed a curved solar module featuring an organic thin film. The design is based on Solivus’ desire to “create a product so attractive that people would be happy to have one in their garden”.

Capacity additions for the current fiscal year are set to exceed the previous accounting period’s 8,532 MW. With Rs405 billion invested in clean energy in the last fiscal year, spending in the first nine months of 2019-20 has been estimated at Rs367 billion.

US scientists are proposing a new approach to calculating the optimum angular-tilt of PV panels for a planar surface at a particular site. In their view, the new technique may unlock innovative yield optimization methods for the installation of PV systems.

India’s largest private-sector thermal power producer—which ranked as the sixth largest solar player globally in 2019—will invest over 70% of its budgeted Capex for the energy vertical into clean energy and energy-efficient systems to fuel its transformation.