Rooftop SOLAR ENERGY Policy in Delhi soon

Delhiites would now be able to sell power directly with the Delhi government about to launch a roof top solar energy policy. policy will be launched in the capital soon to encourage people to switch to the renewable energy source.
"Delhi Govt will  soon starting rooftop solar policy for setting up solar power units on rooftops of households in the capital, where the owners of buildings will get incentives and it will be connected to the main grid.  
According to the policy, house owners can either lease out their roof to a developer, who will then set up the unit, or they can pay 30 percent of the cost of installation. The remaining 70 percent will be financed through banks.
House owners will get to earn Rs.17 per unit of power produced through the solar panels, which will be directly fed into a grid. They can sell the power for 25 years.
The government is working out modalities of the scheme's benefits. The DISCOMS  may even deduct the amount the house owner earns through the solar unit from the electricity bill.

GREENPOWER” RURAL GENERATORS

DRAUGHT ANIMAL DRIVEN
 “GREENPOWER” RURAL GENERATORS

Q-1. What are the applications where the electricity from this Green Power Generator can be used in rural situations ?

Ans: This energy can be utilized for

• Home lighting (LEDs & CFLs)
• Water lifting (overhead tank) and pumping
• Battery charging for TV, computer & Internet centre,
• To bring in Telemedicine
• Multimedia Education
• Tiny Agro processing industries
• Replacing Kerosene usage in villages
• Entertainment & income generation

Q-2. How many Bullocks / other such work-animals required to drive the Generator?
  
 Ans: The minimum model runs with one pair of healthy bullocks or other such animals (like Buffaloes, Horses, Mules, Donkeys, Camels).Specially designed, bigger Community Generators can use any no of draught animals depending on capacity & design of generators.
  
Q-3. How much electricity can be produced by using one pair of animal ?

Ans: The smallest system generates approx.1.2 KW -1.5 KW of electricity per hours up to 5-6 hours continuously which is sufficient to light 40-50 CFLs of 20 W each, at a time. It can run TV through battery, fans, lift water through pump, charge rechargeable lanterns & mobiles etc .

Q-4. How many hours continuous electricity can be produced by one pair of animals?
 
Ans: Like us, animal is a living thing and it works the same as it works for other traditional farming applications. It can be made to work for a maximum of six hours in one shift in 24 hours. For 24 hours non-stop electricity, 4 sets of animals in 4 shifts are required.

Q-5. How to get electricity when animal is not working in this system?

Ans: The moment animals stop moving, the machine stops producing electricity. So while animals are working for electricity generation, Storage battery needs to be charged for back up applications. Secondly, pattern of application of electricity is villages are  not similar to cities & towns. 24 hours non-stop electricity is not the natural use pattern & necessity  in villages.

Q-6. To drive animals in motion, will a person be required continuously?

Ans: No, in this generator, there is an automated system which takes care of animal motion as required by the machine to run properly, at that point of time. It is fitted with automatic audio alarms for breakdowns & emergency.

Q-7. If farmers start using bullocks for power generation in villages , then how farming will be done?

Ans: In Indian situation, farmers use animals in farming applications for maximum 90-100 days in a year. Rest 265-275 days they are sitting idle which is uneconomical and a burden on scarce resources of farmer. This is one of the main reasons, farmers’ lost interest in keeping animals round the year & started opting for rented tractors etc which further destroyed the rural ecosystem & entire life cycle. Now, with this GreenPower Rural Generator technology in place , same animal can be productive on daily basis, for generation of electricity.

Q-8. What is daily recurring cost for getting electricity out of this system?

Ans:  It utilizes available local resource (Bullock Power) so recurring cost is zero.

Q-9. What is the recurring maintenance cost?

 Ans: The generator is almost 100 % maintenance-free, if used as per guidelines.

Q-10. What are the other benefits of this technology ?

Ans: Benefits in brief:

• It produces decentralized & 100 % pollution free Green Energy using abundantly available, in-exhaustible local Bio-resource.
• Simpler farmer friendly, down-to-earth, adaptable & easy to blend technology.
• It optimizes available animal  resource, hence ensuring better upkeep, increased value  &  respectability for animals & more value addition for its owner.
• Maintenance free automated operation
• It saves on grid electricity infrastructure expenditure for rural applications
• It saves on precious forex spent in import of petroleum each year.
• Revolutionizes the rural energy scenario

• Helps usher in era of energy self-reliance
• Brings Multimedia education, Telemedicine in realm of rural life, hence bridging gap.
• Improves overall creativity and productivity of rural population.
• Adds glamour to villages
• Bolsters  rural rehabilitation efforts like never before.

Q-11.How will it help transform rural economy?

 Ans: Animals are considered to be back bone of rural economy in India. With this technology in place, value of work animals will increase. It will add value & glamour to owners of animals as they will become owners of micro power plant. Kerosene usage will become a thing of past in villages. Once animals’ position is re-strengthened, villagers will be encouraged to use biogas for cooking as well. This will help resurrect & rehabilitate the rural economy to an extent. Organic manure (in place of chemical fertilizers) will rejuvenate soil adding to its productivity and yield. So the complete cycle will be restored. This will empower rural India, naturally !!

 

LINKING SOLAR ENERGY & MICROFINANCE

Many potential customers without access to electricity have trouble mobilizing sufficient capital to buy solar products. Microfinance loans for solar products can increase sales and allow solar enterprises to reach clients with low or irregular incomes.

At present, roughly 1.6 billion people do not have access to electricity and over 2.5 billion people do not have access to clean cooking options. Most of the people without modern energy access also lack access to financing that would enable them to purchase cleaner energy services. People on low incomes in developing countries typically spend a large proportion of their income on energy. For many rural customers, buying and installing a solar home system typically costs at least INR 4000 to 13000 (depending on the system size and where it is in the world), but can provide light and electricity for many years with minimal ongoing costs aside from routine maintenance and occasional battery replacement. However, experience has shown that most potential customers without access to electricity have trouble mobilizing sufficient capital to make a lump-sum cash payment for solar products. As such, it is often easier for solar enterprises to serve higher income people who can purchase products on a cash basis rather than find ways to target lower income people.

TELECOM TOWERING COSTs

Strategies for Telecom Companies to Reduce Energy Expenses

With 330,000 telecom towers operational across the country, the telecom sector is one of the key consumers of power. The energy consumed by core network equipment , power systems , switching/site offices , data centres and equipment like mobiles terminals account for large proportion of the total energy consumed .

However, given the insufficient availability of grid power in India, Diesel power generators remain the Mainstay of telecom towers for providing back up power. According to industry estimates today, about 50% of the sectors power needs are met by grid supply, with the balance being met by DGs. Given the high cost of diesel and challenges associated with diesel uses, energy cost accounts for significant proportion (25040 %) of telecom operator’s operational expenditure (OPEX). The problem is more prevalent in rural regions where the grid fails to reach the majority of villages. Power outages are detrimental to operators business as they result in increased costs, network downtime and poor services quality. In several remote regions of India, energy related expenses account nearly 75% of the network opex .

In the market where margins are extremely thin due to high competition in tariffs, it has become imperative for operators to look at all possible options for cutting costs. Power costs (including Backup power) being a significant proportion of their expenditure, operators are exploring all possible options to reduce the dependence on diesel and opting for greener technologies like SOLAR, wind and bio fuels.

Energy needs of the telecom sectors

The telecom industry’s power needs include AC power for multi – service operators, data centres and disaster recovery sites , and DC power for Base Transceiver Stations ( BTS)  and batteries . However power needs vary among service operators. For instance, while in the case of fixed line service providers, the main switch centre (MSC) consumes a lot of power and needs precision air – conditioning, in the case of mobile services, BTSs account for a large proportion of the power consumption because they cater to large number of peoples , often over 250,000 thus requiring about 3,750 MW of power .