From just 4% of installed capacity in 2015, solar will rise to become the largest installed capacity energy source by 2040, increasing to 30% of total, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. In 2015, the total global electricity installed capacity…
Should India Say WTF to WTO on Solar?
Recently, a WTO ruling on solar went against India, in the context of “discriminatory trade practices”. The case was filed by the US against India. I am sure there are lots of Indians having a knee-jerk reaction to this adverse ruling –…
Innovate or Suffocate – Solar Industry’s Watershed Moment
There’s a dark secret about the sunny solar industry. It is not very profitable. Surprised? The surprise is justified: After all, you hear about the fantastic growth of solar sector. The world just crossed 200 GW in installations. It is already a…
Why Make in India Makes Enormous Sense for Solar
The Make in India campaign by the Modi government is in full flow. There is a visceral “feel-good” factor about making something in our country, isn’t there? The economists among you will point out that feeling good viscerally is not…
Can Solar Get Me a Date? – What Solar Can and Can’t
I am a solar evangelist by profession, and a realist by nature. Not the best DNA to sleep in peace, but let’s just say this has made me write this post. Having worked in almost all main alternative energy sectors (solar, wind,…
US Has SunShot for Solar. India Has Gunshot.
Every time I see our Power Minister Piyush Goyal sport a big smile while boasting that his government had brought down solar power tariffs even further, and in the same breath say that his government will ensure Make in India for solar,…
Could Rooftop Solar in Cloudy Cities Contribute More than in Sunny Cities?!
Here’s an interesting take on solar power generation. In general, one would have thought that the contribution of solar power to the overall power mix will be higher in regions with significant sunshine. But here’s a study that claims just the opposite – that…
Futurist Ray Kurzweil Says Solar Will Dominate Energy Within 12 Years
Ray Kurzweil apparently gets an astonishing 86% of his predictions right, puts him pretty close to God, in my opinion. Now, he predicts that solar will dominate the energy sector within 12 years. Now, that’s a lot more optimistic than most other folks out…
What is the right solar tariff for India – 4.78, 4.63 or 4.34?
After an avalanche of low solar tariffs ending with a super low solar tariff of Rs 4.34/kWh in the latest reverse biddings held in Nov ’15 and Jan ’16, the market suddenly seems to be retracting. The recent lowest discovered tariff…
How Choosing High Quality Components will Make a High Impact for Indian Solar Sector
As India races towards an aspirational 100 GW of solar power, there are some serious challenges that lie in the way. One of the key challenges is the growth of the distributed or the rooftop solar sector. While the government wants…