India.
Solar Power ambition in India. It is reported that the Government of India has taken on an ambitious plan to have the country producing 200 Gigawatt (GW) of solar energy by the year 2050.
Currently India only produces around 3 Megawatt(MW) of energy by solar. The hope is that by massively increasing the use of small scale Photovoltaic (PV) solar panels, along with large scale power plants as well as solar lighting and solar heated water, the cost could be reduced to competitive levels. India also laid plans to increase its development of Solar thermal power generation.
The hope is that the scale of the development will entice overseas and private investors to fun the porject.
Masdar-Abu-Dhabi.
Abu-Dhabi completes the largest grid connected solar plant in the Middle East. The City of Masdar hosts the solar power plant, comprising of over 87 thousand photovoltaic modules and capable of producing around 17,000 Mega Watt Hours of solar energy each year.
Covering an area of 212 thousand square metres, the plant was inaugurated on Sunday by the Chairman of Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA), Sheikh Diab bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Masdar City plans to achieve a target of having 7% of its energy by renewables by 2020 and aims to eventally be carbon neutral and fully powered by renewables.
Texas-USA.
The Texas legislature killed a bill on Friday that would have enabled a $500 million rebate programs for utility and small scale solar installations.
This would have been a boost to the developing solar industry in Texas which will now have to wait until 2011 before the possibility of any further solar incentives.
India.
Ahire,MAHARASHTRA – The residents of Ahire, a small village in Maharashtra got electricity for the first time after country’s independence, when the government installed solar panels in the village, thus illuminating the lives of 85 families who had till now been living in darkness.
The children do not have to slog in candlelight to study, women can move out of their houses at night, and men can also breathe a sigh of relief.
“It’s been 62 years since India’s independence, there was no water and no electricity in our village. We were deprived of even the basic facilities,” said Shivaji Bhide, a villager.
Village elders recall the numerous obstacles they had to face because of the lack of basic amenities in their village.
“People did not want to marry their daughters in our village as there was no water, no electricity,” said Nathuram Vanjale, a villager.
Now, the future of Ahire looks bright and the residents are quite happy. (ANI)
The above story is quoted in full from blog.taragana.com which shows how a little bit of solar can affect peoples lives a great deal.
Related posts:
the cost of Solar Cells for Solar Energy utilization has been decreasing over the past years. pretty soon, solar energy would be a more viable alternative than fossil fuels.