Solar Energy Applications in Agriculture with Special Reference to North Western Himalayan Region

Abstract

The UN Sustainability Goals emphasise on use of renewable sources of energy viz wind, solar, hydro power, biomass etc which are increasingly becoming important in the global energy mix. India with a 900 GW potential, aims to have 175 GW by 2022 and about 40% of total power production from renewable sources by 2030 with solar source contributing the most (83 %). Solar energy is the most fundamental renewable energy resource with many agricultural applications. The abundance of solar energy makes it suitable for electricity and thermal applications and hence can be used in agriculture in photovoltaic electricity generation, powering irrigation, crop and grain drying, pesticide application, green house heating and ventilation, cold storages etc. North western Himalayan regions are energy-poor with high energy requirements. Low ambient temperature, high Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI) and Direct Net Irradiance (DNI) of 4.8-6.43 kWh per square metre per day indicate huge solar potential, higher solar photovoltaic electricity and solar thermal production efficiency. Solar energy can replace or supplement conventional sources used for domestic and agricultural applications in the region. However, the use of solar energy is limited by policy and regulatory obstacles, financial obstacles, land availability constraints and low PV conversion efficiency. Hence a robust policy, financial measures and technological refinement are needed to remove the bottlenecks. In this paper, attempts have been made to discuss solar energy use in agriculture, scope in the north western Himalayan region of India and future recommended strategies.