Solar Power: IFFCO inclined to fund research

In an important tweet IFFCO has said that it is prepared to fund research in cost effective storage of Solar Power- a step towards renewable energy.

Cooperative giant IFFCO MD Dr U S Awasthi tweeted “ #IFFCO prepared to #fund #research in cost effective storage of #Solar #Power due to unavailability of #Sun. #RenewableEnergy #SolarPower”.

Designing small #Solar Power plants with adequate storage of power due to unavailability of#Sun in night or otherwise will be good option, Awasthi said in next tweet.

Some of his followers on Twitter including Harshendra Vardhan welcomed MD’s statements by tweeting back. Harshendra Verdhan tweeted “ @drusawasthi Indeed sir, option of street lights #IFFCO provided in few villages can utilise this. Awesome”.

Another follower said “ @drusawasthi Respected Sir, this eco smart cost effective initative would b very handy2mitigate energy soluton#specially2 remote unrchd area.” A third tweeted “ @drusawasthi Respected Sir, It’s a great idea and will certainly result in alternative energy source & storage without using any fossil fuel.”

It is an interesting coincidence that our honorable columnist Mr I C Naik mailed a piece sometime ago in which he exhorted the IFFCO to take up production of solar energy. We produce a gist of his argument in the following paragraphs.

Naik’s words:

One extremely good project-idea for IFFCO is being presented here with a recommendation for consideration. India’s free energy in abundance is not being put to use because there is no way to channelize it for productive purposes. This is solar energy. We have ways to capture and use it as long as the Sun is signing. But absence of know-how to use it when the Sun isn’t shining causes huge waste.

Tesla Motors, the maker of luxury electric sedans, says it is taking a big step toward meeting that challenge with a fleet of battery systems aimed at homeowners, businesses and utilities.

Tesla would build batteries that store solar energy and serve as a back-up system for consumers during blackouts. The device would allow consumers to get off a power grid or bring energy to remote areas that are not on a grid. Tesla plans to start shipping the units to installers in the US by this summer.

The cooperatives societies in villages should be inspired to go in for technical collaboration with Tesla Motors, the maker of luxury electric sedans.The IFFC can coordinate it. It will require a sizable Investment undoubtedly.

The company’s plans in the solar storage market will include rechargeable lithium-ion battery packs that can mount to a home garage wall as well as battery blocks large enough to smooth out fluctuations in the grid. It’s a superefficient and affordable way to store energy,“ said Khobi Brooklyn, a Tesla spokeswoman. It’s almost a replica of battery being used in cars.

The Company has a design studio in Hawthorne, California, U S A. The consumer battery is called the Powerwall, would cost $3,500. It is derived from the batteries that Tesla uses in its Model S vehicles. The which Tesla will start producing the device, later this year.

Tesla has a $5-billion battery production plant under construction near Reno, Nevada, that it calls the Gigafactory. “Tesla’s not the only one doing it, but Tesla can bring it to a wider audience than most other people can,“ said Shayle Kann, a vice president at GTM Research, which tracks clean tech industries. “Once they get the Gigafactory up and going, they will be able to deploy on a scale that no one will quite be able to rival. So they may have a cost advantage in that.“

The Tesla systems are designed for different scales. The home battery, roughly four feet by three feet, would allow solar customers to have power in the event of an failure, draw from it when utility rates are higher and use more of the electricity their panels produce, easing reliance on the grid.

The IFFCO should aim at producing these batteries in India at a manufacturing facility which it can set up by taking technical know-how from Tesla which has been proven in US Market.