Tag: Solar Energy

  • How Facebook is Planning to Bring Renewable energy to India with CleanMax

    CleanMax and Facebook had recently announced that both the companies have got into a partnership to move into 100 % renewable energy in India. Let’s look at how Facebook is bringing renewable energy into India with the association with CleanMax.

    About CleanMax
    About Facebook
    Facebook and CleanMax partnership
    First Project of CleanMax and Facebook in India
    FAQ

    About CleanMax

    CleanMax Solar is a clean energy company. The company develops rooftop solar power. It was formed in the year 2011 and has its headquarters in Mumbai, India. The company has its presence in the major parts of India.

    CleanMax is said to be one of the leading renewable energy company which is pioneering in roof top solar development across India. The company has successfully installed more than 550 rooftop solar projects for more than 170 corporates.

    It has a total rooftop solar operating capacity of more than 250 MW. It also operates large scale solar and wind farms for supplying clean energy to its corporate customers which is more than 450 MW.

    CleanMax Website
    CleanMax Website

    About Facebook

    Facebook is an American based social media and social networking company. The company was founded in the year 2004 and is located in California. As of 31 December 2020, the company has around 2.8 billion monthly active users.

    The company’s services are available in around 111 languages and is present in almost all the countries worldwide. The company was founded by Mark Zuckerberg with his roommates and his college mates from Harvard College. Some of the important people are Chris Hughes, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, etc.

    Facebook and CleanMax partnership

    On 15 April 2021, Facebook and CleanMax had announced that they had got into a partnership to support the development of renewable energy in India through solar and wind energy.

    Urvi Parekh who is the head of the renewable energy at Facebook said in a statement that they are excited to announce this important step which is helping them support their operations in the region, which includes their office in India, with 100% renewable energy.

    Under the agreement of the partnership, both the companies CleanMax and Facebook will assemble a portfolio of solar projects and wind which will be used to supply renewable energy into the electrical grid in India.

    First Project of CleanMax and Facebook in India

    The first project according to the agreement between both the companies will be a 32 MW wind project. The project is expected to be located in Karnataka, India. This project will be followed by similar other projects in states where the tech giant has its operations.

    It is estimated that approximately half of the project capacity has been commissioned recently and is generating power already. Urvi Parekh who is the head of the renewable energy at Facebook said that their partnership with CleanMax will enable the generation of solar energy and wind power in the near future. This will be a huge contribution to the decarbonization of the Indian electrical grid.

    CleanMax is said to own and operate the projects meanwhile Facebook is said to provide long-term support by committing to purchase the complete environmental attribute certificates from the projects. These are for the near future.

    The social media giant, Facebook had announced that the company has reached 100 % renewable energy. The company also added on saying that it has achieved net zero emissions for its global operations.

    Andrew Hines who is the co-founder and the chief commercial officer at CleanMax has said that they have always strived to develop innovative solutions which will help their clients to achieve their 100 per cent renewable ambitions.

    He also added on saying that given the constraints in sourcing power to many facilities, CleanMax is working with certain forward thinking corporations such as Facebook which will help them find creative solutions to these problems.

    Urvi Parekh also added on saying that Facebook is committed towards upholding the highest standards in the environment. This is to ensure environmental sustainability across all aspects of their operations.

    FAQ

    What is renewable energy and examples?

    Renewable energy, often referred to as clean energy, comes from natural sources or processes that are constantly replenished. For example, sunlight or wind keep shining and blowing, even if their availability depends on time and weather.

    Is renewable energy the future?

    Renewable energy is expected to make up 30 percent of the world’s energy by 2024, according to the International Energy Agency, and most of this is driven by solar and wind projects.

    What is the best source of renewable energy?

    Wind Energy, Hydropower, Solar, and Geothermal are some of the best source of renewable energy.

    Conclusion

    We will be able to see a lot more projects coming up in the future with the partnership of Facebook and CleanMax regarding the development of renewable energy in India and across the world.

  • SOLAR ENERGY MARKET: BUILDING SUSTAINABLE INDIA

    India is furnished with vast solar energy potential. Solar is the most secure source of energy because it is abundantly available in nature. Solar power is the fastest developing industry in India. Solar power is a renewable source of energy. It is the power produced by the sun’s light. The solar energy invested reach of our nation was about 35,739 as of August 2020. There has been an eminent impact of solar power in the Indian energy scenario in the past few years.

    India has built 42 solar potential parks to make the area available to promoters of solar plants. The solar energy installed capacity of our nation was about 35,739 as of August 2020. There has been an eminent impact of solar power in the Indian energy scenario in the past few years.  India has built forty-two solar energy parks to create a realm accessible to promoters of solar plants. Rooftop solar energy is 2.1 GW, of that 70 % is industrial. By the year-end of 2015, a million solar lanterns were traded that reduced the utilization of lamp oil.  118,700 solar home lighting systems were put in, and 1.4 million solar cookers were administered in India.

    India achieved the 5th global position in solar power arrangement by surpassing Italy.

    Annual Solar Power Generation(TWh)

    Future of Solar Power Market

    The changing lifestyle of people with the increasing industrialization has made electricity a vital commodity. To decrease the concern of high electricity demand with decreasing fossil fuels, policy makers have been looking for a sustainable source of electricity generation. Solar energy is the readiest and green option available.

    The report published by IMD (Indian Meteorological Department) states that  The solar energy received is more than 15000 times the commercial energy consumption, and this energy is available during the day without any constraint.

    According to GOGLA (Global Association For the Off-Grid Solar Energy Industry), the market for distributed solar power merchandise is expected to grow more than two-and-a-half times to Rs 10,117 crore by the year 2023. Including solar lamps, solar pump kits, and other home devices. It is estimated that the current market size for distributed solar in our country is at Rs 3,878 crore, including  Rs 3,170 owned by the government and the rest by private owned entities. The sales are estimated to grow to Rs 2,617 crore in the private sector and Rs 7,500 crore in the government sector. Most of the future sales are estimated to come from lanterns with some additional services like mobile charging, radio, etc. and solar home systems. Increasing income and energy demand are the key market drivers.

    Sustainable Development through Solar Energy

    Investing in domestic manufacturing may help in building the supply chain, control prices, and earn foreign exchange through exports. This will help in creating job opportunities, increasing the GDP(Gross Domestic Product) for the nation.

    Biogas Startups In India
    Most of the Indian cities are suffering due to illegal dumping of wastes. A major part of these wastes are organic waste. Biogas technology enables us to utilize organic wastes in an effective way. Let us discuss about biogas startups in India. Some of them are given below.

    Year Cumulative Capacity of Solar Power Units

    IMPACT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC

    The imposition of a nationwide lockdown by the government to control the coronavirus outbreak harmed the whole economy. The solar industry will have immediate challenges due to the COVID-19 outbreak, such as the shortage of labor force compliance with social distancing, shortage of equipment and parts, and discrete expenditure by users. India’s solar power sector is struggling in the pandemic. There has been a decline in electricity consumption of 30% due to the lockdown of industries and markets.
    China is the largest supplier of solar raw materials such as cells, glass, back sheets, frames, junction boxes, etc. Due to the coronavirus crisis, there was a long hold on the import of such items from china, the module assembling capacity of manufacturers is being affected. There may be a rise in solar module prices shortly as the manufacturers have begun experiencing raw material shortages. The prices of various components will rise because of the decrease in supply from China. Engineering, procurement, and production companies now have to bear all the variable factors from procurement of bills of material of the panel to the manufacturing and supply chain.

    How will Small Businesses Survive during Coronavirus Outbreak?
    Apart from being a threat to public health, COVID-19[https://startuptalky.com/tag/covid-19/] has also emerged as a threat to theglobal economy. Indian Government has put restrictions on regular movement,malls, public spaces, offices. Everything except essential things has beenlocked down. During…

    Rural Electrification

    • The scarcity of electricity is the main hitch of rural development. In 2004, about 80000 villages did not have electricity.
    • In the year 2004 more than 5000 villages were supplied with electricity through solar power systems.
    • Lighting and Lamps: By 2012, 4,600,000  solar lamps and 561,654 solar-powered lights were installed in homes.
    • Agricultural Support: Solar water-pumping systems are used for irrigation and drinking water.
    • By 2019 181,521 Solar Photovoltaic water pumping systems were installed in India. Low-cost solar vehicles are available for agricultural activities.

    34 Business Ideas To Implement In Rural Areas [In 2020]
    This post describes some incredible rural business ideas that can be launched ona full-time basis or as an afterthought. If you live in a rural area, it mayseem hard to think of business ideas. Numerous business sectors that are easilyaccessible in huge urban areas are not available in case of ru…

    Government Aid

    The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy(MNRE) installed 51 solar radiation resource assessment stations across India to create a database.  India started a Rs 40 crore project to measure solar radiation. The government allocated Rs 1000 crore for the national solar mission and clean-energy fuel fund for the year 2010-2011. The government reduced import duties on solar panels by 5% which encouraged private sector companies. The Indian government also reduced the price of PV power from rs 4.43/KWh to Rs 4.00/KWh. During January 2019, the term for authorizing the production of the solar power plants was lessened to 18 months for units located outside the solar parks and 15 months for separate units from the date of the contract. In May 2020, the tariff was reduced to rs 2.90/KWh.

    Top Solar Power Companies In India

    Incentives By the Government

    • Viability Gap Funding:  The funding was Rs 1 crore/MW for open projects on average in the year 2016.
    • Depreciation: 40% of the total investment in rooftop solar systems could be claimed as depreciation in the first year.
    • 25% safeguard duty is imposed for 2 years from 2018 on the imports to safeguard the local manufacturers.
    • Capital subsidies to rooftop solar plants up to 500 KWh.
    • Renewable Energy Certificates(REC): Financial incentives for every unit of green energy generated.
    • Power Purchase Agreement(PPA): Offering fair market-determined tariff for solar power.
    • ISTS(Interstate Transmission Systems):  Charges and losses are not taxable during the period of PPA.
    • Subsidy of 70% and 30% is granted by the Union Government for hilly regions.