MNRE | Solarthermalworld

June 19, 2019
The versatility of concentrating collectors

By the end of 2018, more than 500,000 m² of concentrating collector area had been installed globally to provide heat for large commercial and industrial facilities. The biggest installations were started up in China and Australia in 2016 and in Oman in 2017, while a notable number of small...
April 13, 2019
Strong vacuum tube collector sales in India

Despite a booming solar PV market, India’s solar thermal industry managed to increase sales by as much as 17 % in 2018. It sold 5.85 million vacuum tubes (2017: 4.59 million), with Chinese imports increasing by 28 %. By contrast, flat plate collector sales dropped 46 % (147 MW_th...
March 21, 2019
Solar steam ice cream and milk powder

India’s first-ever commercial concentrating solar thermal plant, which consists of parabolic trough collectors made by German supplier Protarget, has been running successfully at a dairy owned by Hatsun Agro Products. As a result, Hatsun has inked a new agreement with the CST supplier to...
January 30, 2019
Concentrating solar heat for dairies in India

A one-day workshop titled Solar – A Green Energy Alternate to Augmented Dairy Farmers’ Income has given stakeholders a chance to discuss how to increase solar heat use in India’s dairy industry. The workshop, which took place on 9 January in New Delhi, had been organised by the...
December 22, 2018
“Investment costs need to be brought down through national grants”

India is the world´s largest milk producer, followed by the United States and China. To support and fund producer-owned dairies, the country set up the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in 1965. NDDB is planning to replace 5 % to 15 % of all heat generation devices by concentrating...
November 12, 2018
Monitoring planned for six PVT systems across India’s climate zones

Germany’s Agency for International Cooperation, also known as GIZ, has initiated a demonstration project using German-made Photovoltaic Thermal (PVT) panels at six sites in India. The photo shows one such installation, which provides 20.1 kW_p of photovoltaic power and 47.6 kW...
November 2, 2018
“Be persistent in the pursuit of workable SHC policies”

Following a rise in crude oil prices, the second edition of RE-Invest, hosted by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and held in New Delhi from 2 to 5 October, included a key panel discussion on solar process heat for industry. The debate, moderated by Jaideep Malaviya, Secretary...
August 17, 2018
Successful solar energy bylaw in Bengaluru, India

Bengaluru Electricity Supply Company, a public utility also known as BESCOM, has been successful in implementing a bylaw to encourage the use of solar energy. Since 2009, 1,234 million m² of collector area had been installed in Bengaluru and had supplied energy equivalent to about 611...
June 12, 2018
India needs massive awareness-raising campaign

India’s opportunities and challenges around solar process heat for industry, or SHIP, were the central topic of a session at the 3^rd Solar India Expo in May. First, representatives for both currently running support schemes, Solar Payback and a renewable energy project managed by...
March 14, 2018
Financial support for concentrating solar systems extended until 2020

The “order” published by the Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy on 26 February 2018 put an end to the uncertainty which had pervaded the industry. In the 2-page document, the ministry pledged to continue its...
March 1, 2018
India: Flat plates up, concentrating technologies down

In 2017, India’s solar thermal market shifted heavily in favour of flat plate collectors, with systems based on concentrating technologies losing ground. The chart shows the annually installed flat plate collector area to have more than doubled last year compared to 2016. It went from 150,...
February 20, 2018
Indian manufacturers face strong competition from Chinese imports

Vacuum tube-based solar water heaters imported from China are posing a serious threat to the viability of domestic manufacturing in India. This was the key message from the STFI, the Solar Thermal Federation of India, at a mid-January consultation meeting of the Parliamentary Standing...