Question 13406 – DU PHD JUNE 2018

I. Generating clean renewable electricity is crucial for India where nearly 300 million people—about a quarter of its population—live without access to electricity. Today, India is one of the lowest per capita consumers of electricity in the world; even when people are connected to the electricity grid, they face frequent disruptions. Add to that the projected economic growth and the increase in population, and the demand for energy in India is expected to double by 2040.
According to Onno Ruhl, World Bank Country Director in India, with around 300 days of sunshine every year, India has among the best conditions in the world to harness solar energy. The rapid expansion of solar power can improve the quality of life for millions of Indians, especially for its poorest citizens. It can also create thousands of jobs in the solar industry and underpin progress in all areas of development, helping the country fulfill its dream of becoming the ‘India of the future’.
But Energy storage systems play a vital role to enhance capacity firming and smoothing the variable and intermittent power output from solar plants. The need for Energy Storage is thus indispensable in lieu of growing share of solar power in India’s energy basket. With the year on year declining price trend of solar and energy storage technologies, the time is not very far when not only commercial and industrial customers but also residential customers would become prosumers where they will produce and consume the electricity in-house and this will be possible with the hybrid solution of solar and storage. Another market, which will grow in the near future, will be second life of the battery where the batteries (after few modifications) from the electric vehicles after their life can be used for the solar applications which will further reduce the solution cost of solar plus storage.
How will the ‘second life of the battery’ benefit the consumers?
(Question ID = 53379)

Correct Answer: B