Developing countries face situations of limited energy resources, especially the supply of electricity in rural areas, and it is very important for social and economic development of any country. There is significant gap between electricity demand and supply in India.
As India is in transition state from developing to developed country the demand is increasing very rapid rate compared to supply. According to the World Bank, roughly 40% of house hare no electricity. In addition, blackouts are a common occurrence throughout the country main cities in summer.
In order to meet the situation, a number of options are considered, electricity generation using solar energy is one such option. India is endowed with rich solar energy resource. Rajasthan, Gujarat, West Madhya Pradesh and North Maharashtra receive more than 3000 to 3200 hours of bright sunshine annually.
Image Source: hannahsolar.com
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Average 2600 to 2800 hours of bright sunshine are available over the rest of the country, except Kerala, the North eastern states like Assam, and Jammu and Kashmir where they are appreciably lower due to their location and occurrence of monsoons.
India just had 10 megawatts of grid-connected solar generation capacity. As part of the National Solar Mission, the ministry aims to bolster the annual photovoltaic production to at least 1,000 megawatts a year by 2013.
With an installed capacity of 123 GW, the country currently faces energy shortage of 8% and a peak demand shortage of 11.6%. In order to sustain a growth rate of 8% it is estimate that the power generating capacity in India would have to increase to 306 GW in the next 10 years which is 2.5 times current levels.