INTRODUCTION
Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission chiefly aims to promote the use of solar power in India. The government of India launched the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission which is commonly known as the “National Solar Mission” in 2010. The vision of Solar Mission is a world, where we extract power from a source that is never depleting, and that source of energy is SUN. More than utilizing a source of energy that is non-exhaustive, the mission also promises to embrace sustainable, eco-friendly energy solutions. The JNNSM aims at the development as well as deployment of solar energy to reduce the load on Non-renewable energy consumption. The mission wants people to use solar power more instead of conventional power sources. By doing this we can have both cleaner and cheaper energy, and it helps the environment by reducing pollution from traditional energy sources.
THE GENESIS OF NATIONAL SOLAR MISSION: –
The Government of India launched the National Solar Mission in 2010. It is a revolutionary initiative by the Government to harness the immense potential of Solar Energy. To make India a Global leader in solar Energy, the mission has set an ambitious target of generating 270GW of solar power by 2030. The government has targeted that eighteen percent of electricity generated in India will be from Solar sources by 2030.
OBJECTIVE OF NATIONAL SOLAR MISSION:-
1. Capacity Expansion: The primary goal is to increase India’s Solar energy capacity and to make sure that Solar energy significantly contributes to Overall energy consumption. This involves creating favorable conditions for solar manufacturing capabilities, particularly solar thermal for indigenous production and market leadership.
2. Eco-friendly development: The national solar mission plays a major role in mitigating the adverse effects of climate change and reducing the carbon footprint. This promotes achieving a more sustainable and ecofriendly development model.
3. Promoting sustainable energy: The mission encourages to promotion of sustainable and clean energy to reduce the dependency on fossil fuels. Solar energy is renewable and abundant and hence replacing fossil fuels with solar energy is the best solution.
4. Affordability and accessibility: The mission also aims to make solar power affordable and accessible to all sections of society.
5. To make India as a global leader in solar energy by favorable policy making for a fast spread of technology in the country.
- Mission aims to achieve coal-based thermal power equivalence by 2030 by generating 270GW of power.
- Mission also encourages setting up of a favorable environment for solar technology both at centralized and decentralized levels.
DIFFERENT PHASES OF NATIONAL SOLAR MISSION IN BRIEF:-
Implementation of the National Solar Mission is planned in 4 phases till now and may further extend as per requirement.
1. Phase I: The duration of Phase I was from 2010 to 2013.
Target: 1000MW( 1GW)
Focus: This was the initial phase targeting laying the foundation for larger solar capacity, emphasis on policy-making in favor of the mission, incentives, and finally establishing solar projects.
2 Phase II: The duration of Phase II was from 2013 to 2017.
Target :9000MW (9GW)
Focus: Increasing solar capacity with a remarkable increase in target. Moreover policies and incentives are sustained to encourage investment in solar projects more and more.
- Phase III: The duration of Phase III is from 2017 to 2022
Target: 20000MW ( 20GW)
Focus: Targeted for a considerable boost in solar energy production. Thereby continued to focus on capacity expansion, technology innovation, and Research and development.
4. Phase IV: The duration of Phase IV is from 2022 to 2030.
Target:100GW by 2022 and 500GW by 2030.
Focus: This phase is declared as the mission’s most ambitious phase, and thus is targeted to achieve a massive jump in solar capacity. In this phase, more attention will be given to improving efficiency, innovation, and also extensive adoption of solar energy applications.
BENEFITS OF SOLAR ENERGY:-
- Renewable: Solar energy is a renewable source of energy and it will not be exhausted even if we use it indefinitely.
- Cost-effective: The cost of Solar Energy has decreased remarkably in the last few years. This has happened because of research and development in this field. After all solar energy is a cost-effective source of energy.
- Versatile: Solar Energy can be used markedly for a wide range of applications like electricity generation, lighting, heating, textile industry & farming.
- As solar energy does not produce any harmful emissions and does not create pollution it is termed a clean source of energy.
- Decentralized: Solar energy systems can be installed locally on a small scale. It is accessible at the individual level and reduces dependence on centralized energy sources.
- Reliable: Maintenance of Solar Energy is easy and is increasingly reliable and durable.
ACHIEVEMENT OF NATIONAL SOLAR MISSION:-
1.Reduced Carbon Footprint:The mission has reduced carbon footprint by creating a cleaner and pollution free environment .This enables India to align with Global efforts to promote sustainable development and to fight climate change.
2.Competetivev tariffs:Because of various initiatives and efforts like competitive bidding process , the National Solar mission has decreased the solar tariffs.Reduced solar tariffs has made solar power increasingly more cost competitive with conventional source of energy.
3.Huge capacity growth:Because of the sincere effort of National Solar Mission , India has seen a boost in solar power capacity with gigawatts of installed capacity. In this way the mission has achieved expansion in National Solar Energy Infrastructure.
4.Job creation: The focus on inhouse manufacturing has created job across solar industries. Job oppurtunities has arisenfrom research and development to manufacturing and installation of solar power.
5.Global recognition:National Solar mission has given a recognition to India on International level as Global leader in the solar sector. National solar Mission has shown its efforts and effectiveness on International stage .
CHALLENGES AND WAY FORWARD:-
CHALLENGES:
1.Intermittency and Storage: Solar power availability depends on Sun light which is not available at night or cloudy day.For continuous solar power supply, it is imperative to look into developing effective energy storage solutions.
2.Infrastructure Development: The infrastructure for distributing and transmitting solar power needs to be strengthen. To ensure smooth integration of solar energy into existing power grids need building a robust system.
3.Land availability: Widespread solar projects require a vast area of land and getting plane nonagricultural land is very difficult in our country. Identifying and utilizing land effectively is necessary for enlarging solar capacity.
4.Policy Support: Stable and consistent policies are needed for instilling the confidence in investors. For increasing the investment in solar program a supportive and clear regulatory ambience is very much required.
WAY FORWARD:
1. Innovative Storage Solutions: To overcome the intermittency and storage challenges, the Government has to correspondingly invest in research and development for advanced energy storage gadgets. This will ensure continuous as well as reliable power supply.
2. Infrastructure Investment: The Government may particularly invest and prioritize in development of a durable and powerful distribution and transmission framework. This will foster the efficiency as well as reliability of solar power development.
3. Land optimization: The government should look into innovative ways to use the available land for multipurpose use. Combining solar installation with available frameworks can address the land availability issue.
4. Stable Policy structure: The Government should ensure investor investor-friendly, uniform, and reliable environment to bring more investments. This will lead to the growth of the Solar sector and ultimately achieve the target of Mision.
CONCLUSION:
In conclusion, Jawahar Lal Nehru National Solar Mission aims to make a cleaner as well as brighter India by installing solar power equipment at various locations in India. Though there are various challenges like land non-availability, intermittency, Infrastructure development, and Policy for investors, the mission has done commendable growth. There are explicitly so many ways to overcome the challenges explained above. As India strides towards a goal of 270GW solar capacity by 2030, the mission is evidence of the nation’s commitment to economic growth, sustainability, and a greener tomorrow for future generations. The mission is not just a Government initiative, but also it’s a correspondingly collective effort to shape a sustainable future. Above all Sun being a boundless and non-depleting energy source, can only help India to meet the growing needs of the future.
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