Solar Power Program to Bring Electricity to 400 Million of India’s Poorest

India’s National Solar Mission aims to implement some GW (giga-watts) of solar power, across the country, by 2022, and the newest government is working hard ot make it a reality.

Narendra Modi, India’s newly elected Prime Minister, from the Bharatiya Janata Party, has reiterated the new government’s dedication to solar power in the world’s second-most-populous country. India has one of the world’s fastest growing economies, but it hasn’t been without its problems. A growing economy needs reliable power, but India suffers from two major problems in this regard. First, fossil-fuel power generation, most notably CO₂– and PM_2.5-spewing coal plants, is causing environmental and human health problems on a grand scale.

Second, India’s haphazard infrastructure has displayed some serious defects, whether due to age or design, and isn’t nearly as reliable as it needs to be. In fact, India, in July of 2012, experienced two of the world’s worst blackouts in history. The blackouts, as well as other problems with India’s power grid are caused by poor construction or maintenance, rampant electricity and infrastructure theft, and overloading. India’s dedication to solar power could help to alleviate some of these problems, both on grid and micro-grid scale, not only in India’s biggest cities, but also for some of India’s poorest rural populations.

Today, there are still millions of people in India who do not have access to reliable electricity. Prime Minister Modi, under the National Solar Mission, plans on pushing forward with the implementation of solar power, some of which will bring electricity into the homes of some 400 million who currently aren’t connected. Coupling this with New and Renewable Energy Minister Farooq Abdullah’s statements on nuclear power which, admittedly, has its own special problems, could this be the key to a cleaner and more stable power grid in India?

Photo credit: Barefoot Photographers of Tilonia