Govt approves scheme to fast-track National Solar Mission

NEW DELHI: In an effort to fast-track the National Solar Mission, the Government on Thursday approved a scheme which will help in availability of funds for carrying out projects under the mission.

The Union Cabinet cleared the Payment Security Scheme to enable financial closure of projects under the mission by extending Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) amounting to Rs 486 crore to the New and Renewable Energy Ministry (MNRE), an official spokesperson said here.

The scheme will help MNRE in the event of defaults in payment by the state utilities to NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN), the Central Agency which will purchase solar power from the developers and sell it to the utilities bundled with unallocated thermal power available from NTPC utilities.

DuPont Apollo to Supply Solar Modules for Wipro in India

DuPont Apollo Limited announced that it has entered a strategic supply agreement with Wipro EcoEnergy, the cleantech arm of Wipro Limited, to supply high-performance, silicon-based, thin-film, tandem photovoltaic (PV) modules for Wipro EcoEnergy’s upcoming grid-based solar power projects in India.

Under the terms of this supply agreement, DuPont Apollo will provide Wipro EcoEnergy, which builds utility-scale, megawatt, solar PV power plants, with thin-film PV modules. The first phase of the supply agreement will be completed by the first quarter of 2012.

This agreement comes at a time when the solar industry has witnessed dramatic growth in India with the announcement of grid-based incentives for grid-connected solar plants and PV is considered a preferable choice to accommodate the widely dispersed and growing electricity consumption needs of the country. In January 2010 India’s National Solar Mission was launched to achieve the government’s target of generating 22 gigawatts (GW)—20GW on-grid, 2GW off-grid—of solar power by 2022.

DuPont Apollo thin-film PV modules are internationally recognised with the product certifications of International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 61646, IEC 61730, China General Certification Center (CGC) Golden Sun Certificate and Underwriters Laboratories (UL) 1703. All products are manufactured in an International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) 9001, Intertek’s QC 080000 and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified facility.