ABSTRACT
The Indian economy faces significant challenges in meeting its energy needs. In 2009, the power deficit was 11 per cent, around 40 per cent of the population had no access to electricity, and per capita electricity consumption was, at 639 kWh, one of the lowest in the world (Sargsyan et al. 2010: 6). The government estimates that electricity generation needs to increase five- or six-fold to meet lifeline per capita consumption and sustain an 8 per cent growth rate (GoI and Planning Commission 2006: xiii). At the same time, there is vast untapped solar potential within the country. Although it varies geographically, the average solar radiation intensity is 200 MW/km2, and the country’s 250–300 days of annual sunshine could generate a cumulative total of roughly 5,000 trillion kWh of electricity (Sharma et al. 2012: 935; Kumar et al. 2010: 2438–2439).
