Being rather poor in " Differential Equations " of Intermediate
Science , I found it extremely grasp-able , since there were no mathematical
formulae in that book
In this treatise , Gamow predicted that the Sun will burn out its hydrogen
fuel in 4 billion years , and die a cold death !
I doubt whether the book said :
" One hour of Sunshine falling on
our Earth can generate enough electricity to power the Earth for one full year "
May be because Solar panels were yet to
be invented by 1952
But scientists have calculated this by now
If you extrapolate this backwards :
One hour of Sunshine falling on India's land area of 3,000,000 square
kilometers , can generate enough electricity to power our nation for ONE year !
Now , most of India gets 6 hours of Sunshine daily for some 300 days in a
year !
So , as a nation , we get 1800 hours of Sunshine , every year
If we were to cover our entire land area
( of 3,000,000 sq km ) with Solar Panels , we could get enough electricity in
one year ( ie: in 1800 hours ) , which will meet our power needs for 1800 YEARS
! ( about 5000 trillion Kwh ! )
But , at the most , we need to store the
Solar power for a few days only ( even if Sun does not come out for a couple of
days ) . Certainly not for 1800 years !
So , there is no need to cover up our
entire land mass with Solar Panels
A very small fraction need be covered .
Say, all roof tops in India ?
Why install small solar power plants on
roof tops ?
Simple :
With roof-top based solar plants , we don't need to distribute power over
long distances , using nation-wide distribution network. We produce / store /
consume power in same place
So no transmission costs / losses /
thefts !
There are no " intermediaries "
between producers and consumers ( eg: DISCOMS )
No need of elaborate " metering /
billing / accounting "
No need for PPA ( Power Purchase Agreements ) between producers and DISCOMs
A roof top solar installation can be done
in a matter of hours, providing employment to lakhs of Installation
Technicians, employed by thousands of MSME engaged in such work
Many more lakhs will find jobs in companies
engaged in manufacture of allied electrical / electronic / storage batteries etc
So enormous " Job Generation " as a
by-product
These local MSME manufacturers / installers , will aggressively compete
and provide quick / efficient , after-sales service
Of course , roof top solar power's Capital Cost per kwh is higher than
same for large land based installations . Over the next couple of years, this
will even out
But as I mentioned in my earlier blog :
* COST OF FUEL ( Sun ) is ZERO
* COST
OF MAINTENANCE , too , is nearly NIL
Practically , the only cost of a roof top based solar plant is " INTEREST ON CAPITAL "
Now NDA government has announced a
Capital Subsidy of 30 % on " Competitively Discovered Price " for roof top
installations and made an allocation of ( approx ) , Rs 5200 crores ( $ 750 million
), for putting up 4200 MW
But , on the balance 70 % of Capital Cost , users will
need to borrow money from banks at 10 % - 15 % interest and go through a lengthy approval process and
hypothecate the assets
And ensure timely repayment of EMI in
order, not to get their plants " repossessed " !
But imagine following scenario :
* Government
declares units belonging to " Solar Power ( Panel Mfr / Power Production &
Distribution / Ancillary Mfr ) " as
a " SOS " industry
* Units will need to register as such with Department
of Company Affairs ( DIPP )
* Units will be exempt from paying Corporate
Income Tax for 10 years , on whatever
income they earn ( only those
starting operations latest by 31 March 2018 )
* No questions will be asked as to the "
source " of funds invested in the shares of such
units ( a kind of Temporary
Amnesty Scheme - 01 April 2017
till 31 March 2018 - to
channelize
BLACK MONEY into creation of PRODUCTIVE
/ NON-POLUTING assets )
* Units cannot engage in any other Industrial /
Commercial / Financial activities
* Units cannot declare any dividends to share-holders
for 10 years
These are just broad outlines and details need to be
worked out
If there is political courage to pull off such an initiative , government
will NOT need to allocate ANY AMOUNT !
NO NEED TO SUBSIDIZE THESE UNITS OR THE USERS
, WITH THE TAX PAYERS' MONEY !
Instead of that $ 750 million allocation
( from tax payers' money ) , Black Money holders will readily pump in $ 750 BILLION into the SOLAR INDUSTRY ( enough for additional installed
capacity of 750 GW - as
against our current installed capacity 8.63 GW of solar , and a target of 100 GW , by 2022 ! )
Remember , how , only a few months back , tiny Indonesia managed to collect $ 300 billion of its Black Money , by levying tax ( no penalty ) of just 4 % !
And with this kind of INCENTIVE WINDOW ( to convert BLACK into WHITE
) , expect
*
Hundreds of SOS Units
to spring up before 31 March 2018
*
They will have ZERO cost as far as servicing of EQUITY is concerned ! No
dividends !
* They will not need to borrow
funds from banks and pay interest ( no danger of NPA ! )
*
They will say : We are not in the business of " manufacturing of
panels " but we are in
the business of " Delivering electric power to homes / businesses
"
( I am reminded what my one time boss,
Helge Hansen told me :
" Hemen , we are not in the business of manufacturing Diamond
Drilling Bits : We are in
the business of selling Industrial Diamonds " )
*
They will compete with each other fiercely and ( as it is already
happening in USA ) ,
start offering roof top installations, absolutely FREE, and selling the generated
power at
20 paise/Kwh, for 10 year purchase
agreement and with a 5 % tariff reduction per year !
We can look forward to witnessing similar competition among large , land-based
, solar
power installations which will be the main
suppliers to large commercial establishments /
industrial factories / infrastructure projects / Electric Vehicle
Charging stations , etc
Just imagine
* how much, our LOW
ENERGY COST ECONOMY can make us , INTERNATIONALLY
COMPETITIVE
!
* the rise in GDP !
* the possibility of being able to
export our surplus power to neighbouring countries
* Being able to replace 6 million
petrol / diesel vehicles with EVs by 2020 , due to
easily available charging stations on every street corner
* Reduction in pollution by shutting down of hundreds of existing fossil fuel based power
plants , whose utilization will drop below 10 % by 2022 ( as against National
Electricity
Plan expectation of 48 % , and a un-viability threshold of 55 % )
I hope my suggestion will be supported by Shri Piyush Goyal ( Minister for Energy ) ,
who referring to " innovative financing
such as reverse bidding for projects as a smart way of saving
public money " , said :
" By adopting such principles, I have
been able to reignite the power and coal sector "
( Source : Business Line / 19 Dec 2016 )
Dear Piyushbhai :
By " harnessing GREED to harness SUN "
, we could achieve 100 GW of Solar by 2019 , instead of government target of 2022
I hope you succeed in persuading Arunbhai
, to incorporate this proposal in his forthcoming budget speech on 01 Feb 2017
Unless , Narendrabhai decides to announce
this as a Republic Day gift to the Nation !
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03 Jan 2017
www.hemenparekh.in / blogs