Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Rush for solar panels raises eyebrows

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/150105/nation-current-affairs/article/rush-solar-panels-raises-eyebrows

The new government's push for solar and wind power may just do the economy in, while also wrecking the power system and agriculture, with massive tracts of semi-fertile and 'waste' lands being handed over to renewable power developers. Not to speak of the fact that modern solar PV technology has no significant long-term operating history available, and especially, Chinese equipment is dicey to say the least.

I shudder to think of what will happen if the target of one lakh MW of solar is indeed achieved. The previous government's incompetence was a boon in halting the ascent of big wind and solar. Now who will save us from the people who claim to save the world?


3 comments:

Pagan said...

Land acquisition ordinance can potentially blow up in the face of NDA.. for everything but the most critical infrastructure projects, the govt should resort to leasing the land for 50 or 75 years and return it to the owners (or their descendents) after that.

Judicial layout in Bangalore is a good example of the rich benefiting from the land snatched from the poor.

sands said...

point taken on land acquisition but are you saying you dont want modi govt to achieve its ambitious solar target india will fail if we dont invest in solar surely

Pagan said...

Solar targets are fine as long as they do not grab somebody's land. Consider leasing it.

Do you know that solar PV is less efficient in hot weather? It is best for cold but sunny locations.

For India, the best option is Solar Thermal. Even better is Solar-Augmented-Thermal -- which is nothing but a regular thermal plant where the sun's rays are used to pre-heat the water. Coal or other fossil fuel is used to boil this pre-heated water. This is the most viable use of solar power -- bar none.