Green Energy for Future

Renewable energy is the fastest-growing energy source in the United States, increasing 100 percent from 2000 to 2018.

Solar generation (including distributed) is projected to climb from 11 percent of total U.S. renewable generation in 2017 to 48 percent by 2050, making it the fastest-growing electricity source.

'Green Energy’ is energy derived from natural resources that replenishes itself continuously and available naturally. These resources are Sunlight, Wind, Water, Waves and Biomass etc. They are virtually inexhaustible and on top of that, they cause very little climate or environmental damage.  Green energy comes with very low cost as it is often produced can be used locally.  Large part of green energy investment is spent on materials and workmanship to build and maintain the facilities, so it is good to create jobs for local community. Above all Green energy is accessible to all, which is a good sign for development.

In the last decade, renewable energy has become a biggest source of new power and can be the world’s main source of power by 2030 as per International Renewable Energy Agency. There was a myth that Green Energy is expensive, whereas Solar Photovoltaic cell cost is reduced by 87 % in last decade and onshore wind energy cost is reduced by 46%. Now green energy prices are at quiet affordable levels. Solar power leads the way with more solar capacity installed in this decade than any other power generating technology - capacity grew from 23 GWe in 2009 to 505 GWe by the end of 2018.  With this tremendous speed of expansion and development in Green Energy, we are expecting 8500 GWe Solar capacity and cost will be around 0.01 to 0.05 $/KWh (Rs 4 /KWh) by end of 2050. 

As Engineering students / professionals, in which we can contribute to make this future of green energy better. Particularly in Green Energy, most explored sources are Solar and Wind Energy. 

In green energy we can see following trends where we can contribute –

• Energy Storage: Current projection says that by 2025 the proportion of PV system with energy storage will increase by 30%. Energy storage technologies are expected to continue to improve, making their use more viable and affordable.
• Microgrids and AI: Microgrids are local energy grids that either operate autonomously or connects to a larger grid. Using the machine learning capabilities of Artificial Intelligence (AI) with microgrid controllers allows us continuous adaptation and improvement of operation.
• Virtual Power Plants: Cloud based distributed power plant that aggregates Distributed Energy Resources (DER) for enhancing power generation and with blockchain technology, it empowers consumer to buy and sell energy from other consumers directly. 
• Cyber Security of Energy Grid: One downside of the increasing digitization of the energy grid is its vulnerability to cyber-attacks. Needs to improve Cyber Security system for energy grids. 
• Power density: Improve grid power density to improve efficiency of Solar power system and reduce its cost.    
• Modular Design: To enable flexible deployment, smooth expansion, and expert free maintenance – which will greatly reduce O&M costs and improve system availability to anyone and anywhere in the world.  
• Micro Wind Turbine Development

 

Solar and wind are already more efficient and cost-effective than conventional sources, and evolving technologies will continue to improve their price and performance. Combining the economic benefits with a low environmental impact, we can expect to see renewables move from being an acceptable energy source to a preferred one. All above future trends talks about innovation in green energy and in India these energy resources are just 10 years old, so all of you have lot of scope for innovation, new developments in this industry and make this energy sector greener than ever before. It also provides better job opportunities for future.

India and France are driving Global Solar Energy Alliance. It means we will have need for experts in Solar Energy Domain. Learn and acquire these skills and be Future Ready.