Pallav Purohit

Solar photovoltaic water pumping in India : a financial evaluation

SYNOPSIS A simple framework for the financial performance evaluation of a solar photovoltaic (SPV) water pump has been presented. The unit cost of water delivered by such a pump has been estimated. The monetary benefits accrued to the end user have also been quantified on the basis of the amount of diesel or electricity saved. The Net Present Value and Internal Rate of Return of investment in an SPV water pump have also been estimated. The effect of fuel price escalation on the financial performance indices has been evaluated along with estimation of the break-even prices of diesel and electricity. The effects of financial incentives such as capital subsidy, accelerated depreciation-related income tax benefits and provision of a low interest loan on the break-even prices of diesel and electricity have also been studied. Results of some numerical calculations for a 1.8 kWp SPV pump are briefly presented and discussed.

CDM potential of box type solar cookers in India

SYNOPSIS In view of the increasing interest in the development and dissemination of technologies for harnessing new and renewable sources of energy in India, there have also been some efforts towards their use in domestic cooking. However, the cumulative number of renewable energy systems such as box type solar cookers in India is far below their theoretical potential. One of the major barriers is the high cost of investments in these systems. The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) provides industrialised countries with an incentive to invest in emission reduction projects in developing countries to achieve a reduction in CO, emissions at lowest cost, that also promotes sustainable development in the host country. Box type solar cookers could be of interest under the CDM because they directly displace greenhouse gas emissions while contributing to sustainable rural development. However, there is only one registered project on solar cookers under the CDM so far. This study assesses the maximum theoretical, as well as the realistically achievable, CDM potential of box type solar cookers in India. While the maximum mitigation volume is 46 million tonnes of CO2 on an annual basis, an estimate of achievable Certified Emissions Reductions (CER) levels is done using the past diffusion trends of box type solar cookers. We find that annual CER volumes could reach 0.7 to 2.1 million by 2012 and 1.7 to 2.1 million by 2020. This would require that the Government sets the subsidy for box type solar cookers at a level that allows them to become viable with the CER revenue. From a macro-economic point of view this makes sense if the sustainability benefits are deemed sufficiently high to warrant promotion of this project type.

Solar crop dryer for saving commercial fuels: a techno-economic evaluation

SYNOPSIS A framework for techno-economic evaluation of solar crop dryers is presented. The unit cost of drying and the unit cost of useful energy have been estimated for different crops. The monetary benefits accrued to the end user have been quantified on the basis of commercial fuels saved. The values of different financial performance indicators have also been estimated in both the cases considered in the study. The effect of fuel price escalation on some financial performance indices has been evaluated along with the estimation of the breakeven prices of commercial fuels. The effect of internalising the benefits of CO2 emissions mitigation on the financial performance indicators has also been analysed.

Techno-economic evaluation of water pumping windmills in India

An attempt to develop a simple framework for techno-economic evaluation of windmills for irrigation water pumping has been made. The amounts of water delivered by five somewhat different designs of windmill pumps at different locations have been estimated. The unit cost of water delivered and unit cost of useful energy delivered by the windmills have been estimated. The monetary benefits that accrued to the end-user have been quantified in terms of the amount of diesel or electricity saved. The Net Present Value and Benefit-to-Cost Ratio for the investments made in windmill pumps have been estimated. The effect of fuel price escalation on these measures of financial performance has also been evaluated along with the estimation of the break-even prices of fuels likely to be substituted by windmill pumps.

Renewable energy technologies for domestic cooking in India: estimation of CO2 emissions mitigation potential

SYNOPSIS The potential for CO2, emissions mitigation using three renewable energy technologies (biogas plants, improved biomass cookstoves and box type solar cookers) for domestic cooking in India has been estimated. The use of renewable energy technologies for domestic cooking has the potential for saving over 550 million tonnes of CO2, emissions annually. The costs of reducing CO2, emissions by the three options have also been estimated. Using the data available in the literature and the simple frameworks presented in this paper, results of some typical calculations are presented and discussed.