India loses 29% of solar power potential due to air pollution

According to a study conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, India lost 29% of its global horizontal radiation potential, or the radiation that solar energy generates, due to air pollution between 2001 and 2018.

This shortfall in harnessing potential solar energy amounts to a loss of $245-$835 million per year.

According to the report, air pollution not only harms people's health but also hinders India from meeting its solar energy targets.

To assess pollution, IIT looked at the polluting effect, or the presence of solid dust, as well as atmospheric attenuation, or the scattering of light due to gaseous pollutants in the air. According to the study, if India had met its clean air targets, it could have generated more clean energy and rely less on fossil fuels.

According to the study, urban haze caused an 11.5% reduction in solar radiation falling on a surface in Delhi in 2016-17, resulting in a loss of $20 million.

Successful implementation of the National Clean Air Program (NCAP) and complete reduction of household emissions through the provision of cleaner household fuel and rural electrification would enable India to produce a surplus of 6-16 terawatt hours of electricity per year from existing installed solar capacity in 2018.

This translates into an economic benefit of $325-$845 million per year, according to the study titled 'Cleaner Air Would Improve India's Annual Solar Power Production by 6-28 Terawatt Hours' written by Dr. Sagnik Dey, Dilip Ganguly, Somnath Baidya Roy, and others from the Center for Atmospheric Science, IIT-Delhi.

The study calls for the successful implementation of three government programs: the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) and Deen Dayal Upadhyay Grameen Jyoti Yojana (DDUGIY) for reducing household emissions, and the National Clean Air Program (NCAP) for the combating air pollution.

According to the study, PMUY and DDUGJY can generate a surplus of 3-8 terawatt hours per year, worth $163-$425, while meeting the NCAP target can generate an additional 3-8 terawatt hours, worth $ 163-$425.

According to the study, the combined benefits of these three policies were worth $325-$845 million, which is nearly the same as the budget allocation of $1,100 million for PMUY and $42.6 million for NCAP's first two years.