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SOLAR SOLUTIONS THAT YOU CAN APPLY IMMEDIATELY

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WHAT DOES THIS


E-BOOK CONTAIN?
On behalf of the entire India Goes

This book is designed to give you the

Solar Team we thank you for having

initial orientation you need to think

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about solar solutions. We showcase

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different solar technologies and

ELECTRICITY TODAY! We hope that

applications. Solar could soon be in

the book gives you a good first idea of

every home and on every roof. You can

what solar can do for you.

be a pioneer.

Here, we explain how renewable and

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solar energy work and how they can

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ideas. We will read them with great

of solar panels and solar solutions for

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your home. Understand the economics

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CONTENTS
a.

WHAT IS RENEWABLE ENERGY? 4

b.

WHAT IS SOLAR ENERGY? 5

c.

HOW CAN YOU GENERATE ENERGY FROM THE SUN? 6

c.1.

SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC (PV) SYSTEMS 6

c.2.

SOLAR THERMAL SYSTEMS 7

d.

HOW CAN YOU SAVE MONEY WITH SOLAR ENERGY? 8

e.

HOW DO SOLAR WATER HEATERS WORK? 9

f.

HOW DO SOLAR WATER PUMPS WORK? 10

g.

HOW DOES A SOLAR CHARGER WORK? 11

h.

HOW DOES ROOFTOP SOLAR WORK? 12

i.

HOW DO SOLAR PANELS WORK? 13

j.

HOW DO SOLAR COOKERS WORK? 14

ABOUT INDIA GOES SOLAR 15

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a. W
 HAT IS
RENEWABLE
ENERGY?
Renewable energy is energy that is generated from sources which can be

We are now in an age of global warming and rising temperatures. According

restored or replenished very quickly. Energy from the sun, wind, rivers, tides

to climate scientists, the most devastating effects of climate change will

and biomass all make up sources of renewable energy. Sources such as

likely take place, if global temperatures rise above 2 C. Coal is the major

fossil fuels, natural gas and coal which are predominantly used in todays

contributor to climate change and currently our global emissions are rising

energy mix, cannot be replenished, at least not in the next million years.

rather than falling. We might soon reach a point of no return. A recent report

Fossil fuels are also unevenly distributed around the globe, requiring

by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimated that we might

large transportation infrastructure and creating energy dependencies and

reach it in 16 years from now. Renewable energy is the perfect alternative to

insecurities for importers, such as India. Renewable energy sources, on

counter this challenge.

the other hand, are abundantly available all around us. We just have to tap
them!.

In fact, renewable energy (solar, wind, biomass and hydro power) already
accounts for 22% of worlds total energy production. Solar energy is one of

Moreover, conventional sources of energy such as coal also severely

the fastest growing renewables technologies as it is extremely portable, easy

impact the environment as coal power plants release massive amounts of

to install and maintain an increasingly cheap. India is rapidly moving towards

carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in addition to the local pollution of

adopting solar energy and already has around 3 GW of solar energy power

air and water they cause. Global energy requirements have increased

plants installed.

exponentially since the Asia started to develop rapidly. This has led to the
the largest building boom of coal power plants in history. The impacts of
emitting too much CO2 into the atmosphere are disastrous especially for
a densely populated developing country like India.

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b. WHAT IS SOLAR
ENERGY?
Solar energy is simply the light and heat energy we get from the sun. We
can use this energy in many ways. We may want to use the suns heat
directly for heating up a room or water or we can convert it into electricity
for lighting, cooling or even driving a car.
The amount of solar energy that hits the earths surface every day
is easily enough to meet our annual global energy demand many
times over.
We just have to harness it. There are a variety of technologies that can help
us harness solar energy. These are discussed in the following section in
detail.

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c. HOW CAN YOU


GENERATE ENERGY
FROM THE SUN?
Solar energy can be used for either heating purposes or to generate
electric energy. The technologies employed for using the suns heat are
clubbed together as solar thermal technologies and the technologies that
convert solar energy to electric energy are called solar photovoltaic (PV)
technologies. PV is an electro-chemical process of where the sunlight
moves electrons in a silicon panel to create a current. Thermal applications
are typically concentrating the heat energy in solar light. One can also create
electricity electricity from the thermal solar energy through traditional steam
turbines. We will discuss each of these in the following subsections.

c.1. SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC (PV)


SYSTEMS
Solar photovoltaic systems convert the suns heat into electric energy. The
system typically consists of solar panels, solar inverters and other supporting
equipment like electric wires and panel mounting structures. Sometimes a battery
is also used with the system, if there is a need to store the electricity. When
sunlight falls on the solar panels, it gets converted into direct current (DC) and
travels through the wires to the inverter. The inverter converts this direct current to
alternating current (AC), which can run electric equipment and appliances. When
a battery is used, it is connected between the solar panels and the inverter.

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c.2. SOLAR THERMAL SYSTEMS


Solar thermal consists of various technologies that use the heat energy
in sunlight to generate energy either using the thermal energy to heat other
substances (for example water) or converting it into electricity through a steam
turbine. Although there are many different designs and technologies, the most
commonly used for residential applications are solar water heaters. For large scale
electricity plants, concentrated solar power (CSP) is used.
For a solar water heater, a collector is used. It consists of tubes, which are filled
with water. The water inside these tubes gets heated by sunlight. The hot water
then replaces cold water in a tank above the collector in constant circulation. This
happens, because according to a law of physics called thermosiphonic flow, hot
water rises and cold water settles down.
However, there are many different designs and some of them may rely on pumps to
move water from the collector to the tanks.
Large scale, concentrated solar power (CSP) is quite different. This is used for
power plants of sizes of 50 MW of above. CSP plants also have a collector area
that collets the sunlight (called the solar field). However, here, a system of mirrors or
lenses concentrates sunlight onto a small area (for example, a tube inside parabolic
trough mirrors or a the tip of a tower). In this small area, the heat can reach hundreds
of degrees celcius. Water will no longer do as a fluid transporting the heat as it would
evaporate at such temperatures. Instead, oil or molten salt is used. The heat fluid
then runs a traditional steam turbine block to generate electricity.
Parabolic trough design for CSP (Above)
Concentrated solar power (Right)

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d. HOW CAN YOU


SAVE MONEY WITH
SOLAR ENERGY?
That is easy. Lets assume you consume about 10 units (kWh) of electricity
daily on average a TV, a fridge, some fans, 2 ACs. Now lets assume you
install a 1 kW solar PV system (to generate power) on your roof. The cost
of a 1 kW system would be approximately INR 1 lakh. The lifetime of such
system is 25 years. So (keeping it simple), the system would cost you INR
4,000 per year. It can provide you with roughly 5 units of electricity per day
(i.e. it will generate power for 5 hours on average every day). That would
mean a saving of 5 units of electricity daily. If you currently pay around INR
3 per unit for your grid power, you would save INR 5,475 a year. So, with
solar, you would save more than INR 1,000 per year.
You can complement your PV system with a solar water heating system
of say 15 liters, which will cost you about INR 25,000 and will last at least
15 years. So (again, keeping it simple), its annual cost is INR 1,700 a year. A
similar sized water Geyser will cost around INR 6,000 and will consume about
3 units of electricity a day. Assuming you use it for 4 winter months, we get an
annual cost of about INR 2,500 for ten years. Thats a saving of INR 800 a year.
And think about the other benefits: you generate you own power and heat,
so you are less reliant on the grid. And it is clean power, so you do something
for the environment. And the cost of solar is locked-in for the lifetime of the
plant. It wont rise. Grid power, on the other hand might well go up.

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e. HOW DO SOLAR WATER


HEATERS WORK?
A solar water heater consists of a collector plate and a storage tank,
usually placed above the collector plate. The collector consists of tubes
filled with water. The tubes are exposed to direct sunlight, which heats
up the water in them. Due to a law of physics called thermosiphon, this
heated water rises up to the tank and the cold water from the tank circulates
into the tubes, where it is in turn heated up. Although there are various
other designs, this is the most commonly used. Some water heaters may
place the tank elsewhere and use a pump to transfer water to and from
the collector plate. We have listed some of the bestselling solar water
heaters in India below.
Lobel LSPS-EWH Solar ETC Water Heater
http://bit.ly/1396vFS
Suntek SWH-150E Solar Water Heaters
http://bit.ly/1swPQmz
Ecotech Etc Solar Water Heater
http://bit.ly/1GLZ6d4
Honeywell Ca47-1515-100L Solar Water Heater
http://bit.ly/1GqKcL1

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f. 
HOW DO SOLAR
WATER PUMPS WORK?
Solar water pumps are just like any other water pump, however, their
power source is solar from PV panels instead of electricity from the grid
or from a diesel genset. Especially, where grid power is erratic and diesel
powered pumps are used, solar pumps are more economical. Solar power
is far cheaper than diesel power and there are also fewer hassles and costs
associated with operation and maintenance. All you need is a bit of space
where to place the panels. We have listed down some of the bestselling
solar water pumps.
TATA Power Solar water pump
http://bit.ly/1wdwIz9
Jain Jyot Solar Water Pumping System - Submersible
http://bit.ly/1swQpNd

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g. HOW DOES A SOLAR


CHARGER WORK?
With a solar charger, you can charge your mobile phone or a light or a radio or any
other electric equipment wherever you are, as long as the sun shines. Solar chargers
contain a surface of solar PV cells, which is connected to a battery to charge it.
This panel and battery system can be made to any size and most solar chargers are
relatively small and portable. They can be used in multiple applications like portable
torches, carry bags with solar chargers or generic chargers. Solar chargers
are extremely handy tools for off-grid households, for outdoor trips, and as emergency
energy sources. The batteries charge holding capacity as well as the quality of the
solar cells determines how quickly the batteries charge and discharge and how much
charge they will store up. Below, we list down some of these devices.
4 Mode Chargeable 36 LED Solar Lantern Lamp
Mobile Charger
http://bit.ly/1vVV3oc
Vox Portable Charger 7000 mAh Solar / USB Power Bank
http://bit.ly/1yZ5sGP

Scosche Solbat II - Solar Powered Backup Battery
And Charger
http://bit.ly/1zsx8lc
Ravin Sc-06001 Solar Mobile Charger
http://bit.ly/1sAeJ6p

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h. HOW DOES ROOFTOP


SOLAR WORK?
If your house or business or school or factory has an unused, open rooftop
which receives sunlight without considerable shading, you can easily install
a solar PV power system and save on your electricity bills. A solar PV
rooftop system consists of three primary components, the solar panels,
solar inverters and often also solar batteries. The sizing of the system
and the use of batteries depends on your particular energy needs, on the
availability of net-metering (ability to feed you solar power back into the
grid, if you dont need it) in your area and on the frequency and duration of
power outages in your area.
Solar panels convert the sunlight falling on them into direct current (DC).
This current is used to charge the batteries (if they are used) and then goes
to the solar inverter. The inverter converts the direct current into alternating
current (AC) as our homes and offices run on AC and not DC power. This
converted AC can then be used by your electric appliances or fed back into
the grid (if net metering is available).
The exact number of panels to be used, their alignment and placement, the
type of inverter and batteries to be used requires an assessment of your
specific needs and your rooftop.

Rooftop solar diagram

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i. HOW DO SOLAR
PANELS WORK?
A solar panel is really a bunch of solar cells fixed together and connected
by wires. These cells are held in an aluminum frame and fixed at the back side
with a back sheet. Glass covers the top to protect the cells. and this makes
up a solar panel. So the question really is: how do solar cells work? Solar
cells are made of semiconductors, the same stuff electronic chips in your
laptop and cellphones are made of. However, these semiconductors have
the property to absorb light and convert it into electricity, something called
the photovoltaic effect (hence the name photovoltaics for this technology).
But how exactly does this happen? As we know, everything is made
up of atoms. An atom is made up of particles called electrons orbiting a
central nucleus, much like the planets orbiting the sun. If enough energy is
given to these electrons, they can escape the atom altogether and become
free. This is exactly what happens in a solar cell. Sunlight, carries enough
energy to eject and free up electrons from the many atoms that make up
the semiconductor solar cell. Once free, these electrons can move about
freely and electric current is nothing but moving electrons! Voila, we have
electricity! We have listed some of the bestselling solar panels below:
GD 3 W Solar Panel With Free 5 Pin Wireless
Mobile Charger
http://bit.ly/1yVMawT
Urja Ugl-asplv-40 Solar Panels
http://bit.ly/1vmHkqu

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j. HOW DO SOLAR
COOKERS WORK?
Solar cookers are a solar thermal technology. They work on the
simple principle of focusing the sunlight onto a container holding the
food to be cooked. There are many designs that are used but the
most common are parabolic and spherical designs. In such a design,
reflectors are arranged in a parabolic or spherical shape and the food
container is kept at the focus of the parabola or the sphere.
The containers inside is made up of low reflectivity materials so that
heat can be trapped more efficiently. The container is further enclosed
in a plastic bag or a tightly sealed glass cover to prevent heat loss due
to convection.

Paraboloid solar cooker (Above)


Spherical solar cooker (Right)

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ABOUT
INDIA GOES SOLAR
It all started at about 4.6 billion years ago, when the solar system and
the sun were formed from the gravitational collapse of a large molecular
cloud. On earth, throughout the ages, all great civilizations worshipped
the sun, considering it the most vital source of life and energy. In India,
the sun god Surya plays a central role in Hinduism.

But the sun can do even more for us


in the future!
The suns energy is intensely felt across India, due to the countrys proximity to the
equator. Every year, India receives nearly 3,000 hours of sunshine, which is equivalent
to 5,000 trillion kWh of energy. At the same time, energy prices in India are climbing,
and power supply, while growing, is not keeping pace with the steep rise in demand.
At the same time, the global climate is heating up at a worrysome rate and India is
one of the countries most vulnerable to the effects. Solar power is a great solution to

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The Indian government has understood this appeal and wants solar to grow by an
incredible 55% per year to 100 GW in 2022. This would make India the largest
solar market globally. A large share of this solar power is to come from rooftops and
distributed solutions. End users are encouraged to build their own solar solutions
through incentives, such as subsidies, and easy processes, such as net-metering.
Over the last years, solar power has fallen in cost by over 50% and become a very
competitive source of energy. Together with the almost limitless potential and the
high irradiation in India, this makes solar an attractive choice for the country as a
whole and for the smart energy consumer.
We are here to help you to find the best solar solution for your house, company or
farm. We have studied the solar market in India and have found that while solar makes
intuitive sense to many in India, the solar industry has done far too little to inform and
educate consumers about its potential and versatility. It has to start somewhere. It
has to start sometime. Our goal is to provide you with all you need to know about
solar solutions in India to be able to make an independent decision.
On our advice, we are on your the consumers side. We will show you another
companys products or services and we let you chose freely amongst them.
IndiaGoesSolar.com is powered by BRIDGE TO INDIA

these enormous challenges and because solar power can be deployed in a simple,
rapid, module and flexible manner it is available directly to the consumers of power.
It is, perhaps, the most democratic energy source.
www.bridgetoindia.com

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