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ABSTRACTDesign and implementation of an effective dissemination programme for decentralised renewable energy system necessitate an accurate estimate of its utilisation potential. Hence, in this study, an attempt has been made to develop frameworks to estimate the utilisation potential of decentralised renewable energy systems in the state of Uttarakhand in India. Estimations imply large resource, technical and economic potentials of the domestic solar water heater, solar home system, solar lantern, family size biogas plant and improved biomass cookstove in Uttarakhand. With higher impact on the purchasing power of households, prevailing soft loan scheme has been found to be more appropriate than a capital subsidy for promoting the usage of decentralised renewable energy systems.

ABSTRACTThis study presents the results of a preliminary attempt to assess water availability for wet-cooled solar thermal power plants at potential locations in India. A total of 95 locations with sufficient wastelands and annual average DNI more than 2000 kWh/m2have been considered for the analysis. Options of rainwater harvesting and groundwater extraction have been explored. It was observed that with rainwater harvesting, only 12 locations in different states are suitable for adoption of wet cooling. Further, with only groundwater extraction option, only one location in the state of Madhya Pradesh is found to be suitable for adoption of wet cooling. By combining both the approaches, it is observed that 28 of the 95 locations would have sufficient water available to meet the requirements of the plant. In the remaining 67 potential locations, the adoption of other available cooling options with relatively lesser water requirements may be appropriate.

ABSTRACTAn assessment of the financial feasibility of using solar pre-heated water in institutional cooking applications in India is made. The use of solar heated water to reduce fuel requirement for institutional cooking applications is being proposed as the existing solar cooking options have not yet been acceptable. For example, hot water delivered by solar water heating systems (SWHS) installed in government schools can be used for cooking mid-day meal (MDM) to be served to school children. As an illustrative example, for 35 locations in India, spread all over the country, the annual amount of useful thermal energy likely to be delivered by the SWHS has been estimated using the system advisor model (SAM) and the same has been used to estimate the annual fuel savings. Financial feasibility of the proposed approach has been assessed. The annual amount of LPG saved varies in the range of 111–178 kg for a system for cooking of 100 MDM per day translating to annual LPG saving of 13,200–21,360 tonnes for about 120 million MDM beneficiary students in India. The payback period at all locations is found to be much lower than useful life of the SWHS.

ABSTRACTThe choice of a solar radiation data source is expected to have a significant impact on the predicted performance of a concentrating solar power (CSP) system and consequently on its technical and financial feasibility. In the present study, an attempt has been made to analyse the effect of choice of various solar radiation data sources on the predicted performance of a CSP system at 13 different locations in 5 different climatic zones of India. It was observed that there is significant variation in the amount of annual electricity output obtained for various locations using different solar radiation data sources resulting in variations in levelised cost of electricity. For a 50-MW parabolic trough-based CSP plant located in Jaisalmer, the estimated value of annual electricity output varies from 63 to 124 GWh. For a CSP plant based on the central tower receiver technology, the corresponding range is from 106 to 145 GWh.

•Annual useful energy delivery of solar process heating systems in dairy industry is estimated.•LCUTE of SIPH systems in dairy industry in India is estimated.•Cost of carbon mitigation with use of SIPH in dairy industry in India is estimated.

ABSTRACTEstimation of renewable energy utilisation potential is important for identification of niche areas and prioritisation amongst different options. However, large variation in the potential estimates has been observed in different studies for the same renewable energy technology. This study is an attempt to analyse such a variation in the estimated potential for solar thermal power generation in India. From the analysis of three studies, it is found that the values of input parameters and the assumptions made substantially affect the estimated potential. The estimates of the utilisation potential depend upon the categories of wastelands selected, the chosen values of threshold DNI and wind speed as well as the criteria used for allocating suitable wastelands between solar photo-voltaic (PV) and thermal power generation. It is therefore critically important that reported values of renewable energy utilisation potential be interpreted and used with full cognisance of assumptions made and input parameters used in estimation.

•Capital cost estimated for 50 MW to 200 MW plants with 0 to 18 h of thermal energy storage.•Comparison of techno-economic performance of parabolic trough and central tower receiver based plants.•Effect of the economy of scale with respect to nominal capacity and thermal energy storage.•Identification of attractive combination(s) of nominal capacity and hours of thermal energy storage.