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Fig. 59: Solar Energy Application- User Interface
Stakeholders Involved
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), NITI Aayog, Research institutions like NISE & NIWE, Private sector companies and Startups working in the sector, and Citizens interested in rooftop PV installation. Solution and Implementation
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) developed a Solar Atlas for India using the GHI derived from Indian geostationary satellites such as KALPANA-1 and INSAT 3D. The Solar Calculator Application on VEDAS was developed for wider dissemination of satellite-derived incident solar energy estimates. Solar Calculator provides annual, monthly, and long-term monthly averages of GHI, along with sun-path, terrain horizon intersection, temperature profile, 72-hour GHI forecast, and multi-criteria solar site selection tool. Use of Geospatial Technologies
Open-source image processing library (GDAL) and GIS software (QGIS), spatial RDBMS (PostGre SQL/ PostGIS), web map services and web-GIS software (GeoServer) were used for the application. Terrain data processing for sky-view and sub-shadow analysis were also adopted.
Key Outputs
A dedicated website with complete reference layers, data, analysis, tools, and charts was made available at: https://vedas.sac.gov.in/renewable-energy/index.html.
The Solar Calculator Android application for computing solar energy potential was made available for download at: https://vedas.sac.gov.in/en/download.html.
The API and WMS of solar energy potential were made available to academia, start-ups & private sector entities.
SAC also developed a Solar Calculator for Africa at the request of the International Solar Alliance (ISA). The Solar Calculator for the World is being developed as part of India’s commitment to COP26. Outcomes Achieved
The website and Android application benefit citizens, policymakers, and industry, encouraging maximum utilization of solar energy resources in India. The application has reduced the dependence on less accurate generic products and has been accessed by nearly 1 lakh users since its launch. It is helping financial institutions in better project evaluation for investment guidance besides providing citizens guidance on monthly solar energy generation from building rooftops for solar panel installation.
