Grid-linked solar generation capacity crosses 5,000 Mw mark

India’s grid-connected solar power generation capacity has crossed the 5,000 Mw mark, with Rajasthan on top with 1,264.35 Mw capacity followed by Gujarat.

The total grid-connected solar power generation capacity in the country is 5,129.81 Mw, a statement by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy .

Rajasthan has the maximum grid-connected capacity, followed by Gujarat (1,024.15 Mw) and Madhya Pradesh (678.58 Mw).

The other leading states are Tamil Nadu (418.94 Mw),Maharashtra (378.7 Mw), Andhra Pradesh (357.34 Mw), Telangana (342.39 Mw), Punjab (200.32 Mw) and Uttar Pradesh (140 Mw).

The major states which are lagging behind are West Bengal (7.21 Mw), Uttarakhand (5 Mw) and Haryana (12.8 Mw).

Government has an ambitious plan to have 175 Gw of power generation capacity from renewable sources, including 100 Gw from solar and 60 Gw from wind, by 2022.

Under the National Solar Mission, the government increased the solar power generation capacity addition target by five times to 100 Gw last year.

Solar power in India:

With about 300 clear, sunny days in a year, India’s theoretically calculated solar energy incidence on its land area alone, is about 5,000 trillion kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year (or 5 EWh/yr).

The solar energy available in a year exceeds the possible energy output of all fossil fuel energy reserves in India.

On 16 May 2011, India’s first 5 MW of installed capacity solar power project was registered under the Clean Development Mechanism. The project is in Sivagangai Village,Sivaganga district, Tamil Nadu.

 In January 2015, the Indian government significantly expanded its solar plans, targeting US$100 billion of investment and 100 GW of solar capacity by 2022.

India is ranked number one in terms of solar electricity production per watt installed, with an insolation of 1,700 to 1,900 kilowatt hours per kilowatt peak (kWh/KWp)

India expects to install an additional 10,000 MW by 2017, and a total of 100,000 MW by 2022.