kerala

State-run Indian utility NTPC has issued an invitation for bids for EPC work on three separate solar projects in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka.

A 10GW consultation exclusively for floating PV has been issued by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) and it is conceivable that no such plans would be on the cards had it not been for the completion of a humbly sized but strategically significant project in the southern state of Kerala.

Plans are in place for a 160MW solar, wind and storage project in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, while a smaller scale demonstration project experimenting with multiple technologies is being developed for Kerala.

The Ministry of Power in the Indian state of Kerala has directed the state utility to provide training on grid-connected solar rooftop systems to its field-level employees, in what has been claimed to be a first in India. Meanwhile, a 200MW solar park has also been downgraded to 50MW.

The Indian Institute of Management - Kozhikode (IIM-K) has recommended Kerala’s distribution company (Discom) to set up a solar consultancy division.

Kerala’s solar industry is growing well, however it faces a burden in the form of a cap on the percentage of solar that can be added to any single transformer.

With the world’s first solar-powered airport, as well as India’s first solar education centre and floating PV projects, the state of Kerala has been a frontrunner in innovation and now its industry has an eye on a hugely ambitious rooftop solar goal - KREEPA Green Power Expo 2017.

The main challenge for the project was a water level variation of 21 metres between summer and monsoon seasons.

The projects in Kerala and Andhra Pradesh will use crystalline silicon cells and the modules will be 310Wp output with the floating structure and anchoring designed by Arka.

India’s largest utility NTPC has issued a tender for the development of a 15MW ground-mount solar PV project at its own Kayamkulam thermal power plant in the state of Kerala using local content rules.