Before solar power became a buzzword, thanks to the plummeting electricity tariffs under the National Solar Mission, it was a part of a silent revolution at my home. Placed elegantly on the top of the lid of a cylindrical structure made of translucent plastic, a 12-Watt solar photovoltaic (PV) module Read more…
Hero Future Energies has commissioned the country’s first large-scale hybrid renewable energy project—a combination of sun and wind power—in Karnataka’s Raichur district. The company has added a 28.8 MW solar project to an existing 50 MW wind project set up two years ago. Also, both wind and solar are ‘infirm’ sources of Read more…
The Karnataka government inaugurated the first phase of a 2,000 MW solar park in the drought-prone Pavagada region of Tumkur district on March 1, 2018. The first phase of the `16,500 crore park called ‘Shakti Sthala’ will generate 600 MW, while the balance 1,400 MW is expected to be commissioned Read more…
Costa Rica’s new president has announced a plan to ban fossil fuels and become the first fully decarbonized country in the world. Carlos Alvarado, a 38-year-old former journalist, made the announcement to a crowd of thousands during his inauguration. “Decarbonization is the great task of our generation and Costa Rica Read more…
With 2.3 million solar panels—covering the equivalent of 2,200 football fields in the arid northern state of Coahuila— the Villanueva power plant, built by the Italian energy company Enel, is part of Mexico’s push to generate 43% of its electricity from clean sources by 2024. Arrayed across the sand in seemingly endless Read more…
In 2017, Asia accounted for nearly two-thirds of the worldwide increase in renewable energy generating capacity, according to a report published in April 2018 by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). IRENA, an intergovernmental organization based in Abu Dhabi, reported that the global renewable energy capacity in 2017 was 2,179 Read more…
Australia can help solve its water crisis by optimizing use of water-friendly solar energy, a new report concludes. Because solar power generation consumes minimal to zero water, it beats waterhungry coal-fired power production in terms of conserving an increasingly precious natural resource. That’s the verdict of the World Resources Institute (WRI). Its new report Read more…
Transforming Agriculture in a Remote Village of the Sundarbans The Gosaba Island situated in the Sunderbans region of West Bengal in India is surrounded by tidal rivers connected with the Bay of Bengal, bringing water of high salinity (more than 30 dS/m), which is not suitable for irrigation in agriculture. Read more…
An international team of researchers has now succeeded in raising the efficiency of producing hydrogen from direct solar water-splitting to a record 19%. They did so by combining a tandem solar cell of III-V semiconductors with a catalyst of rhodium nanoparticles and a crystalline titanium dioxide coating. For the monolithic Read more…
Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) has floated a second tender to procure an additional 10,000 electric vehicles as part of the government’s national e-Mobility Programme launched earlier. In 2017, the company had come out with a similar tender for 10,000 electric vehicles (EVs) which was won by Tata Motors. The Read more…