Assured Solar Energy Hot-Spots over Indian Landmass Detected through Remote Sensing Observations from Geostationary Meteorological Satellite

Abstract

Quantification of assured solar energy potential is essential to select locations for solar photovoltaic, thermal power plants and to quantify solar power potential. The use of remote sensing observations from geostationary satellite sensors is ideal to capture space-time variability of surface insolation. The annual clear solar energy exposure over India was determined using three years' insolation data at 8 km spatial resolution from Kalpana-1 satellite. High density solar energy pockets were diagnosed in western, central and southern India including Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh states with annual solar energy exposure ranging from 2500 to 3500 kW h m -2 yr -1 .Keywords: Geostationary satellite, renewable energy, remote sensing.THE over-consumption of the available conventional energy resources in the past few decades has brought to light the threat of energy crisis due to depleting nonrenewable energy sources and increasing population. Moreover, it has also deteriorated the quality of the environment. The use of alternative forms of energy such as solar, wind, ocean, thermal, biomass, geothermal, hydro and tidal energies reduce our dependency on fossil fuels and serve better to complement national energy security 1 . Among these, solar energy can be a good alternative and renewable energy source to fulfil the current energy needs. Advancement in solar radiation technologies is paving the new way in energy sustainability 2 at global (continent) to local (village) scales. Solar energy data is a fundamental input for power generation potential through photovoltaic systems, solar collectors for heating, solar air conditioning, climate control in buildings and passive solar devices 3 . India being a sub-tropical country has vast potential of solar energy compared to its total energy consumption in a year 4,5 , especially in urban and rural sectors. Till date, solar energy is under-utilized in India.It currently accounts for only 0.8% of total power generation capacity in India 1 . The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) is a major initiative of the Government of India and state governments to promote ecologically sustainable growth while addressing India's energy security challenges. It also constitutes a major contribution by India to the global effort to meet the challenges of climate change. On launching of India's National Action Plan on Climate Change on 30 June 2008, it had emphasized a graduated shift from economic activity based on fossil fuels to one based on non-fossil fuels and from reliance on non-renewable and depleting sources of energy to renewable sources of energy, specifically to develop solar energy as a source of abundant energy to power our economy and to transform the lives of our people.The objective of the solar mission is to create conditions through rapid scale-up of capacity and technological innovation to drive down costs towards grid parity. The mission anticipates in its three phases to grid cost achieving grid parity for solar...

Estimation of Aerosol-Corrected Surface Solar Irradiance at Local Incidence Angle over Different Physiographic Subdivisions of India and Adjoining Areas Using MODIS and SRTM Data

“…This pocket is somewhat pushed to south during 2014. Similar observations were reported byVyas et al (2016). The other sources exhibit similar pattern include Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) monthly…”

Mapping of Solar Resource Based on INSAT 3D/3DR Surface Insolation Product

“…The INSAT 3D/3DR based surface insolation was described by Bhattacharya et al (2013) and Vyas et al (2016). We suggest here a method of further improvement of the product.…”

“…VHRR sensor on INSAT 3D/3DR satellite are equipped with six channel imager with spectral bands, viz Visible, SWIR, MIR, TIR1, TIR2 & WV and produces imageries at 30 minutes interval, which in turn is used to generate surface Insolation geophysical product with 4 kms spatial resolution (Bhattacharya et. al., 2013, Vyas et. al., 2016 Collectively both satellite missions are able to deliver data products at 15 minutes interval.…”