Lashing Out Against Confusion -- Indian Solar Policy Project

For the past several years, solar power in India has been one of the most buzzy topics of conversation in India. The broadsheets are awash with news of solar policies announced or in development. From recent college grads to experienced businessmen and investors, no one wants to miss out on the next great wave in the success story of India, Inc. Heck, even my dry cleaner wanted to talk solar when he found out I worked in renewable energy.

So with all of this interest in solar, why is there so little development on the ground?

One of the biggest obstacles to effective investment in solar power generation in India is the lack of clarity about the relevant policies.

Over the next few months, I will seek to uncover the sprawling madness that has developed within in the solar power regulatory environment. I pledge to do my best to separate solid schemes and subsidies which will continue to lead to productive development of the solar industry from the pie-in-the-sky commitments which make big headlines but very little impact on the growth of the sector.

My aim is aid investors and projects developers to more quickly wade through the varied policies, regulations, requirements, and commitments and choose the best states and local partners to develop solar projects in India.

The first strike against all this confusion will be to create a Policy Map of all state and center policies, simply outlining the commitments and policies from both state and central governments.

Stay tuned for new developments!

Sara

Time for Change

After 21 months of working for Intellecap in a range of capacities from business planning for microfinance institutions to organizing a Microfinance Investors' Tour, my life is taking a change in another direction -- renewable energy.

India is growing in some interesting ways -- the tech boom has created a much wealthier middle class that with a growing disposable income. Service and industry alike are growing rapidly. And Tata just yesterday introduced the INR 1 lakh (USD 2,500) car. What does all this translate into? Energy supply that is currently insufficient to meet demand already (black and brownouts are common even in cities) -- a problem that can only become more important as energy demand rises.

So, there are two options. 1. Continue to build large, dirty, coal and other non-renewable energy plants. 2. Build on India's strength in technology and innovation to leverage renewable energy like wind, solar, biomass, biofuels, hydrogen, and fuel cells, as well as develop energy efficiency technologies.

What route with India go? I'll be watching with avid interest.