Mr. Jaideep N. Malaviya a professional in solar energy since 1996 is Founder-Secretary General of Solar Thermal Federation of India and also Managing Director of Malaviya Solar Energy Consultancy and. He has over 25 years of experience in solar energy industry as a consultant, researcher, trainer and project developer. Has presented over 100 Indian and International Conferences. He was recently elected as Director of International Solar Energy Society, Germany. He last worked as a Research Scientist at Tata Energy Research Institute (TERI), New Delhi. He is also a Task Force member set up by government of India on Circular Economy in Solar Energy on policy issues by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Ministry of Environment and Forests and Climate Change and NITI Aayog. Recently he was recognized by the International Solar Energy Society amongst the 250 global pioneers in research and industrial development of Solar energy. He designs and develops projects in Solar Rooftop and Solar Thermal Systems by undertaking load analysis and optimising. He is also a faculty in several Engineering Colleges on the said subject. Under his leadership the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy operated the National Solar Energy Helpline for 9 years that addressed to over 10,00,000 phone calls. He was the India Project Head of “Solar Payback” that identified the potential industrial process heating applications using solar thermal and executed on behalf of German Solar Association. His current focus is on developing cost effective solutions for Solar Heat for Industrial Process (SHIP) and safe recycling of Solar panels.
It is in the wake of these new challenges Dr. Arvind Kumar, Editor, Focus Global Reporter conducted an interview with Mr. Jaideep N. Malaviya, Founder-Secretary General, Solar Thermal Federation of India. Excerpts from the Interview are reproduced here.
Editor: How does the Solar Thermal Federation of India prioritize sustainability in its advocacy efforts for solar thermal heating solutions?
Mr. Malaviya: Solar Thermal Federation of India was formed in 2010 under Societies Act as the voice of Solar thermal industry with the objective of addressing industry related issues largely on heating side. It is the think tank on policy matters and accelerating sustainable heating.
Editor: Considering the Solar Thermal Federation of India’s expertise in advancing solar heat technologies, how do you assess the scope for solar heat integration within industrial processes?
Mr. Malaviya: Solar heating for low to medium temperatures has vast potential in India both for domestic water heating and Solar Heat for Industrial Process (SHIP). As a tradition hot water bath is customary in India and the present domestic Solar water heating potential identified is close to 200 million m2 area. As industrial country there is vast heating demand for processes and for temperatures up to 150 deg.C close to 6 GW-thermal potential is identified.
Editor: Could you elaborate on any specific initiatives or collaborations aimed at encouraging industrial adoption of solar thermal solutions, and what potential benefits do you see for industries in transitioning towards renewable heating sources?
Mr. Malaviya: In a recently study ‘Solar payback’ (www.solar-payback.com) supported by Federal German government we identified six potential industrial sectors where Solar thermal heating can be adopted. i.e. dairy, food processing, brewery, pharmaceuticals, textiles, chemical and auto components processing. India is world’s largest dairy producer and almost 30% of overall production costs for dairy products in India are comprised of energy costs.
Editor: In your view, what is the scope for solar thermal w.r.t. ‘Atam nirbhar Bharat’?
Mr. Malaviya: As far as Solar water heating is concerned evacuated tube collector is the dominant market and barring the vacuum tubes rest all is manufactured in India. Similarly, in the concentrated solar thermal the reflective glass mirror is the only import and rest is indigenously made. Considering the vast potential there is scope for the country to become complete ‘Aatamnirbhar’ in the entire value chain and if Production Linked Incentives are extended then even vacuum tubes and mirrors can be made in India.
Editor: What are your suggestions for the key policy makers to boost the use of solar heat in different sectors?
Mr. Malaviya: One significant feature of Solar thermal system is it is an energy saving device unlike Solar Photovoltaics that generates power. Each m2 of Solar water heater collector (panel) saves electricity anywhere between 600 – 1,500 kWh (units) of electricity depending on geographic location and availability of solar radiation. Besides they also aid in peak demand reduction. For every 100 litres of Solar heated water it substitutes 3 kW of electrical heater. Every 1 million installed system can save 3 GW peak power and mitigate 4 million tons CO2 annually. The biggest beneficiaries are Electric Utilities; hence government must make Solar water heaters mandatory for households and bring it at par on policy as Rooftop Solar PV. A classical case study of Bengaluru Electric Supply Company (BESCOM), Bengaluru making mandatory use of Solar water heaters since 2009 with an average annual installation of 75,000 m2 saving 90 million kWh(units).
Editor: In what ways does the federation collaborate with stakeholders to encourage the adoption of eco-friendly heating alternatives across residential, commercial, and industrial sectors?
Mr. Malaviya: Solar thermal system are no more enjoying any incentives from Federal government and is self-sustaining market. The average Solar water heater market is 1.25 million m2 annually. Commercial and Industrial sectors find hard to adopt in absence of incentives though innovative technologies like heat pumps are coming to aid.
Editor: What are the challenges faced for concentrated solar thermal systems?
Mr. Malaviya: India has an advantage of receiving close to 300 days of sunlight in most parts of the country being a tropical country. Concentrating Solar collectors use mirrors and lenses to concentrate and focus sunlight onto a thermal receiver. This calls for precise tracking to convert the Direct Normal Incidence for maximum efficiency and faster payback. The challenge is to devise technologies to fulfill these criteria at affordable cost. Second challenge is to make curved mirrors that last for the life-time of a claimed Solar thermal system.
Editor: Standardized product norms are a key aspect of the solar thermal industry. How do you believe these norms benefit both manufacturers and consumers?
Mr. Malaviya: Standards play crucial role to ensure quality. Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has developed standards for Solar water heaters and select concentrating Solar thermal systems. There is however need for fiscal support for testing laboratories to make sure the installed systems fulfill BIS criteria to protect the consumers.
Editor: In what ways do standardized product norms contribute to quality assurance, market transparency, and consumer confidence in the solar thermal products available?
Mr. Malaviya: Quality Control is must to ensure sub-standard products are not used. As one-time capital is involved hence to protect the consumer there should be stringent guidelines to only use Quality components that fulfill BIS standards. This will also give assertion to the government to consider incentives for Solar thermal and scale up the market.
