Did you know that India gets bombarded with 600 tera watts worth of solar energy every year? And that even tapping into 10% of that using solar power modules, panels and associated equipment could solve India's energy crisis, forever? Indeed, a research conducted by Graham R Fleming, the VC for Research at the University of California in Berkeley seems to indicate just that. In a recent speech given at S N Bose Memorial Lecture in Kolkata, the professor stated these facts and more, showing just how quickly India could become energy independent, if only the citizens started embracing solar energy.

The professor was quick to point out that approximately half of the energy received by USA on the landmass of the nation is wasted at present. For India, the situation is even worse, since the nation still uses irreplaceable fossil fuels like coal and pete to fulfill as much as 42% of the citizens' need for fuel. At the present rate, Fleming warned, India would have to import somewhere around 80% of the fuel required by citizens by the year 2030. This situation, according to him, can be changed for the better, simply by increasing the rate of usage of solar energy across the nation, for the purpose of generating electricity.  

However, he did mention that during the initial stages, considerably high amounts would have to invested in the technology, in order to generate a considerable quantity of electricity from solar energy. And in the long run, he stated, high capacity batteries would be required to ensure most of the energy captured by solar PV modules is converted to electricity and stored for future usage. The batteries, he stated, would need to be three times as powerful as the ones presently available, and four times cheaper than those as well. At present, he said, the efficiency of the batteries are way below acceptable levels, as only about 12.6% energy stored in a car battery is utilized, while more than 60% is simply wasted.

Dr Fleming was happy about the technological advancements being made by the team of researchers from University of California, Berkeley, who are working in collaboration with students from IIT Kharagpur, in an attempt to create better solar energy equipment. Their target is to develop high capacity batteries to be used with solar modules, panels and similar solar energy equipment.

Solar power modules manufactured in India are already pretty high in efficiency ratings. As newer, higher capacity batteries are developed, the energy produced by those modules will obviously be harnessed more efficiently. Let us hope that the day is not too far away, when India will emerge as one of the largest energy-independent nations across the globe.