Israel, Punjab ink deal on solar power

An Israeli renewable energy company, MST, has proposed to set up solar power plants in Punjab.

The company made a presentation before the Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA) here today for this. PEDA has asked the Israeli firm to set up a demo project in the state to see the viability and efficiency of the plant.

The company has made presentation to the Chandigarh administration and depending upon the viability it might be installed in Chandigarh. Also, if an memorandum of understanding (MoU) is signed, the solar power plant would be the first-of-its-kind in north India.

The proposal for setting up the plant, using new patented technology based on germanium arcenide cell, was today discussed with PEDA officials. The delegation emphasised that the use of this new technology, in place of flat panel silicon technology, will double the efficiency of the project while cost would be reduced by around 40 per cent.

The salient feature of the plant is that the solar module would be computerised and would automatically track the movement of the sun and adjust accordingly.

Speaking to Business Standard, PEDA Director S S Sekhon said, "In the presentation, the company officials projected that the new technology requires almost one-fourth of the area as compared to traditional solar plants. That means for producing 1 Mw of power the plant with Isreali technology requires 1 hectare while the traditional plants require 4 hectares."

He added, "Also, the officials have projected 34 per cent efficiency, whereas at present we have plants having 12-14 per cent efficiency, even if we consider the system losses in the new plant, it comes to 25 per cent, making the difference huge. The cost of generation is almost 40 per cent cheaper than the conventional one."

However, the cost incurred for generation of 1 Mw of power by MST is Rs 15 crore. He said, "After going through their presentation we have asked them to set up one demo plant and there is a possibility that we may also put some equity in this project."

He further added that if the project would prove viable then it would be a boon for the villages of Punjab, as it requires less area compared to conventional one, and could solve their electricity woes to a great extent.