Page 18 - Mann Ki Baat, October 2022
P. 18

SOLAR ENERGY REVOLUTION                                     trillion kWh per year energy is
                                                                                       incident over India's land area
                       India Paving the Way for a Cleaner Future                       with  most  parts receiving  4-7
                                                                                       kWh per sq. m per day. Effectively
                                                                                       harnessing this energy has the
                                                                                       ability to generate power on a
                                                                                       distributed basis, thus providing
                                                                                       huge scalability. From an energy
            Solar Energy is a subject         With    the   increase   in              security perspective, solar is the
        today, in which the whole world    population across the globe,                most secure of all sources since
        is looking at its future and for   there has  been  a  massive
        India, the Sun God has not only    demand for energy to fuel the               it is abundantly available. Timely
        been worshiped for centuries,      rapid growth and development                action to tap this energy source
        but has also been the focus                                                    in India has resulted in the solar
                                           of world economies. But, as the
        of our way of life. Today, India                                               power sector emerging as the
                                           need  for  energy increased,  the
        is combining its traditional                                                   fastest   growing    renewable
        experiences    with   modern       heavy reliance on exhaustible               energy sources in the country
        science, that is why, today,       natural resources no longer                 over the last few years.
        we have become one of the          remained    sustainable.   The
        largest countries to generate      extensive use of non-renewable                  The Government of India
        electricity from solar energy.     resources caused rapid increase             has been driving a vibrant solar
                                                                                       energy programme across the        as  one  which is ‘Sure,  Pure  &
        -Prime Minister Narendra Modi      in pollution worldwide further
                                                                                       nation. And now, India is home     Secure’.  Under  his  leadership,
         (in his ‘Mann ki Baat’ address)   leading to a situation of climate
                                                                                       to the country's first 24×7 solar-  the Government of India has
                                           crisis. It is the need of the hour
                                                                                       powered village - Modhera in       introduced several initiatives to
                                           to switch to greener and cleaner
                                                                                       Gujarat where Ground Mounted       promote the production of solar
                                           energy resources to meet the
                                                                                       Solar power  plant  and  more      power in the nation to scale up
                                           energy needs of our constantly
                                                                                       than 1,300 Rooftop solar systems   energy generation, including the
                                           advancing world. And, it has
                                                                                       on residential & Government        National Solar Mission (NSM),
                                           become imperative that most
                                                                                       buildings have been installed.     Solar Park program, the Off-
                                           of the new energy demand is
                                                                                           Prime Minister Shri Narendra   grid and Decentralised Solar
                                           met by low-carbon, renewable
                                                                                       Modi has described Solar Energy    Thermal Application  Scheme
                                           sources.
         "India has taken steps to set
                                              From Vedas to Yoga, Indian
         up solar PV plants of 100GW
                                           culture has always worshiped
         by 2022 and 280 GW by 2030,
                                           the Sun as the life-giver of this
         to achieve net-zero carbon
                                           planet and as a source of our
         emissions by 2070. India stood
                                           internal energy. The industrial
             th
         at 5  position in global solar
                                           revolution familiarised people
         power deployment in 2021,
                                           with the usage of sunlight as an
         jumping 16 places from 2010
                                           energy source, paving the way
         to 2021."
                                           for a solution for our external
           -Rabindra Kumar Satpathy
                                           energy requirements  through
           Member, Board of Directors,
                                           the power of modern science. As
             International Solar Energy
                                           India is located in the equatorial
                              Society
                                           sun belt of the earth, about 5,000
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