Research and Development

Develop a recycling plan for solar PV module and new battery technology used in micro-grid applications

Principal Investigator from UiA : Professor (Dr) Mohan Kolhe, University of Agder (Norway)
Co-Principal Investigator from UiA : Dr Nils Ulltveit-Moe, University of Agder (Norway)
Principal Investigator from TERI : Dr. Suneel Pandey, Senior Fellow and Director at TERI
Co- Principal Investigator from TERI : Mr. Shirish Garud, Senior Fellow and Director at TERI
Other team members : Mr. Arvind Sharma, Fellow at TERI and PhD student at UiA, Dr. Poonam Sharma, Consultant at TERI and Ms. Pallavi Gulati, Research Associate at TERI

As large-scale solar PV deployment has taken place only recently in India, major end-of-life PV waste volumes may not be expected until after 2030, after which significant amount of waste is expected to be generated.

This study investigates and addresses issues related to waste management of Solar PV and battery technology used in micro-grids in India.

Key Objectives:

• To develop guidelines and plan for recycling of crystalline Si PV modules and battery technologies (lead acid and li-ion).
• Develop a framework to ensure safe and efficient recycling of the waste solar PV modules and batteries used in micro-grid applications.

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To analyse technical challenges for integrating solar photovoltaic (PV) systems (with and without energy storage) and developing a smart architecture as well as road map to accelerate the solar PV based micro-grid development in India

Principal Investigator from UiA : Professor (Dr) Mohan Kolhe, University of Agder (Norway)
Co- Principal Investigator from UiA : Dr Nils Ulltveit-Moe, University of Agder (Norway)
Principal Investigator from TERI : Mr. Shirish Garud, Senior Fellow and Director at TERI
Co- Principal Investigator from TERI : Mr. Arvind Sharma, Fellow at TERI and PhD student at UiA
Other team members : Ms. Ashwini Mudgal, Associate Fellow, TERI and Mr. Kapil Muddineni, Research Associate, TERI

This study investigates key challenges associated with the renewable energy integration in the distributed network, and will attempt to find solutions considering technical challenges, efficiency, reliability as well as financial viability with large scale deployment of solar PV systems based micro-grids in India.

Key Objectives:

• To analyse technical challenges for integrating solar PV systems (with and without energy storage) into distribution network.
• To design and develop micro-grid architecture for integrating solar PV to dispatch controlled power considering power system operation as well as demand side management.
• To develop smart micro-grid architecture based on field results through the TERI's micro-grid system and prepare a road map to accelerate the solar PV based micro-grid development in India.

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Comparative Performance Assessment of different Solar PV Module Technologies

International Journal of Innovations in Engineering and Technology (IJEIT)

Vishakha Baharwani, Neetu Meena, Arvind Sharma, Richie B. Stephen, Parimita Mohanty

At the present flash in time, renewable energy sources have achieved great worth for modern day society. The main reason for this boom is the need to use substitute sources of energy to fossil fuels which are free of CO2 emissions and contamination. Among the current renewable energy sources, the growth of solar PV has been spectacular. The PV Module itself accounts for around half of total PV system costs. The continuous reduction in PV Modules cost is therefore a key element of improving the competiveness of PV. Therefore different module technologies developed. While crystalline Si is the most mature PV technology but is more expensive whereas thin film technology is cheaper and has additional advantages but has less efficiency than crystalline. So it is important to know the suitable module technology as well as the electronic circuitry as per requirement. The objective of the present study is to assess the suitability of different PV technologies under Indian climatic conditions. This paper deals with the comparative analysis of two different module technologies i.e. polycrystalline and CdTe of same rating, both technologies are first used with MPPT based charged controller and then the same technologies are used with PWM charge controller. Along with this the performance of poly-crystalline silicon type PV modules has been investigated at different tilt angles. This paper is mainly divided into four sections, first section presents the overview of photo voltaic technologies used, section second represents the experimental setup and equipment used for the experiment, section third shows the methodology of test, whereas the discussion of result is represented in section fourth.

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Comparative performance assessment of different battery technologies used for solar lighting applications

Arvind Sharma, Richie Brian Stephen, Parimita Mohanty, Piyush Parmar, Neetu Meena, Vishakha Baharwani

Batteries are often used in PV systems for the purpose of storing energy produced by the PV module during the day, and to supply it to electrical loads as needed (during the night and periods of cloudy weather). Many types and classifications of batteries are manufactured today, each with specific design and performance characteristics suited for particular applications. Each battery type or design has its individual strengths and weaknesses. Issues with these technologies are that they are sensitive to environmental condition (mainly temperature) and their capacity reduces with life. This paper addresses the variation in battery performance with temperature and ageing. Most widely used battery technologies for used with solar lighting applications are Lead acid and Li-ion; therefore we selected these batteries for this work. This paper divided mainly in four sections, first section presents over view of available battery technology for solar lighting application, its advantages & limitations and section second presents overview of the battery testing facility available at Solar Lighting Laboratory, TERI. In the third section, performance assessment of lead acid & li-ion batteries at different temperature condition and long term performance assessment of both types of batteries have been described. However, analysis of experimental data has been described in section four. There is a lot of future work and battery tests have been identified on this theme which will help to improve the long term testing facility in India.

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Testing and long term performance assessment of solar lighting system and its components

IV th International Conference on Advances in Energy Research Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai

Arvind Sharma, Richie Brian Stephen, Parimita Mohanty

Along with the ambitious goals of several solar-lighting programs and the viability of Solar Lighting Systems (SLSs) in urban, rural and semi-urban areas, the solar-lighting market is witnessing an ever-increasing gamut of products with various features, quality and specifications. Typical SLSs include solar lanterns, solar home lighting systems, solar task lights, solar torch lights, solar street lights etc. Components of SLSs include a light-source with required optical components, storage device, charging source (Solar module with/without alternate charging options) and electronic circuitry. Aspects such as selection of technology of each component, optimal sizing, design considerations and system-integration based on intended application are critical for the value of chain of such systems. These factors affect the performance a SLS which is defined through typical measureable performance-parameters. This paper brings very useful analysis of test conducted on solar lighting system and its components. Besides the normal applicable tests i.e. run time, charging efficiency etc. the paper is much more focus on long terms performance assessment of SLSs.

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A Study of Absorption Correction in Lighting Products by an Integrating Sphere

Lux pacific conference, 2015

Richie Stephen, Arvind Sharma, Lakshita, Piyush Parmar

An integrating sphere is used to measure spectral distribution, calculate total luminous flux and calculate chromaticity coordinates of light sources However, it usually has to consider self-absorption when light source is radiating in the integrating sphere. When a test lamp is placed in the integrating sphere, the throughput is altered from self-absorption of the sphere reflections by the test lamp housing and lens. For pico-powered lighting appliances (products smaller than approximately 10W) the throughput is typically lowered because the appliance housing absorbs more light than the standard lamp holder, but this is not always the case. In order to eliminate this self-absorption error, a correction is made using an auxiliary lamp (this is sometimes referred to as an "Aux correction"). This study is focus on the behavior of absorption correction with respect to different coloured test lamp housing and with changing the orientation of the light source. The study has been completed and test was performed using a 2 meter diameter integrating sphere, with a reference light source and the use of different coloured sheets of paper. In most cases, it has been observed that dark colour objects absorbed more light radiation, therefore reducing the total luminous flux measured from a light source having a dark coloured housing.

Smart Mini Grid: An innovative distributed generation based energy system

Innovative Smart Grid Technologies - Asia (ISGT Asia), 2013 IEEE

Mukesh Gujar, Alekhya Datta and Parimita Mohanty

With the depleting energy resources, enhancing energy-security and energy-access, particularly in emerging economies is one of the major challenges that one has to deal with. In addition to managing the existing energy resources, generating power effectively and intelligently is an equally important agenda at the national level in India. Supplementing the establishment of large power plants from conventional energy sources, there is also a need to focus on distributed small scale generation of power particularly from renewable energy sources. Although Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) need additional infrastructure and investment to connect them to the grid, these technologies obviate the need for an expensive transmission system and reduce transmission and distribution (T&D) losses. A better way to realize the emerging potential of distributed generation is to take a system approach which views generation and associated loads as a subsystem or a `Micro-grid' [1]. During disturbances, the generation and corresponding loads can separate from the distribution system to isolate the Micro-grid's load from the disturbance without harming the transmission grid's integrity. To deal with these crucial issues of power and energy, the more appropriate solution is the Smart Mini Grid system which can optimally and intelligently manage the load and distributed generation resources so that maximum utilization of the renewable energy resources with a lower installed renewable energy capacity and smaller batteries can be ensured by coordinating the energy demands with the electricity production, fossil fuel generation can be minimized through the more efficient control of energy loads and power quality can be improved The paper presents the relevance of Smart Mini Grid as well as its existing challenges. It has also briefly pointed out the major initiatives taken by various institutions/industry in the smart mini/micro-grid sectors in India. The main purpose of this pap- r is to present the design of TERI's own Smart Mini Grid system which integrated various distributed energy sources such as Solar PV, small wind electric generator Biomass gassifier system, Diesel-Set (DG) and showcase how such implementation can be used in other similar applications for improving the efficiency, reliability and flexibility of the overall system.

Role of smart technologies in promoting distributed generation based mini-grids: Based on project experiences and lesson learned

Clean Energy Solutions: A Compilation of Studies from TERI India, Prepared for the 4th US-India Energy Partnership Summit | May 13-14, 2013, Washington DC

Parimita Mohanty, Mukesh Gujar, Alekhya Datta, and K Rahul Sharma

Energy is the key to economic development and sustenance of future world. Energy demand in India as well as in many countries across the world is ever increasing and expected to grow in future. If the Indian power scenario is viewed, although India's power sector has shown impressive growth over the last few years, the demand for power has increased more rapidly than its availability (The demand for electricity has increased at a rate of 6.27 per cent in the past two decades.) In addition to shortage of power and energy demand for the existing consumers, there is around 1.44 billion population in the world without access to electricity, out of which around 288 million of them are in India. Again India has more than 3.10 lakh telecom towers, 60 per cent of their power requirement are met by diesel gen-set which together consumes about 2 billion liters of diesel each year and result in 5.3 million tons of CO2 emission). Against this backdrop, Distributed Generation based power solutions have been considered as one of the feasible options, where Distributed Energy Resources can not only deliver power to the local areas (where it is installed and distributed) more efficiently and reliably, but it can also feed excess power, if any, to the utility grid. In addition, these systems are environmentally benign.

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Accelerated Deployment of Smart Grid Technologies in India - Present Scenario, Challenges and Way Forward

IEEE Smart Grid Newsletter: September, 2013 Issue (IEEE-PES ISGT 2014, USA)

Er. Alekhya Datta and Dr. Parimita Mohanty

The idea behind 'Smart Grid Vision for India' is to transform the Indian power sector into a secure, adaptive, sustainable, and digitally enabled ecosystem that provides reliable and quality energy for all with active participation of stakeholders. Realizing the growing importance of Smart Grid technologies in the Indian power sector, very recently Ministry of Power (MoP) in-collaboration with India Smart Grid Task Force (ISGTF) has shortlisted fourteen (14 Nos.) Smart Grid pilot projects that are planned to be executed in power distribution sector in India. As per the ‘Smart Grid Roadmap for India’, these pilot projects are expected to help technology section guides and business case developments for larger projects in the next phase, while showcasing the relevance of Smart Grid on different aspects such as, Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), Outage Management System (OMS), Peak Load Management System (PLMS), Renewable Energy (RE) Integration etc.

The main objective of this article is to underline the present scenario of those selected Smart Grid pilots in India, including proposed state-of-the-art Technology Integration, Consumer Coverage (Base), and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). This article will also capture the Carnegie Mellon’s Software Engineering Institute (SEI) Smart Grid Maturity Model (SGMM), developed by the Global Intelligent Utility Network Coalition (GIUNC) as a management tool, towards the Smart Grid transformation to assess the performance (including, current status) of those utilities responsible for pilot demonstrations and provide necessary recommendations to use this framework for establishing future strategies and work plans as pertain to Smart Grid implementations in the country. This write-up will further emphasize on the progress of applicable Smart Grid interoperability and standards relevant to the Indian context, development of indigenous low-cost smart solutions, gap analysis and appropriate changes conducive to the deployment of Smart Grid pilot projects, and discussion on National Smart Grid Mission (NSGM) in India.

A Perspective on Enterprise GIS in India

IEEE Smart Grid Newsletter - July 2013, IEEE Smart Grid Portal

Alekhya Datta, and Parimita Mohanty

The integration of Enterprise GIS with different aspects of a smart grid can improve the efficiency of a utility's electrical system, enable intelligent demand side management and enhance energy security through sustainable business intelligence. Wider application of GIS will be particularly useful in India, where consumption monitoring, detection of tampering and reduction of commercial and technical line losses are high priorities.

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Innovative Smart Mini-Grid based Off-Grid Power Solutions for enhancing Energy Security in Rural and Urban Scenario

Smartelec 2013, 16-17 April 2013 at Vadodara, Gujarat

Mukesh Gujar, Alekhya Datta, and Parimita Mohanty

About 400 million peoples in India have no access to electricity. Of these, the majority lives in remote, non-electrified villages. Even in electrified areas, powers outages are the fact of life. To top it all the entire national grid had collapsed for 2 days in July. This blackout, now recognized as the world’s largest, affected the lives of more than 600 million people. Renewable energy sectors got specific attention in planning process in India since the Sixth Five Year Plan with specific allocated budget. In 7th plan, the focus was on development and dissemination of renewable energy systems, whereas from the 8th plan and onwards the emphasis is on developing integrated strategies to make renewable energy system techno-commercially viable. Solar Energy is the need for the developing country like India where large section of country’s population is primarily located in rural areas and lacks access to electricity. Electricity is vital for a better quality of life - along with reduction in poverty and improvement in education, health and livelihoods. Rural areas in the country mainly lack in distribution infrastructure and itself developing a reliable distribution infrastructure will have a major fixed cost which the utilities presently not in a position to support. With this backdrop, JNNSM Phase-II would focus on standalone solar off-grid generating systems which would facilitate the rural consumers to meet their routine requirements of electricity. During JNNSM Phase-II, it envisaged that around 20,000 villages shall be covered through 'Energy Access' scheme by way of deployment of Off-Grid electricity generation projects.

The deployment of these systems in encouraged by a mix of capital subsidies and soft loans and also by appointed channel partners who could implement these systems. However, it is the private sector - a mix of social entrepreneurs, NGOs, non-profit organization and corporations which is playing a major role in deployment of these systems. With the falling cost of PV systems, increasing awareness and advances in technology ,adaptation of off-grid PV in set to increase at a fast pace. From a product based approach, off-grid PV is evolving into a system based approach. One area where solar has made significant inroads is in replacing the diesel used in telecommunication towers. In India there are about 450,000 telecommunication tower that consumes about 3.4 million liter of diesel every year. Of these, at least 200,000 towers can be powered by solar and several telecom companies have actively started to install off-grid PV systems to power these towers.

This discussion paper conveys the role of technological advancement and its up-gradation, which can then be implemented using smart mini-grid system, applicable to both the segments (rural as well as urban and peri urban) and what all the steps can be followed in order to promote such systems in the field. In this discussion paper, three case studies on innovative off-grid power solutions from TERI‟s own work and extensive research has been considered, which describe how the advancement in technology and its innovative cost effective solutions to meet the energy requirement as per the local needs such as livelihood generations, creating local jobs etc. particularly in remote villages in the country.

A Pricing Strategy for Micro Enterprises in Decentralized Electricity Generation Projects based on Renewable Energy

International Conference on Micro Perspectives for Decentralized Energy Supply, Technical University of Berlin, 27 Feb. - 2 March 2013

K Rahul Sharma, Rohit Sen

This paper analyses a Solar-PV based 'Multi Utility Business Centre' (MUBC) which provides electricity for productive applications. The analysis is of three components of this system, the Solar-PV power plant, the MUBC which owns the appliances, and the customers who obtain services from the center. The objective is to develop a model for how different business activities can be prices, cross-subsidized and what effect the ratio of equity to grant has at various points in the system; for use in the design of sustainable business models for off-grid power.

Enterprise GIS and Smart Electric Grid for India's Power Sector

IEEE Xplore (Innovative Smart Grid Technologies Conference 2013, Washington - DC), 24-27 Feb. 2013 [Print ISBN: 978-1-4673-4894-2]

Alekhya Datta, and Parimita Mohanty

Smart Electric Grid is an important as well as intelligent element towards the development of an energy independent and environmentally sustainable society. Although there is no universal definition for Smart Grid, it has various functionalities towards modernization of the electrical grid by using digital systems and addressing disturbances via automated prevention and various other novel ideas. But a smarter grid needs a real-time analysis of the network. Therefore to provide accurate scientific decisions, the idea of integrating enterprise Geographic Information System (GIS) with Smart Electric Grid presented in this paper so as to make the grid apt in advanced decision making. It also helps in modeling the workflow of a network by understanding the relationship between network and surroundings and by controlling all parts of the grid. With the increasing demand of electricity in almost every sector, power sector utilities of India need to perform more effectively and in efficient manner. For this purpose, a Smart Electric Grid along with enterprise GIS is one of the evolutionary idea which can facilitate a cleaner environment, efficient load management and fully automated systems. GIS enabled system also helps to establish a link between the surroundings, the consumers and the grid and thus making it proficient in automation and efficient energy consumption and customer awareness by maintaining a relational database including all the required spatial information. The main objective of this study is to showcase the integration of enterprise GIS with Smart Electric Grid to provide an end-to-end solution for the utilities to improve the efficiency of the electrical system, enable intelligent demand side management and enhance energy security through sustainable business model.

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A Case of Community based Renewable Energy Project in India

Conference on Innovation for Resilience and Transformation, The 3rd Environmental Innovators Symposium, December 2012, Keio University, Yokohama, Japan

Banerjee Manjushree

The paper presents a case study of use of solar photovoltaic based micro-grids for meeting basic lighting requirements of rural community during peak demand hours (6 pm to 10 pm). Thirty communities have adopted micro-level (75 Wp to 1 kWp) solar based off-grid systems, where the systems are owned and managed by local entrepreneurs with45% equity stake. Case study analysis of this project undertaken by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India highlights that in grid connected (or, otherwise) rural communities sans assured lighting services, latent market for decentralized alternatives can be tapped into for profitable business. An analysis of the project output concludes that decentralized solutions and private investments will play a major role not only in providing universal modern energy access but also in enhancing livelihood options at village level.

Concept of Off-Grid solar multi-utility centre for livelihood generation in rural areas

International Conference on Advances in Energy Research, IIT Bombay, 2011

Nivedita Thakur, Parimita Mohanty, Akanksha Chaurey, Arvind Sharma and A.S.Srinidhi

The paper presented at a conference reports the work carried out under one of the work-packages of the NFA with TERI (2008-2013) that includes a mandate of demonstration of customized SMUs in various locations in India. A pilot project under this concept that has been designed, developed and demonstrated in a remote village named Dakshin Dimoria in the state of Assam. This paper presents the various stages involved in design, development, and utilization of the SMU covering scoping study, demand assessment, customization of the SMU design according to available appliances, description of the various sub-systems, and services and utilization monitoring.

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Laboratory and Field Based Integrated Approach for Assessing Performance and Utilization of LED Solar Lanterns in Rural Areas

International conference on Advances in Power Conversion and Energy Technologies, APCET, August 2-4, 2012

Mohanty P, Sharma A , Thakur N, Sharma K R and Chaurey A, 2012

LED based Solar Lanterns have evolved as a promising alternative to conventional rural lighting solutions. However, with the commencement of several Solar Lighting programs and the wide variety of products being introduced in the market, there is a lack of data characterizing the quality and performance of this wide range of products. This affects their long term, reliable performance towards ensuring sustainability, cost-effectiveness and user acceptance within the rural community. This paper proposes a 'laboratory and field based integrated approach’ leading to a holistic assessment of the technological gaps in the evaluation and dissemination chain of LED based Solar Lanterns. Basic laboratory tests, comparative performance evaluation, capturing of field usage parameters and fault assessment were carried out for 6 models of solar lanterns disseminated in 8 villages in India. Incorporation of additional features, design enhancements as well as improvements in systematic laboratory based evaluation mechanism have also been recommended in the paper. The findings are potentially applicable to the development of comprehensive benchmarks for performance specifications of LED solar lanterns, effective designing of such products for rural areas and ultimately resulting in greater impact of the several Solar Lighting programs on the rural society.

Synchronization and Operation of Parallel Inverters using Droop Control Method

>International Conference on Power Electronics

Sahoo L K, Thakur N D, Jha R D, Mohanty P, Sharma A, Srinidhi A s and Chaurey A , 2011

At present, there is acute shortage of conventional energy resources. Continuous power supply systems have become increasingly important, especially for applications with sensitive and critical loads. A common practice to obtain a continuous power supply is to use a centralized supply system. This, however is inflexible and can be unreliable for distributed generations. Distributed generation(DG) is emerging as a new paradigm to produce onsite highly reliable and good quality electrical power. DG becomes a viable alternative when renewable energy resources are available. These resources can be connected to local low-voltage electric power networks, also called mini- or micro-grids, through power conditioning ac units, i.e. inverters or ac-ac converters, which can operate either in grid-connected mode or in island mode. The reliability as well as the power capability of the supply system can be increased by replacing a single UPS unit with multiple, smaller units in parallel, resulting in a so-called distributed power system(DPS). A DPS has many desirable features such as expandability, modularity, maintainability, redundancy, and increased reliability. The technically challenging aspect of the DPS, however, is the synchronization of inverters and load sharing among the parallel connected inverters. There is a need of control strategy to strictly hold the amplitude, phase and frequency of output voltages of inverters to avoid circulating currents through inverter. In this work, a control method is proposed and implemented for synchronization and parallel operation of three phase inverters which enables to share the load power equally in steady state. Synchronization is maintained between the inverters and with grid as well. The design issues for voltage control loop are analysed at length with the discussion of active damping and relative stability of the system. Droop control method has been used for equal power sharing, and design of power control loop and its stability is analysed. A current control is designed and analysed to provide proper synchronization between the inverters. FPGAs can be used to control power electronic systems. They have advantages like high speed, parallel processing capability, and rich digital I/O interface. In this thesis, basic modules required for development of controllers for power electronic systems are developed and tested with standard signals. The proposed control scheme for synchronization and parallel operation is implemented for two 3-phase inverters using this FPGA platform. "

Concept of Off-grid solar Multi-utility centre for Livelihood Generation in Rural Areas: A pilot Project in India

IIIrd International Conference on Advances in Energy Research, 2011

Thakur N, Mohanty P, Chaurey A, Sharma A and Srinidhi A S, 2011

Solar Photovoltaic technology has proven itself as a promising option for grid-connected as well as stand alone source of power in India. It is believed to be viable for off-grid usage in the remote villages in the country. The Energy and Resources Institute has developed the concept of Solar Multi–Utility centre that acts as a solar photovoltaic based energy and services centre for livelihood generation for the villages as beneficiaries. A pilot project under this concept that has been designed developed and demonstrated in a remote village in Assam, India. Scoping study of the field–level demands, willingness to pay and suitable motorization of the appliances were carried out for designing the SMU with facilities being provided on a fee–for–service basis. This system complimented with state–of–the–art remote monitoring system provides services such as bamboo stick making, bamboo slivering, spice pulverizing, battery charging, water purification and solar lantern charging. This paper presents the various stages involved in design, development and utilization of the SMU covering scoping study, demand assessment, customization of the SMU design according to available appliances, description of the various sub–systems and services and utilization monitoring.

Centralized Solar lantern charging station under 'lighting a billion lives' campaign: a technological evolution

Progress in Photovoltaics:Research and Applications, Volume 18, 2010, pp.516-534

Mohanty P, Dasgupta N and Sharma A , 2010

To mitigate the use of kerosene for rural lighting and to promote utilization of solar energy, solar lanterns prove to be a viable and promising option. For addressing the issue of large-scale dissemination of solar lanterns, a rental model is implemented though 'Lighting a Billion Lives (LaBL)' campaign. This paper deals with the technological development and customization of the Centralized Solar Lantern Charging Station (CSLCS) under this campaign. A single unit in a typical LaBL charging station consists of a Solar Photovoltaic (SPV) module feeding a junction box (JB) containing multiple ports for charging of a certain number of lanterns simultaneously. The first version was developed with an available Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) lantern model. The design calculation of the various components considering the various climatic conditions in India and other required parameters are presented. Further, the optimization of the modular design of the charging station based on the above analysis is given. Subsequently, the second version was developed with features addressing the challenges faced in the first version. The field demands and feasibility of incorporating modifications addressing them are reported in detail. Further, a more advanced and customized third version lanterns with additional features was developed. The versions also involved considerable modifications of the JB and lantern circuitry. Comparative analysis of the obtained efficiencies of all the three configurations is presented.

The concluding section proposes methods that lead to the way forward in establishing a more rugged and customized system addressing the issues of seasonal and technological constrains more efficiently.

Solar Lighting Systems in India: Types, Applications and Performance Assessment

Journal of the Solar Energy Society of India, Vol. 21, No. 1 & 2 June-December 2011, pp. 64 - 86.

Thakur, N, Sharma, A, Mohanty, P, Sharma, K R, Parmar, P

This paper attempts to provide an overview of the types of Solar Lighting Systems including lanterns, task lights, solar home systems and torches currently available in the Indian market. The Solar Lighting Laboratory at TERI, with the support of MNRE has been involved in design, testing, and on-field assessment of solar lighting systems and experiences from this research have been compiled to provide a broad overview of technologies used in solar lighting device components, selection and testing criteria, technical challenges and quality testing. The solar lighting market is saturated with a wide range of products, differing in specifications and performance. This paper aims to establish that appropriate quality control through a testing laboratory, on-field performance assessment and national standards are essential for developing a robust and reliable solar lighting market and how these processes can be developed. We have presented our assessment of the most widely used technologies, existing technical challenges, the requirements of users, and field testing methodologies in an attempt to provide information to a variety of stakeholders working in the solar lighting field, to assist them in scaling up their programmes.