A number you likely know: 400 million. That’s how many people live without electricity in India. And not coincidentally, most of these people are poorest of the poor and live in rural villages or hamlets. The presence of such an enormous population eager for something better has given rise to new commercial products and services such as solar lanterns, solar home systems, and, the subject of this blog, micro-grids.

How will solar energy be made to work in India? As I discussed in my previous article there are three key challenges. One, how will the country pay for solar energy in a situation where there is no money to pay for even the crashed costs of installation. Two, what is the best model for the distribution and use of this relatively expensive energy in a country where millions still live in the dark? Three, how should India combine the twin objectives of supply of clean energy and creation of domestic manufacturing capacities?

Kerala's 10,000 Solar Rooftop Programme is already in full swing with almost half (4700) rooftops signed up by mid-January 2013. Any Keralaite with 15 square meters of unshaded rooftop area can register (http://ddr.anert.gov.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=116) to set up a 1 KW-peak system on their roof. The programme counts on each solar rooftop plant costing in total about Rs.

India’s solar power policy is now entering round two. And there is much that needs to be reviewed and reworked as the business of solar energy has seen massive turbulence in India as well as globally. In the first phase (2010 to 2013) of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) the target was to set up 1,000-2,000 MW of grid-based solar power in the country. By 2013, the country has indeed commissioned some 1,000 MW of solar power, but 700 MW of this target comes from the non-JNNSM state of Gujarat.

Every niche has its own lingo and Energy might have one of the most complicated ones around. Just as an example energy can be measured in six different ways! - Joule, Calorie, Tonne Oil Equvalent,  Watt hour, British Thermal Unit and Tonne Coal Equivalent. (For a good converter see: http://www.iea.org/stats/unit.asp ).

Two consecutive days of grid collapse has left almost half of India’s population without power.

Three major grids – northern, north-eastern and eastern – have crashed. Reportedly, over 20 states have been affected. Trains have stalled, markets have closed down, and institutions and offices have been forced to announce holidays. In short, this is nothing short of a national calamity.

What are the reasons behind this massive grid failure?

Delhi needs to critically rethink its move to abandon roof top solar scheme