Gujarat govt's new "worry": How would India realize solar energy target? It woefully lacks quality manpower

A new “worry” appears to have gripped Gujarat government: Claiming to be No 1 in solar power, it is not sure how the Government of India would fulfill the solar power dream, revising the target upwards from 20 GW to 100 GW, especially when the rooftop segment, forming 40 per cent of the target, as it woefully lacks necessary manpower.

Suggesting that while solar power in general may have enough quality controls, a workshop held at Gandhinagar under the auspices of the state-controlled Gujarat Energy and Management Institute (GERMI) sounded a warning bell: The 40 GW, which will have to contributed by rooftop solar systems, does not have any strict quality control system.
Worse, it was suggested, India is woefully short of “skilled technicians and non-standard installation processes” for producing rooftop solar power, and the country would require at least 13 lakh technicians by 2022 in order to achieve the target of 100 GW it has set for itself. There is, however, no data on the number of technical manpower existing for solar power as of today.
This was particularly highlighted by the BJP government’s political appointee, IM Bhavsar, chairman, Gujarat Energy Development Agency, the state agency promoting renewable energy issues, and L Chuaungo, principal secretary, energy, Government of Gujarat.
While both “specifically focused on developing teaching capacity of the instructors of the rooftop solar installers”, a note issued by the Ahmedabad-based PR agency Simulations for the GERMI workship, said, the two “dignitaries”, underlining the importance of renewable energy, insisted that there is an “urgent need for skilled manpower for meeting the substantial national targets.”
Eighteen personnel from Maharashtra, Gujarat, West Bengal, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, New Delhi and Goa attended the workshop. Those attended represented mainly industry bodies such as Pathfinder Ventures India, Grey Batter, Amba Township, Tata Power Co Ltd, Ichamati Society for Human Welfare and Relations, Gujarat Institute of Solar Energy, Bergen Group, and Australian Premium Solar.
The note added, “While the large-scale grid connected solar power projects have strict quality requirements, the rooftop segment currently lacks the stringent quality”, which is the “the need of the hour for administrators, project developers, industries and a young job-seeking workforce.”
Titled “Train the Trainer Workshop for Rooftop Solar Photovoltaic Installers”, the workshop worked out a 12-point programme, aimed at setting up over 100 partnering training centres across the country, so that these training centers can further train 10,000 rooftop solar technicians and entrepreneurs each year.
The note does not say how 10,000 technicians would be able to fulfill the target of 13 lakh technicians needed across the country, nor does it point towards how many technicians are there in the country today for rooftop power.
“Through the training workshop, GERMI wants to develop a network of centres across the country to connect the latest solar technologies and standards to the remotest locations of India”, the note said, claiming, “The Train the Trainer workshop incorporates comprehensive educational elements including technical concepts, design, installation and maintenance.”
“In addition”, the workshop said, “The workshop also stressed on imparting the knowledge of entrepreneurship and soft skills. The classroom sessions will be supplemented with extensive hands-on activities.”
It added, “The programme is also in line with the recently launched Gujarat Solar Policy 2015, wherein it aims at 10,000 MW of solar systems, both ground-mounted and rooftop. In this policy Gujarat has announced a net-metering scheme for rooftop solar consumers.”

Comments

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

No to free thought? How Gujarat's private universities are cowing down their students

"Don't protest"—that's the message private universities across Gujarat seem to be conveying to their students. A senior professor told me that students at the university where he teaches are required to sign an undertaking promising not to engage in protests. "They simply sign the undertaking and hand it over to the university authorities," he said.

Whither Jeffrey Sachs-supported research project which 'created' Gujarat model of development for Modi?

Even as Donald Trump was swearing-in as US President, a friend forwarded to me a YouTube video in which veteran world renowned economist Prof Jeffrey Sachs participated and sought an answer as to why Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was "afraid to fly" despite being invited to Donald Trump's swearing in ceremony. This took my memory to 2003, when I -- as representative of the Times of India -- had a short tet-a-tat along with a couple of other reporters with Sachs in the chief minister's office in Gandhinagar.

Busy taking books to the needy, this rationalist exposes miracles in a superstition-infested Gujarat society

I knew his name as a campaigner against the sheer wastage of the large amounts of ghee brought by devotees from across India for a major religious ceremony conducted every year in Rupal village, near Gandhinagar, the Gujarat capital, on the ninth day of Navratri. I had seen him at several places during my visits to different NGO meetings as well as some media conferences.

'Potentially lethal, carcinogenic': Global NGO questions India refusing to ban white asbestos

Associated with the Fight Inequality Alliance, a global movement that began in 2016 to "counter the concentration of power and wealth among a small elite", claiming to have members in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Kenya, Zambia, the Philippines, and Denmark, the advocacy group Confront Power appears all set to intensify its campaign against India as "the world’s largest asbestos importer".

To be or not to be Sattvik: Different communities' differing notions of purity and fasting

This is a continuation of my last blog on Sattvik food. When talking about Sattvik, there is a tendency to overlook what it may mean to different sections of people around the world. First, let me redefine Sattvik: it means having a "serene, balanced, and harmonious mind or attitude." Derived from the Sanskrit word sattva, it variously means "pure, essence, nature, vital, energy, clean, conscious, strong, courage, true, honest, and wise." How do people achieve this so-called purity? Among Gujarati Hindus, especially those from the so-called upper castes who are vegetarians, one common way is fasting. On fasting days, such as agiyarash —the 11th day of the lunar cycle in the Vedic calendar—my close relatives fast but consume milk, fruit juices, mangoes, grapes, bananas, almonds, pistachios, and potato-based foods, including fried items. Another significant fasting period is adhik maas. During this time, many of my relatives "fast" by eating only a single me...

Beyond the Sattvik plate: Prof Anil Gupta's take on food, ethics, and sustainability

I was pleasantly surprised to receive a rather lengthy comment (I don't want to call it a rejoinder) on my blog post about the Sattvik Food Festival, held near the Sola Temple in Ahmedabad late last year. It came from no less a person than Anil Gupta, Professor Emeritus at the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A), under whose guidance this annual event was held.

Would Gujarat Governor, govt 'open up' their premises for NGOs? Activists apprehensive

Soon after I uploaded my blog about the Gujarat Governor possibly softening his stance on NGOs—evidenced by allowing a fisherfolk association to address the media at a venue controlled by the Raj Bhawan about India’s alleged failure to repatriate fishermen from Pakistani prisons—one of the media conference organizers called me. He expressed concern that my blog might harm their efforts to secure permission to hold meetings on state premises.

Shyam Benegal's Mathan a propaganda film that supported 'system'? No way

A few days ago, I watched Manthan, a Shyam Benegal movie released in 1976. If I remember correctly, the first time I saw this movie was with Safdar Hashmi, one of the rare young theater icons who was brutally murdered in January 1989. Back then, having completed an M.A. in English Literature from Delhi University in 1975, we would often move around together.

Search This Blog