Renewable Energy Sources in 2011: Solar Power Providing Success and Optimism

By Phillip CARTWRIGHT
Nouvelles Energies

Looking at 2011 highlights on the renewable energy front, two stories concerning solar energy seem very noteworthy. It is well known that Germany has been particularly successful in implementing non-traditional approaches to developing and implementing renewable energy beginning with the 1991 StrEG federal feed-in tariff. India too has long been focused on developing use on renewable energy. In 1982, The Department of Non- Conventional Energy Sources (DNES) was upgraded into a separate Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources (MNES) in 1992, and was re-christened as Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) in October 2006.
The German Solar Industry Association’s (BSW) managing director Carsten Koernig has recently confirmed that "solar energy has become an indispensable ingredient of a successful energy strategy shift", and announced that German solar power producers have increased electricity output this year by 60% over 2010 to 18 billion kWh. This is more than 3% of total power output volumes. The solar sector has now produced enough electricity to power approximately 5.1 million households. This accounts for about one-eighth of all households in Germany.
India has opened the state-dominated power-generating industry to private players, while leaving distribution and rate-setting largely in government hands. This plan is significantly lowering the costs of solar energy. Subsidies in India are lower and solar operators are forced into to greater competition, pushing down costs. India now uses only about 140 megawatts, but the ambitious national 20,000 megawatt goal by the year 2020 seems achievable.
Vikas Bajas (New York Times) has reported that in December 2011, the government held its second auction to determine the price at which its state-owned power trading would buy solar-generated electricity for the national grid. Based on the auction price, solar power is about 27% lower than the winning bids one year ago.
India still lags behind European countries (Germany) in the use of solar. India gets more than 300 days of sunlight a year making it a promising country for generating solar power. As prices and costs fall, the terms under which India can develop solar power to meet its goal are becoming much more favorable.