Tuesday, June 24, 2014:The University of Pune’s School of Energy Studies has received a central grant amounting to Rs 30 million to establish a new research, development and testing laboratory for concentrated solar energy. Once up and running, the Pune lab will be only the second such entity after the Solar Energy Centre in Gurgaon, Haryana to utilise concentrated solar power (CSP) systems for research and development purposes.
“By helping such institutes, the Union ministry of new and renewable energy is ensuring that India is able to tap the very potent market of concentrated solar energy,” S V Ghaisas, director of the School of Energy Studies was quoted as saying by ToI. The lab expected to be ready by the end of July will focus not only on research and development, but will also be involved in testing the quality standards of concentrated solar energy system components.
CSP systems make use of reflective surfaces such as mirrors to concentrate a large area of sunlight into a small area, thereby producing more electricity from heat as compared to conventional methods. “Right now there is less competition in CSP systems, which is set to grow as people across the globe discover its benefits in the field of alternative energy,” Ghaisas added.
