Solar PV potential
The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) sees a huge potential for off-grid application of solar PV in the country as solar pumps for irrigation could provide access to water to un-electrified and remote areas and enhance the crop yield for farmers.
The efficacy of solar pumps is evidenced by the fact that the shortage of drinking water supply infrastructure in rural and inaccessible habitations was being addressed through the use of solar pumps.
Speaking at the “Scaling up Solar Pumps Applications in India”, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, joint secretary Satyabrata Sahu said “the Ministry has so far deployed 15,000 solar water pumps to serve drinking water purposes in rural areas of the country.
On the issue of presence of fluoride and arsenic in drinking water, Sahu said that to make water free of fluoride and arsenic NITI Aayog had provided Rs 1,000 crore for defluoridation. He said solar pumps could be integrated with defluoridation technology to overcome the problem.
The market potential of solar pumps include replacing more than 21 million electric powered and 7 million diesel pump sets currently operating in the country with more than 70,000 solar pumps so far deployed.
Meanwhile, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has set up a committee on solar water pumps comprising industry leaders and experts to deliberate on and suggest solutions to address some of the barriers which hamper wider adoption of solar pumps, and highlight the significant opportunity both within the country and for export.
The conference was organized by FICCI. fii-news.com
