The sun is shining bright

A recent visit to Spiti and Lahaul, apart from the breathtaking scenery had a wonderful surprise in store. What we saw is that even in some of the remotest villages in this region, where population was less than even 100, every small hamlet had a solar panel fixed on its roof; every single hamlet and in all villages.

Solar energy has changed lives in this region. Many whom we spoke to said that they had never seen electricity in their life time and for the first time ever, they have light and they simply cannot get over this ‘convenience.’

The sun is truly shining bright on the Indian solar energy sector. And a US based research and consulting firm has shown this with data.

According to data from Mercom Capital group, solar energy sector has accounted for the largest capacity addition to the Indian electricity grid so far this year. It has contributed around 39%—over 7,100 megawatts (MW) to the overall capacity additions v/s 4,313 MW in all of 2016.

India currently has a total solar capacity of around 14.7 gigawatts (GW) as of Sept 2017. Modi has set the target of installing 175 GW of renewable energy (100 GW of this from solar sources) by 2022.