Automation energies solar sectorWith advent of new technology and continuous R&D in automation, solar energy cost is bound to come down and become more accessible and meaningful for the progress of the country
Considering the depleting sources of non-renewable energy and huge, ever-increasing energy demands, solar energy is one of the most promising segments in renewable energy to fulfil the demands of economic progress of the country. While migrating from a state of ‘developing nation’ to a ‘developed nation’ stage, a country witnesses huge investment and significant changes in its infrastructure. Industries of a nation can’t progress without the supporting growth in infrastructure elements. Indian infrastructure is also experiencing the same change. The Government of India has announced $1 trillion investment to boost to industrial houses to take the country in the league of developed nations.
Energy is most vital sector of the infrastructure as it is required to run the industries, illuminate buildings, run appliances and what not. We cannot imagine life without energy. Energy drives the production to meet the consumption demand of country which in turn drives GDP growth. Sources suggest that India is still almost 15 times behind an industrially advanced nation in terms of the average per capita electricity production (10,000 units person in a developed country vis-a-vis 800 units per person in India).
The conventional sources of energy have been thermal (coal), oil and gas. In renewable sources, solar, wind and hydro are the major categories. Today thermal is the biggest source of energy for producing power for the country. In near future, solar will have the equal or more amount of share in spite of all the challenges being faced by the sector in the present times. This is primarily due to the rapidly diminishing sources of coal/oil/gas as we have limited stores of these fuels, whereas sun is an eternal, powerful and sustainable source of energy. Of course, water and wind are also important natural resources of energy available, but they don’t have the same potential as of solar energy owing to various reasons such as the total cost of harnessing the power, location-based specifications, cumbersome procedure of approvals etc.
With advent of new technology and continuous research and development in the automation sector, solar energy cost is bound to come down and become more accessible and meaningful for the progress of the country.
Future of Indian solar marketThe Indian Government has added an impetus to the market by promoting solar energy to narrow the power deficit in the country. The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM), announced in 2009, is expected to infuse the much needed competitiveness in the domestic market. This program is widely aimed at promoting wide-scale deployment of solar farms, roof top-based generation and rural electrification. The successful implementation of JNNSM can vastly benefit module suppliers, solar PV/solar-thermal-based independent power producers (IPPs), system integrators and electrical and electronic component suppliers like OMRON. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has announced the first phase of investment of (2009-13) Rs.4,000 crore 10,000 MW capacity addition mission.
Role of automation in solar energyThe efficiency of a solar plant lies in harnessing the solar energy as much as possible during the sunlight.
A technologically advanced automation solution and platform along with necessary software-based on algorithms helps monitor sun’s path to track sun position so that the solar plant is able to capture maximum solar energy and then convert it in electrical energy to feed to grid.
Automation solutions for solar trackers One of the most relevant, futuristic characteristics is that it is eco-friendly. Hence, the automation industry believes that it has a bright future. There are a lot of opportunities in this segment, especially now when businesses and organisations worldwide are showing interest to contribute to this societal cause in a meaningful way.
Courtesy: OMRON Automation Pvt. Ltd.
