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A framework to estimate the extent of various incentives required to ensure financial attractiveness of institutional solar cooking is presented with typical examples from India. Incentives considered are capital subsidy/viability gap funding, accelerated depreciation, interest subsidy, and investment tax credit have been considered for three commercially available designs of solar cookers that can be used for institutional cooking (SK-23, Scheffler dish (direct), and Scheffler dish (steam)). Depending on the location, the extent of viability gap funding (VGF) for Scheffler dish (steam) solar cooking system varies from 18.7% to 66.5% of the capital cost, while the same for SK-23 and Scheffler dish (direct) varies from 8.7% to 82.9%, and 33.4%–94.5% respectively. From the government point of view, the provision of accelerated depreciation for incentivising institutional solar cooking is found to be the least cost option followed by viability gap funding, investment tax credit and interest subsidy in the order of increasing cost to the government. At locations in the cold and cloudy climatic zone of India, there is invariably a need to provide a combination of incentives (as the current provision of 30% capital subsidy is not adequate) to ensure a breakeven condition. • Steam-based solar cooking financially more attractive than direct cooking. • Higher levels of incentives needed for direct solar cookers in India. • Accelerated depreciation costs the least to the government as an incentive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financial appraisal of two solar cookers (SK-23 and Scheffler dish) that may be used for institutional/community cooking is presented. For each solar cooker type, three different categories in terms of performance and cost as prevailing in the market have been considered. Annual numbers of solar cooked meals and consequently the values of several measures of financial performance are estimated for three locations in India with varying climatic conditions. As per the estimates obtained in this study a SK-23 solar cooker can cook from 39% to 60% of the meals during the year while, the corresponding range for Scheffler dish based solar cooker is from 59% to 85% at these locations. The discounted payback for SK-23 varies 6.2–9.2 years while the same for Scheffler dish varies from 9.5 to 11.7 years. The financial attractiveness of SK-23 is adversely affected by its poor performance in high wind, while the relatively higher capital cost of the Scheffler direct cooker apparently makes it financially unattractive. Thus, there is an urgent need to encourage research and development on solar cookers to reduce their cost and also to improve performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The choice of condenser cooling option for concentrating solar power (CSP) plants is likely to affect their techno-economic feasibility. In view of this, an attempt has been made to assess relative techno-economics and net life cycle CO 2 -eq emissions mitigation (LCCM) potential for 50 MW nominal capacity wet-cooled and dry-cooled parabolic trough solar collector (PTSC) and dry-cooled solar power tower (SPT) based CSP plants with 6.0 h of thermal energy storage for two potential locations in India. It was observed that though dry cooling is likely to save significant amount of water (∼92%) in PTSC based plants, the same shall result in higher capital cost, higher performance penalty and higher parasitic power requirements leading to around 20% higher levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) as compared to wet-cooled PTSC based plants. It was also observed that the dry-cooled SPT based plants shall be able to deliver up to 4.5% higher annual electricity output and LCOE is also likely to be lowered by 13% than wet-cooled PTSC based plants. Considering emissions embodied and emissions associated with water transport/extraction from the source and water treatment, the estimation of LCCM from the PTSC and SPT based CSP plants have also been undertaken. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An attempt has been made to estimate the unit capital cost of parabolic trough collector (PTC) based concentrating solar power (CSP) plants in India to facilitate their financial appraisal. While reviewing approaches mentioned in the literature, a significant variation is observed in unit capital cost estimates for a 50 MW wet cooled without storage PTC based plant (US $1700 to US $2662 per kW). To internalize the effect of alternate condenser cooling options and thermal energy storage on the unit capital cost, a new approach that is based on inventory of material used and associated costs have been suggested. With the use of this approach, the unit capital cost of a 50 MW wet cooled PTC plant is estimated at US $1734 per kW. Similarly, for the same nominal capacity plant with dry cooling, the unit capital cost is estimated at US $1994 per kW. Moreover, the effects of increased nominal capacity and hours of thermal energy storage on the unit capital cost have also been investigated. • Cost estimates for a 50 MW PTC based CSP plant in India. • Review of potential approaches for estimating capital cost of PTC based CSP plants. • Study of cost implications of condenser cooling options and thermal energy storage. • Effect of the nominal capacity of the plant and hours of storage on the unit cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financial viability is arguably the most important requirement for large scale dissemination of decentralized renewable energy systems (DRESs). Financial viability of a DRES can vary from region to region as it depends on various geographical and socio-economic factors. With sufficient solar radiation availability throughout the year, abundant forest cover, dependence of majority of population on agriculture and remote villages facing energy access related challenges, the state of Uttarakhand in India has significant potential for the application of solar and biomass based DRESs. Based on the current fuel prices, subsidies and rebates, this study is an attempt to assess the financial attractiveness of solar and biomass based DRESs under various scenarios for their potential users in Uttarakhand. Improved biomass cookstove, domestic solar water heater, solar lantern and solar home system are found to be financially viable under almost all scenarios for household applications while dish type solar cooker, solar PV pump and solar dryer are not so attractive for household applications. It has also been found that the financial attractiveness of DRESs improve significantly with the removal of subsidy presently being given to fossil fuel based energy supply options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In India, kerosene is primarily used for domestic lighting in un-electrified rural households. The government incurs significant expenditure on subsidies and under-recoveries associated with supply of kerosene distributed through public distribution system. In addition to poor illumination and indoor pollution, kerosene lamp usage necessitates expenditure on purchase of kerosene for lighting. The study evaluates the feasibility of diverting subsidies and under-recoveries provided by government and the fuel cost incurred by the user to finance replacement of kerosene lamps with solar lanterns. It is found that such an initiative will save money for both the government as well as the users besides providing better quality illumination without any indoor pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sizing of a solar thermal power plant directly affects its cost and also the annual electricity output and hence its financial attractiveness. It involves deciding appropriate values of design DNI, solar multiple and hours of thermal storage to achieve high annual capacity utilization factor (CUF) with the least cost of electricity delivered. An analysis of the impact of these design parameters on the performance of parabolic trough concentrator (PTC) and linear Fresnel reflector (LFR) based solar thermal power plants is presented using System Advisor Model for eight locations in India. Annual electricity output is estimated using radiation data source of SEC-NREL. Levelized unit cost of electricity (LUCE) is estimated using benchmark capital cost and other financial conditions specified by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission of Government of India. For a design DNI of 950 W/m 2 , LUCE is minimum in solar multiple range of 1.4–1.6 for PTC based plants and of 1.8–2.0 for LFR based plants. With a solar multiple of 1.0, LUCE is minimum in design DNI range of 550–700 W/m 2 for PTC based plants and 450–550 W/m 2 for LFR based plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]