Budget: Decentralized, green electricity networks need workforce with new skills

livemint.com:

solar power generation. While the cost of photovoltaic cells has come down dramatically, electricity generation is limited to the period when the sun shines. In a year, this works out to around 18-20% utilization of the panels, compared to 80% for a coal-fired plant.

Thus, at an asset creation level, a 1MW coal power plant is equivalent to 4MW solar panel capacity. Hence, the initial investment required is greater, as much as four to five times more than for a coal-based plant. This brings forth a significant challenge—garnering long-term climate finance at a low interest rate.

Industrialized countries must provide this, and Indian policymakers much aggressively engage in this direction. A just way to mobilize funds from the Global North is to put a small annual parking fee of, say, $1 per tonne of carbon dioxide parked in the global atmosphere by each country from 1990 onwards, the year when preparations for the Rio Earth Summit started and greater global awareness on the perils of climate change emerged. This approach recognizes the fact that the stock of greenhouse gases (GHGs) is causing warming in greater dimensions than annual emissions.

Another key challenge with augmenting solar capacity is that of land availability on the scale required to meet the demand. No doubt, rising cell efficiency will reduce land needs. For example, an efficiency of 30% compared to current levels of 20% will reduce land needs by 30%.