Renewable Energy Sources : |
The total number of industrial and commercial systems installed in the state is around 150 in the range 1000 litres per day (35 systems), 1000 to 5000 LPD (72 systems), 10000 LPD (10 systems). Assuming that the system is used effectively for 225 days in a year the amount of equivalent electrical energy saved annually is 6 million units. In Bangalore city alone 4.2 lakh All Electric Houses (AEH) consume electricity for water heating. The amount of electrical energy that can be saved by installing solar water heaters is approximately 1.8 million units. The generation capacity required to meet their demand is 250 MW which will cost the state Rs. 380 crores. But for installing the solar heating to All Electric Homes (AEH) in Bangalore city would cost Rs. 250 crores.
The cost of domestic water heater is between Rs. 8000 and Rs. 10000. Government of India provides a subsidy of Rs. 3000 to each person who goes for it. Solar heaters save about 50 to 75 kwh of energy per month per household. By educating people about solar energy through mass media substantial saving in electric energy and fuelwood could be achieved. The reason for low level market penetration are (a) high capital cost of the system (b) inadequate fund for disbursement of subsidy (c) absence of attractive financial package for buyers and (d) lack of awareness of the technology.