Analysis of solar energy industry in India and future prospects

DUBLIN, IRELAND: Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Analysis of Solar Energy Industry in India & Its Future Prospects" report to its offering.

The Indian solar energy sector has been growing rapidly, in the past few years, majority due to Governments initiatives such as tax exemptions and subsidies. Due to technical potential of 5,000 trillion kWh per year and minimum operating cost, solar power is considered the best suited energy source for India.

Today, the solar power, has an installed capacity of 9.84 MW which is about less than 0.1 percent of the total installed renewable energy of India's currently total installed renewable energy stands at 13,242.41 MW as per MNRE.

India's power sector has a total installed capacity of approximately 1,46,753 MW of which, 54 percent is coal-based, 25 percent hydro, 8% percent is renewables and the balance is the gas and nuclear-based.

Power shortages are estimated at about 11 percent of total energy and 15 percent of peak capacity requirements, which is likely to increase in the coming years. The cost of production range is Rs 15 to Rs 20 per unit for the solar energy, which is very high when compared to, Rs 2 to Rs 5 per unit for other conventional sources in India.

Much of the country does not have an electrical grid, so solar power will indeed be a boon for water pumping, to begin replacing India's four to five million diesel powered water pumps, each consuming about 3.5 kilowatt of off-grid lighting. Solar energy technology consists of solar thermal technologies, which utilize suns energy and solar photovoltaic technology, which convert solar energy directly into electricity.

According to the 11th five year plan, the government of India projects a massive expansion in installed solar capacity, and aims to reduce the price of electricity generated from solar energy, to match that from fossil fuels like coal and diesel by 2030. The MNRE has set up target to add 14,500 MW by 2012, from new and renewable energy resources out of which 50 MW would be from solar energy. India has received committed investments to the tune of $7 billion and additional to come in through the FDI and private sector route.

India has been ranked 7th worldwide for solar photovoltaic (PV) cell production and secured 9th rank in solar thermal power generation. This capacity is growing rapidly due to the entry of various private players in manufacturing of solar energy equipment.

According to the authors, the Indian solar energy sector is estimated to grow at 25 percent year on year in next few years. With this rate the global market is likely to exceed the annual production mark of 12 GW during the year 2012. Likewise, the Indian market demand is expected to reach 200MW by the year 2012.

The implementation of the three-phase plan for solar PV capacity expansion is likely to begin this year, in 2010, with the Indian government spending approximately $20 billion over a 30-year period.

This report provides solar sector-insights the growth drivers and inhibitors, on going and new projects to be commissioned, future forecasts for Solar PV modules, Cells and Solar thermal installations, key trends and profiles key players in this sector. This report provides detailed information on Indian solar energy market with five year forecasts up to 2015. This report also has detailed profiling of eighteen solar Photovoltaic module and solar thermal equipment manufacturers approved by MNRE and IREDA apart from the turnkey projects.

The companies profiled in this report are: Moser Baer Photovoltaic Ltd, Tata BP Solar, Photon Solar Energy Systems, HHV Solar Technologies Pvt Ltd, Titan Energy Systems Ltd, Sun Energy Systems, Applied Materials, Signet Solar, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd, Central Electronics Ltd, Renewable Energy Systems Ltd, Waaree Energies Pvt Ltd, Micro Sun Tech Pvt Ltd, E to E Energy Punj Lloyd Delta Renewables, TRA International, Reliance Industries Ltd, Solar Ltd and XL Telecom & Energy Ltd.