Story of Solar Energy

Abstract

The sun is everywhere. In India we have too much of it. Instead of sweating in it, we can try and make the sun do some useful work like cooking food and lighting homes. On a sunny day, the sun's energy falling on a 150-cm x area exceeds the energy delivered by the kitchen gas stove at full throttle! If we just collect that energy and concentrate it at one spot we'll be able to cook without any fuel! We are blessed with abundant sunshine, a good enough reason to seriously engage with this perpetual, non-polluting energy . The best minds in our country should be researching on solar energy. They should be designing the cheapest solar cells and making the most efficient solar cookers. 400-million Indians live without electricity. Solar energy holds the potential for electrifying the remotest Indian hut. This will be true devolution of power and real empowerment of our people. Gandhi's dream of “power to the people” will come true! India has made a good beginning with wind energy. One single private company - Suzlon, alone has installed over 6,000-Megawatts of non-polluting wind power. This happened because the Indian government enunciated the right policies, gave the right tax breaks and provided a conducive environment to develop wind energy. This story needs to be repeated with solar energy