India achieves another landmark in Solar Energy – all 200 lighthouses to be powered by the Sun

Indian Lighthouses to run on Solar power

India has become a trailblazer of sorts in the use of solar energy and the country has the lowest project costs for solar energy in the world (even lower than China). It was the only country to announce a policy for building solar panel projects on canals and is also the main creator of the International Solar Alliance (ISA). The new government under PM Modi has made solar energy the main focus of its energy policy with a hugely ambitious target of achieving 100 GW by 2022, up from just 8 GW now. The government has directed all major ministries and government owned companies to increase the usage of solar power for all major energy needs.

The Ministry of Shipping has been increasing solar energy by making solar projects mandatory for major ports in the country all of whom are in the process of building multi MW solar and wind projects to provide power to port facilities. Another big initiative the the MoS has taken is to power all the lighthouses in the country using solar panel systems. Almost 85% of the the 200 lighthouses in the country are already being powered by solar power and by December 2016 , 100% target should be achieved by the country. This is another feather in the cap and not a mean achievement given that India has one of the longest coastlines in the world.

Also read Indian Transport to get Solar Power

Solar power makes a lot of sense for lighthouses which are generally located in remote coastal locations without access to the grid. They are generally powered by diesel generators which are not only polluting but also much more costly. It is estimated that diesel power costs almost INR 15-20/kWh compared to the INR 12-13 for solar plus storage solutions in the market today.

Lighthouses are a low hanging fruit along with other off grid users of electricity such as telecom towers which burn billions of gallons of expensive fossil fuel every year. They not only increase the costs but also have implications on India’s energy security and contribute greatly to global warming. India needs to seriously increase the usage of solar energy in off grid solutions.