India

The Indian state of Rajasthan has strongly supported the market for solar thermal technology. Since 2004, the state in the northwest of India has had a comprehensive mandatory law for solar water heaters: Solar energy use has been an essential requirement in setting up new hospitals, sports complexes, swimming pools, hostels, barracks, hotels, industrial buildings in which hot water is needed to process the goods, as well as public buildings and residential buildings with a plot size of 500 m² and above. In 2011, the state government has also granted an indirect subsidy to residential users of Solar Water Heaters (SWH). Having come into force three months ago, the scheme allows every SWH user to receive a rebate on its electricity bill of INR 0.25 INR/kWh of electricity, capped at a maximum of INR 300 per month – independent of the age of the system.
Photo courtesy: Jaideep Malaviya

The discussion panel of the solar thermal industry was one of the star attractions at the Intersolar India conference, which took place at the Leela Kempinski Hotel in Mumbai in the middle of December. The panel consisted of the CEOs of leading solar water heater manufacturers (from right to left): Davinder Kaushal (Inter Solar Systems), D. V. Manjunatha (Emmvee Solar), Sanjay Jinturkar (Sudarshan Saur), Tarun Kapoor (Joint Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy), Hemant Revankar (Bipin Engineers), Gurminder Singh (Racold Solar), Sankar Dev Kunnath Kalam (Photon Solar) and Thyagamandlu Ananth (Nuetech Solar). The discussion was moderated by Jaideep N. Malaviya (standing on the left), CEO of the Solar Thermal Federation of India (STFI).
Photo: Intersolar

After publishing the Memorandum “Minimum Requirements for Installation of Solar Water Heating Systems in Field” in September 2011, India's Ministry of New and Renewable Energy issued a revised version of the guidelines on 25 November 2011. The Solar Thermal Federation of India (STFI) has successfully intervened against certain of its requirements. The photo shows the tank manufacturing at Indian company Anu Solar.
Photo: Anu Solar

A spiritual hermitage in Gujarat state, in the northwest of India, has become the home of the country’s first solar-powered crematorium. At the ecologically conscious Muni Seva Ashram, a 50 m² Scheffler Dish will heat the oven which burns the dead bodies. The project was developed in cooperation with Wolfgang Scheffler (who designed the Scheffler mirrors from Germany) and Ronnie Sabawala (one of the owners of Vadodara-based Himalaya Engineering). The Solar crematorium has been installed near Ashram at the “panchayat land” (land managed by the village council) for field testing and demonstration. Although the target temperature is above 1,000 °C, preliminary tests have proven successful. The photo shows the Scheffler Dish on the left and the chamber, in which the body is placed, on the right.
Photo: Jaideep Malaviya

Because of a comparably lower price, vacuum tube collectors are becoming more and more popular in India. Based on a capacity of 100 litres of warm water per day, an average thermosiphon system with flat plate collectors is sold at INR 20,000 (EUR 208), whereas a solar water heater with a vacuum tube collector costs on average INR 16,000 (EUR 167). To protect the business of the around 60 flat plate collector manufacturers in India, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) issued a memorandum on 20 October 2011. Its most important sentence says that, “manufacturers shall import no components other than ETCs (Evacuated Tube Collectors)”.

The dynamic market growth in India has produced an entire row of successful manufacturers of absorber coatings over the last few years, including Bhagyanagar India Ltd and Maharaja Techno Chromes. Both companies use the Nalsun Black Chrome Coating technology and also sell complete absorber fins to collector producers. The photo shows the fin coating process at Maharaja Techno Chromes.
Photo: Maharaja Techno Chromes

The 6^th Renewable Energy India 2012 will be held from 7 to 9 November 2012 in Greater Noida, India. The Conference and expo cover the topics PV, Solar Heating, Cooling and Drying, Wind Energy, Biomass, Hydro Energy, Geothermal and Energy Efficiency.

The International Congress on Renewable Energy (ICORE) is a flagship event of the Solar Energy Society of India (SESI). ICORE 2011 will take place from 2 to 4 November 2011 in Assam. Concurrently with the conference an International Renewable Energy Trade Show is also being organized. ICORE 2011 will provide a platform to representatives of the Renewable Energy industry, academics, policy analysts, governments and diplomatic missions, non-governmental organizations, financial institutions, and international organizations including bilateral and multilateral organizations.

Renewtech India 2011 will be held from 10 to 12 November 2011 at Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai. The annual event is supported by key industry players and industry associations. The 3-day exhibition and conference will bring together business leaders from public & private sectors, along with senior officers from central and state governments, to address the development of India's Renewable Energy sector.

In its Circular No.147 /ICD- 36 /2011  dated 3 August 2011, the Indian National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has included solar water heating systems as an eligible technology for subsidy and low-interest loans if they do not exceed a capacity of 400 litres. The circular is addressed to all commercial banks and regional/rural banks involved. An earlier circular - No.110 dated 27 May 2011 - had already announced the Capital Subsidy-cum-Refinance Scheme for decentralised solar PV installations.