Solar Rooftops Project to reduce Delhi power burden

Residential colonies and commercial establishments could reduce the burden of their electricity bills if a study currently being carried out by Tata Power Delhi Distribution finds rooftop solar power generation projects feasible and the city joins the club of such power producers that includes Gujarat.

According to estimates, 33 km of Delhi’s total area of 1,483 sq km can be used for rooftop solar photovoltaic projects to install 2,557 mw of capacity. However, Delhi’s potential to produce solar power has not been exploited yet, even as power demand touches new heights almost every successive summer, which is the most productive season for solar power installations.

Tata Power Delhi Distribution – which has already installed capacity of 1.8 mw of rooftop solar power generation at its establishments – has said that due to dust across the city the performance of the set-up is about 15%, compared with 20-25% in large-scale projects that have come up on wasteland in Gujarat and Rajasthan.

The power distributor, armed with financial assistance of $459,238 from US Trade and Development Agency, will prepare a business case to utilise rooftops in the city to procure solar power. It will explore viability of putting up its own rooftop projects or buying power generated from the installations owned by residential colonies or bring in third parties to own and operate these projects. “We have tied up for 1,600 mw of power to meet the peak demand of our close to 14 lakh consumers in our distribution area for this year.

According to projections, the same will go up by 1,900 mw in 2017 and 2,300 mw in 2020. We wish to utilise 100-200 mw of grid integrated renewables power projects and meet the balance requirements through the demand side management,” said Tata Power Delhi CEO Praveer Sinha, adding that the study would also come up with a business model to partner with residents of Delhi. Tata Power Delhi is confident that with the gradual decline in cost of generation, solar power is expected to become a viable source of electricity soon.

Gujarat has already experimented with solar projects in its capital city Gandhinagar by installing 5 mw of capacity on the rooftop of government buildings and plans to replicate this model in five more cities in the state.

Tata Power Delhi wants to assess rooftop solar power generation in the light of the existing policy framework and gap between grid tariff and solar tariff, among other parameters. It will also assess technical aspects of metering the establishments engaged in both electricity consumption and solar power generation.

Source: Economic Times

TERI launches first-ever GIS tool to tap rooftop solar power

The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) unveiled the first-ever cloud based open-source Web-GIS Tool for estimating Rooftop Solar Power potential for Indian Solar Cities. The main objective of this initiative is to develop a high performing and flexible Web-GIS tool to estimate the rooftop solar power potential for Indian cities. The first city where the tool will be launched will be Chandigarh, followed by other cities in India.

 

This initiative is being supported by Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation (SSEF), with strategic support from Chandigarh Renewable Energy Science and Technology Promotion Society (CREST), Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). The tool was launched at a conference on “Accelerated Deployment of Rooftop Solar PV systems in India” held in New Delhi today.

 

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Shivraj V. Patil, Governor of Punjab & Administrator, UT Chandigarh, said: “Solar energy is revolutionizing the world. Countries are investing in this sector because it is beneficial to the environment and also saves on energy costs.” He urged the private sector to take a leaf from solar initiatives in China, Europe and Japan and invest in solar devices, saying that manufacturing indigenous solar technologies by Indian companies could bring down the cost of solar products. He said the application of solar energy was easy and each household could now invest in solar products. There are cost-effective technologies available for mass generation and use of solar energy, he said. Patil said that land costs in cities had gone up, so there is a need to invest in rooftop solar devices. “We have taken a decision to install rooftop solar energy devices in government buildings in Chandigarh to become a model solar city,” he said. Patil added that government was already providing subsidies to the private sector to produce renewable energy.

 

Dr. Leena Srivastava, Vice Chancellor, TERI University & Honorary Executive Director, The Energy and Resources Institute, said: “If you look at international trends, Rooftop solar PV systems are here to stay. In Germany, about 25 per cent of energy generation comes from solar power and other countries too are investing in renewable energy.” She said that we have to face the challenges thrown up by this sector by investing in innovations while creating the right environment for policy regulatory frameworks. “We need coping strategies to deal with erratic and ineffective power systems with enabling mechanisms. It is important to bring the various stakeholders together, including local institutions, to take the process forward,” she added. 

Mr Chinmaya Acharya of Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation, said: “The Green Revolution brought food security to India, while the White Revolution made India the largest producer of milk in the world. The time has come for a solar revolution in the energy sector as there is wide recognition about the impending energy crisis in India.” He said that costs of solar products have come down over the years, and rooftop solar devices have begun to have a significant impact on our renewable energy solutions. He added that the tool will aid viable business models and policy mechanisms to implement the project.

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Community Produces 4 Times the Energy it Consumes

 

Although net-zero projects have been creating a lot of buzz lately in the field of green building, the Sonnenschiff solar city in Freiburg, Germany is very much net positive.The self-sustaining city accomplishes this feat through smart solar design and lots and lots of photovoltaic panels pointed in the right direction. It seems like a simple strategy -- but designers often incorporate solar installations as an afterthought, or worse, as a label. Designed by Rolf Disch, the Sonnenschiff (Solar Ship) and Solarsiedlung (Solar Village) emphasize power production from the start by smartly incorporating a series of large rooftop solar arrays that double as sun shades. The buildings are also built to Passivhaus standards, which allows the project to produce four times the amount of energy it consumes!

The project started out as a vision for an entire community -- the medium-density project balances size, accessibility, green space, and solar exposure. In all, 52 homes make up a neighborhood anchored to Sonnenschiff, a mixed-use residential and commercial building that emphasizes livability with a minimal footprint. The homes are designed to the Passivhaus standard and have great access to passive solar heating and daylight. Each home features a very simple shed roof with deep overhangs that allows winter sun in while shading the building from the summer sun. 

The penthouses on top of the Sonnenschiff have access to rooftop gardens that make full use of all available solar resources. The rooftops feature a rainwater recycling system that irrigates the gardens and supplies the toilets with greywater. The project also makes use of a woodchip boiler for heat in the winter, further decreasing its environmental footprint. Advanced technologies like phase-change materials and vacuum insulation significantly boost the thermal performance of the buildings' wall systems.

The project's simple envelope design is brightened by a colorful and dynamic façade. Gardens and paths cross through the development as well, linking the inhabitants. Offices and stores expand the livability of the community while contributing a sense of communal purpose.

Smart orientation was a key strategy used to maximize energy efficiency. The buildings are separated so as to provide sufficient light to the lower floors in the winter months. 

The home's feature a simple passive heating and cooling strategy.

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