Large Scale Solar Thermal power generation

After reading for years about Solar Energy generation and different ways to generate tap the solar energy , I am somewhat convinced that, Solar Thermal power plants using "Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector (CLFR) solar collector" holds the future. Installing PV cells roof by roof will not only take much longer but also, we are expecting the end consumer who is used to getting electricity @ the click of a switch to spend time & money to get a PV installer home and install it on their roof top.

Needless to say, if the customer is located remotely, where Govt...is unlikely to pull a transmission line to their premises , it makes most sense to install a PV system on their rooftop.

For grid-connected areas , we need to stop augmenting power generation with Coal or other Fossil fuel based generation techniques. Instead, we must encourage (or force by means of a law:-) and make all private and govt.. players starting to build new plants with Solar Thermal technology..

If we could build Solar Thermal plants across the whole of Thar Desert in Rajasthan , all our Northern states which are reeling with 10s of hours of power cut a day would get the much needed relief . It can generate employment for millions of farmers who can be turn into support industries... And by the way, we could also save the planet by avoid millions of tons of carbon-di-oxide emissions into the earth's atmosphere..

I have been watching this company called "Ausra" who have commoditized building solar thermal power plants and I would approach them to help us set up a plant in Thar desert which we can then replicate to other Desert areas..

Would anyone who read this blog agree with me ?

Solar, the new Oil

I got up this morning with an inspiring article by Mohan Murti in Business about how "Solar could be our new Oil" in the coming decades. He has drawn an anology with how Germany has transformed their Energy portfolio with several Solar and Wind installations.

It is just common sense to think that, for a developing country like India, Solar Thermal power plants should be the way forward. I have followed a few initiatives taken up in Thar Desert to set up a Solar Thermal power plant but they never gone beyond the drawing board.. Is it the huge upfront cost, or is it the notorious government support that stopped these projects, God only knows..

We all think of Solar power a few panels on Street lights, traffic lights or some remote off-grid sites or the poorly maintained and installed Solar heaters in thousands of roofs we see these days in Bangalore..

To make Solar power a common place thing, it is not enough to just (poorly!!) install a Solar heater on your roof and wait for dust to accumulate, but we must go head start into Solar thermal power plants in a large scale.. For which our Renewable energy ministry should provide whole-hearted support and bring in experienced personnel from Germany or Australia or Israel to share the technical know-how and slowly build knowledge base within the Indian group that supports..

More emphasis need to be given in the myriads of Engineering colleges to offer courses in Energy management with special emphasis to Solar Thermal power.. Then we would have aquired both human, capital resources to build multi-thousand-megawatt power plants and feed the energy appetite of growing India.

To read that the common man in New Delhi is going through 12 hours of powercut when we have a such reservoir of solar power in Delhi itslef or in Rajasthan is an irony..

Some random thoughts on Electric cars and its future

I recently moved to Bangalore and was keen on buying my most favourite electric car REVA for my daily commutes. However, I could not convince even my husband since he kept asking me whether one should always be concerned about the range that a car could take us. Besides the car seems quiet expensive given the size of the car. Are we getting close to the era when there will be better technology available for battery storage and hence we can rely on Electric cars as much as we do on gas-based cars ?

Thinking about taking REVA on a mass scale, I was wondering, what would it take to convert all Autorickshaws ( The yellow colored Bajaj 3 seaters ) into battery powered vehicles There are several benefits in doing so.. May be , we could start taking Bangalore back to its original Garden city. days.. Carbon emissions are cut down and people on the road can breathe much better..

May be Reva owners should consider this option and talk to Bajaj company and take this idea to reality.. The smarter way to make Indian cities clean..

Since the current size of Reva can only accomodate only 2 adults and 2 children which is almost the same seating space and the Indian Auto, this thought just came to make Reva concept more popular..

More in my next post.