With the age of oil and gas nearly coming to an end and global warming threatening with costly impact on the entire planet, it is compelling us to come up with solutions to reduce the carbon footprint and help to make the ecosystem more habitable for our generations in the decades to come. We are striving to find a way to sustainable living.
Although there is still a sprout of hope for a sustainable and cleaner future. We have the technology for deriving power from natural sources such as sun, wind, water, and biomass. Sun provides a clean, efficient, sustainable and bankable source of energy that we can integrate into our lives for generating clean electricity to meet energy requirements. It has lower carbon dioxide emission and can help in reducing global warming. Among all the renewable energy, solar energy is the only one that gives an advantage of generation and consumption of the electricity at the same place of installation.
Indian leaders are encouraging people to make eco-friendly and informed decisions towards the ecosystem. India is the world’s third largest solar power market after China and USA. Kamuthi Solar plant in Tamilnadu is World’s largest with a capacity of 648 MW. Maharashtra has also emerged as a huge market for solar energy because of its promising potential for power generation.
There are two ways to use solar energy to generate electricity;
Photovoltaic type: It is a system where sunlight is directly converted into electricity.
Thermal type: Solar thermal plants use heat to generate electricity.
According to MEDA(Maharashtra Energy Development Agency), there are 250-300 clear sunny days in the state, assuring power generation capacity of 1.5mn units/MW/year through solar photovoltaic systems and up to 2.5mn units/MW/ year through thermal systems. It has installed capacity of 6959.76 MW renewable energy projects as in 2016 alone.
Maharashtra is aware of the striking environmental issues and is working towards this cause. Moreover, this shift in perception of people fuelling the growth and development of the solar energy industry. Maharashtra has come up with humongous projects in the last few years.
Here’s quick glance on some of the major projects;
Sakri Solar Plant
It is the largest photovoltaic solar power plant in Maharashtra with a capacity of 125 MW. This project was developed by Mahagenco, India’s second largest power producing company. It became operational in the year 2013. It has around 4 lac solar modules on 420 Acres of undulating and rocky terrain.
Shri Saibaba Community Kitchen
Prasadalaya, a community kitchen in Saibaba temple, has the world’s largest solar steam system. It has 73 solar dishes, placed in a series and parallel combination. It prepares 50,000 meals for the pilgrims visiting the shrine, resulting in saving 100,000 kg of cooking gas annually. It is designed to generate steam even in the absence of electricity. The life of this solar steam system is 25 years. It bagged the Solar Cooker Excellence Award in 2016.
Besides that, many housing societies and commercial buildings are harnessing solar power for their electricity requirements by installing rooftop solar panels and building-integrated solar PV(BIPV). These panels are being used for common area lightings such as parking, lifts, staircase lights and water pumps too.
Novergy provides a variety of durable and cost-effective solar energy solutions to communities that are trying to build a safe and sustainable haven for them and their future.
We believe that a cleaner future for the planet is possible and if we make informed and responsible decisions towards it, we can make a big difference, one solar panel at a time.