India is densely populated and has high solar insolation, an ideal combination for using solar power in India. India is already a leader in wind power generation. In the solar energy sector, some large projects have been proposed, and a 35,000 km2 area of the Thar Desert has been set aside for solar power projects, sufficient to generate 700 GW to 2,100 GW.
In July 2009, India unveiled a US$19 billion plan to produce 20 GW of solar power by 2020. Under the plan, the use of solar-powered equipment and applications would be made compulsory in all government buildings, as well as hospitals and hotels.On November 18, 2009, it was reported that India was ready to launch its National Solar Mission under the National Action Plan on Climate Change, with plans to generate 1,000 MW of power by 2013.
With about 300 clear, sunny days in a year, India’s theoretical solar power reception, on only its land area, is about 5 Petawatt-hours per year (PWh/yr) (i.e. 5 trillion kWh/yr or about 600 TW).The daily average solar energy incident over India varies from 4 to 7 kWh/m2 with about 1500–2000 sunshine hours per year (depending upon location), which is far more than current total energy consumption. For example, assuming the efficiency of PV modules were as low as 10%, this would still be a thousand times greater than the domestic electricity demand projected for 2015.
Further information: Solar panels on spacecraft and Solar charger
Electric devices that includes solar panels:
Space stations and various spacecraft employ, or have employed photovoltaic panels to generate power.
Standards generally used in solar panels:
Trackers
Solar Trackers increase the amount of energy produced per panel at a cost of mechanical complexity and need for maintenance.
Fixed Racks
Fixed racks hold panels in a single location as the sun moves across the sky.
The fixed rack sets the angle at which the panel is held. Tilt angles equivalent to an installation’s latitude is common.
Ground Mounted
ground mounted solar panel system installation using precast concrete ballasted footings.
Ground Mounted solar power systems consist of solar panels held in place by racks or frames which are attached to ground based mounting supports.
Ground based mounting supports include:
- Pole mounts which are driven directly into the ground or embedded in concrete.
- Foundation mounts such as concrete slabs or poured footings
- Ballasted footing mounts such as concrete or steel bases that use weight to secure the solar panel system in position and do not require ground penetration. This type of mounting system allows for decommission or relocation of solar panel systems with no ground excavation.
Roof Mounted
Roof Mounted solar power systems consist of solar panels held in place by racks or frames which are attached to roof based mounting supports.
Roof based mounting supports include:
- Pole mounts which are attached directly to the roof structure and may use additional rails for attaching the panel racking or frames.
- Ballasted footing mounts such as concrete or steel bases that use weight to secure the panel system in position and do not require through penetration. This mounting method allows for decommisison or relocation of solar panel systems with no impact on the roof structure.
Government support driving Japan’s photovoltaic market, Japan has emerged as one of the largest markets od solar PV installed capacity in the world. It is also counted among the world’s largest manufacturers of the solar cells.
Most of solar panels and polysilicon which produced in Japan are solad in domestic markets, some polysilicon is shipped overseas. The earthquake caused shutdown if production from Sanyo, Panasonic and Sharp. Some facilities are not severely damaged, but what impacts the industry is the infrastructure. It is believed that at least 2-3 months will be needed to repair the power grid. It will ven take longer to repair the roads and ports in the northern coast.
Barclays analyst Vishal Shah says that the major earthquake in Japan with serious aftershocks, improves the longer term policy outlook for the renewable solar energy sector even through it weakens the near term supply /demand outlook. Barclays does not anticipate any immediate change in policy developments in Europe. Longer term, however, the US, Japan, China and several other Asian countries will consider greater use of clean generation technologies(wind, solar) over nuclear power. In the near term, Shah sees some supply disruptions, potentially negatively impacting fundamentals across the solar supply chain. The entire Japanese economy will be impacted for a while, which may cause some minor shipment and short-term pricing issues for PV components.
Worldwide, 5.8 percent of energy was produced by nuclear power. Solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, wind and geothermal all lump together at 0.7 percent of global energy supply. After Fukushima nuclear power plant crisis, lots of countries said that they should develop clean energy , and creat more job opportunity for clean energy, to make our energy supply more safe and secure.
