Energy is a key ingredient for the overall development of an economy. India has been endowed with abundant renewable solar energy resource. India is large country and the rate of electrification has not kept pace with the expanding population, urbanization and industrialization and has resulted in the increasing deficit between demand and supply of electricity. This has not only resulted in under electrification but also put heavy pressure on the governments to keep pace with demand for electricity.
People not served by the power grid have to rely on fossil fuels like kerosene and diesel for their energy needs and also incur heavy recurring expenditure for the poor people in rural areas. Wherever the rural areas have been brought under power grid the erractic and unreliable supply has not helped the farmers and the need for an uninterrupted power supply especially during the critical farming period has been has been a major area of concern. India receives a solar energy equivalent of 5,000 trillion kWh/year with a daily average solar energy incidence of 4-7 kWh/m2.
This is incidence of 4-7 kWh/m2. This is considerably more than the total energy consumption of the country. Further, most parts of the country experience 250-300 sunny days in a year, which makes solar energy a viable option in these areas.
Decentralized renewable energy solar powered water pump systems, which rely on locally available resources, could provide the solution to the rural energy problem, particularly in remote areas where grid extension is not a viable proposition
Solar energy, with its virtually infinite potential and free availability, represents a nonpolluting and inexhaustible energy source which can be developed to meet the energy needs of mankind in a major way. The high cost, fast depleting fossil fuels and the public concern about the eco-friendly power generation of power have led to a surge of interest in the utilization of solar energy. To evaluate the energy potential at particular place, detailed information on its availability is essential. These include data on solar intensity, spectrum, incident angle and cloudiness as a function of time.