India announced Modhera village in the western state of Gujarat as the country’s first 24×7 solar-powered village. Modhera residents can save around 60-100 percent on their electricity bills with this move.
Modhera village has a ground-mounted solar power plant and over 1,300 rooftop solar systems with one kilowatt (kW) capacity have been installed on houses to generate electricity. These rooftop solar systems on residential and government buildings have also been integrated with a battery energy storage system (BESS).
The village’s solar power model has improved business prospects for local residents and enabled them to sell excess unconsumed electricity to the government, thereby creating opportunities for earning additional income.
India is currently ranked fifth globally in total solar power deployment. The country also has a vast solar potential of 749 gigawatt (GW) for power generation primarily due to its geographical location in the sunbelt, that is the area within 35 degrees around the equator.
India plans to reach 450 GW of installed renewable energy capacity by 2030, with 280 GW (over 60 percent) expected from solar power. From April till December 2021, India added 7.4 GW of solar power capacity, up 335 percent from 1.73 GW in the previous fiscal. Furthermore, according to Mercom India Research, solar capacity installations in India rose by 59 percent to record 7.2 GW during first half (H1) of 2022, witnessing the highest ever quarterly and half-yearly solar capacity additions.
The International Solar Alliance (ISA), headquartered at Gurugram, India, aims to install 1,000 GW of solar energy by 2030. Their objectives include making solar energy available at affordable rates, establishing solar credit mechanisms, reducing the cost of finance and cost of technology, and enhancing energy security.