Solar Energy Corp to develop cost-reducing technology and products

Solar Energy Corporation intends develop solar technologies and products that could cater to India's needs.

It plans to set up small, pilot power plants with strong linkages with research and academic institutions to achieve this objective.

"We need to put up demonstration solar power units, say, of five MW of two or three configurations in a solar park and collect the data for scaling them up. The solar park will be close to R&D units and academic institutions," said Solar Energy Corporation chairman, Anil Kakodkar.

Kakodkar said the corporation would put up solar power plants on its own.

"We are looking at concentrated photo voltaic plants while there are other options also," said the former chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission.

He said there is a possibility of having large solar collectors that would move the sun's rays to be finally collected into a photovoltaic module. Another technology is having a combination of a tower and photovoltaic mirrors. The mirror would reflect the sunlight on a tower which would beam the rays back to a photovoltaic panel on the ground.

Kakodkar said India should have a long-term strategic plan for sustainable development of the solar power sector while being conscious of the need to do value addition within the country.

One of the elements of such a strategic plan is to reduce the cost by developing technologies and products that are India-centric.

He said the growth of solar technology in India will be similar to the growth of nuclear reactor in the country, that is, choosing relevant technology for the country and bringing down its cost.

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