India has displayed pictures of its new Solar Power Plant. The country announced the completion of a new solar farm in the Southern State of Tamil Nadu. According to the images displayed, the just completed Kamuthi, the Tamil Nadu solar farm is a 3.9 square mile facility. Its energy rating is 648 megawatts and could be the world’s largest solar power plant, overtaking from Tropaz Solar Farm in California. The Tropaz Solar farm was completed two years ago and has an energy rating of 550 megawatts.
India’s solar energy project deployment is impressive. The country managed to complete the 2,500-acre facility in a period of just eight months despite unfavorable weather conditions. The project costs a total of 679 million dollars and consists of 2.5 million solar modules, 154 transformers, 3,700 miles of cables and 576 inverters. Automatic cleaning robots have been installed to aid in the cleaning of the solar panels.
Solar energy is becoming more competitive compared to traditional energy sources like coal and natural gas. The quest for renewable energy sources is on the rise worldwide, especially in developing countries. Nations are seeking to power their projects from cleaner energy sources in order to reduce carbon emissions. A similar project commenced in Ouarzazate Power Station in Morocco, Africa in January 2016. It was expected to produce 580 MW and will become the world’s second solar power plant after India’s Tamil Nadu once completed.
The increasing demand for solar energy is facilitated by the drop in the price of electricity production through voltaic cells. The costs have dropped by approximately 80-85 percent over the last seven years. This can be attributed to the growing demand by countries to turn to renewable energy sources due to environmental concerns. The total power capacity of installed solar energy has risen by nearly eight times globally at the same time. India’s solar project has come a better time following Marrakech and Paris Climate Commitments for nations to adopt carbon-free energy sources by around 2040. The country is hoping to reduce carbon emission up to about 35% and generate 40% of its power from renewable energy sources by 2030.
As a developing nation, India’s primary source of energy remains coal up to date. It is aiming to power around 60 million homes through the production of 100 gigawatts of solar energy by the year 2022. With the completion of Tamil Nadu Solar Power Plant, India’s industrial hub is beginning to attain expected pollution records. The new solar farm is expected to provide power to approximately 150,000 homes countrywide. Nearly 300 million Indians are not connected to the electricity grid. However, the country boasts of abundant sunlight hence making it perfect for a generation of solar energy. India is aiming to become the world’s third largest producer of solar power by next year.
Although India has a long way to achieving its energy goals, the quick deployment of launched Tamil Nadu Solar farm is an encouraging step.With about 10 gigawatts of solar energy installed, the country is definitely the leader in solar energy production among developing countries. The launched solar energy farm is a sign of India’s commitment to adoption of renewable energy. It will, however, need to construct more of such power panels to fully attain its goals.
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