A PRECISE STUDY ON THE TRUCK INDUSTRY IN INDIA by Mithun Abraham Alexander

A PRECISE STUDY ON THE

TRUCK INDUSTRY IN INDIA








ASSIGN MENT -1




Submitted To
Prof. Jayamohan Nair



Submitted By
Mithun Abraham Alexander
1st Semester MBA





Institute of Co-operative Management
Poojappura



CONTENTS
Page No.
Chapter 1 Introduction 03
Chapter 2 Major Truck Manufactures of India 05
Chapter 3 Career growth and Opportunities of Truck Industry 10
Chapter 4 Challenges of Truck Industry 20
Chapter 5 Summary of Recommendations 23
Chapter 6 Future of Truck Industry 27
ANNEXURE
Annexure Bibliography 29



Chapter – 1
INTRODUCTION

A truck (American English) or lorry (British English) is a motor vehicle commonly used for carrying goods and materials. Some light trucks/lorries are similar in size to a passenger automobile. Commercial transportation trucks/lorries or fire trucks can be large and can also serve as a platform for specialized equipment. The word "truck" possibly derives from the Greek "trochos" (wheel). In North America, certain kinds of big wheels were called trucks. When the gasoline-engine driven trucks came into fashion, these were called "motor trucks."

Transport engineers, planners and economists have long realized that future increases in surface transportation capacity would result less from the construction of physical transportation infrastructure than from the development of techniques and tools aimed at improving the efficient use of existing infrastructure. An efficient freight transportation system is the backbone of a successful economy. Both businesses and consumers rely every day on inexpensive and efficient goods movement. However, goods movement, particularly in urban areas, comes at a high cost to society. Large trucks mixing with congested urban passenger and pedestrian traffic are responsible for significant safety and environmental hazards and can make driving and walking very unpleasant for urban residents.

The trucking industry in India is entirely in the private domain and is dominated by small road transport operators, majority of whom own a single truck. The industry is a major contributor to the economy. It has been increasing its share in the movement of goods within the country vis-à-vis other modes of transport, up from less than 20 per cent in 1951 to 70 per cent now. It has also, in the process, acquired significant political influence. Given the large number of truck owners, the industry appears to be competitive; the fact, however, is that around 5000 cargo operators handle the entire cargo. According to industry sources, in about 2-3% of cases, do customers directly access the truck owners and book their goods. The cargo operators cartelize and decide the freight and there is hardly any competition at their level. This is the most important feature of the trucking industry in India and it has a critical bearing on the quality of its service and the policy design to deal with the issue. The regulatory provisions governing the industry have been liberalized but a lot more is required to be done.

Road traffic has overtaken the railways in both the passenger and freight segments. Currently, road transport accounts for 85 per cent and 70 per cent of the total passenger and freight transport respectively. Most of the remaining traffic is accounted for by the railways, with a small percentage share going to the air transport sector. The road transport sector has witnessed a growth rate of 7 to 10 per cent every year since 1960-61. It is estimated that total freight transport output will double every 10 to 13 years. A rise in the long-term trend line of GDP growth will imply correspondingly rapid growth in transport output.

The number of goods vehicles has grown from 1.7 lakh in 1961 to 30 lakh in 2001-02, making a growth of 8% annually. The industry has a two-tier structure. Tier consists of freight aggregators who account for the bulk of the freight traffic because of their access to information about freight and fleet availability. They control the business and are recognised by banks. The other tier comprises small operators with 1-5 trucks and practically no market power.

Indian truck industry has developed with the passage of time and has involved significant companies of the Indian automobile industry in truck production such as Hindustan Motors, Volvo, Mahindra and Mahindra, Eicher, Ashok Leyland, Tata Motors, Swaraj Mazda, and Force Motors.

Truck Categories in Indian truck industry

The India truck industry comprises of varied categories of trucks suited for the performance of specific jobs and these trucks are also designed to be fuel efficient. The list of the prominent category of trucks needs the mention of:

• Tippers
• Delivery Vans
• Trailers
• Haulage
• Cabs
• Rigid Trucks

Chapter - 2
Major Truck Manufactures of India

The significant truck manufacturing companies of the India truck industry are engaged in the manufacture of almost all types of trucks. Ashok Leyland is engaged in the manufacture Haulage trucks, cabs, rigid and tipper trucks. The hippo haulage category includes models like Artik 30.14 Tractor, 4018 Tractor and Tusker Turbo Tractor3516, and the other haulage vehicles of Ashok Leyland includes Comet Gold 1613, Tusker Super 1616, 1612 H, Bison Haulage, 1613 H II. It’s rigid and tipper truck category includes Ecomet 912 and Ecomet 1112 and Comet Coal Carrier, Bison Tipper, Taurus 2516-6x4 Tipper respectively. Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. is engaged exclusively in the production of Hard Top Range, LCV Range and Pic-Up Range of cabs and delivery vans as well. Hindustan Motors Ltd. produces MASCOT T-480 FC and Swaraj Mazda offers Sartaj WV26-S and Swaraj 4, models in their respective rigid truck category. Force Motors produces rigid trucks, trailers, and delivery vans. Rigid trucks are the specialty of Eicher Ltd.
Trucks by Company
Ashok Leyland
Haulage
4x2 Haulage Models
• 1613 H
• 1612 H
• Comet 1611
• 1613H/2 (12M Goods)
• 4/51GS
• 1613 S
• 1616 H
• 1616H - BS III
Multiaxle Vehicles
• 2214 (6X2)
• 2516 H (6X2)
• 2514 H (6X2)
• 2516 H (6X 4)
• 2516H/4C

Hippo Haulage
Beaver Haulage

Tippers
Hippo Tipper
Stallion Mk III Tipper

4x2 and Multixled Tippers
• CT 1613 H/1 (4X2)
• Taurus 2516/2 (6x4)
• 1613 ST (4x2)
• Taurus HD 2516MT/1 (6x4)
• CT 1613 H/2 (4x2)

Rigid Trucks
Beaver Tractor
Hippo Tractor



Pic-Up Range
• Mahindra Utilty
• Mahindra Pik-up
• Mahindra NC640DP
• Pik-Up CBC
Hard Top Range
• Mahindra Economy
• Mahindra Marshal DI
• Mahindra 775 XDB
• Mahindra 3door Hard Top
• Mahindra 5door Hard Top

LCV Range
• Mahindra CabKing 576
• Mahindra DI 3200
• Mahindra Cab King 576 DI
• Mahindra Load King DI
• Maxx Maxi Truck

Delivery Van
Mahindra Voyager Delivery Van


Swaraj Mazda
Rigid Trucks
Sartaj V W 26-S
Premium Truck
Swaraj 4 Wheel Drive

Applications
Super ZT54
Swaraj Mazda Water Tank


Tata Motors
Rigid Trucks
Tata Motors' Range of
'World Trucks'
Tata Ace

Rigid Trucks
• LPT 1109 Turbo Truck
• LP 1109 Turbo Truck
• TL 4x4
• SFC 407 Ex Turbo Truck
• SFC 407 Turbo Truck
• LPT 709 E Truck
• LPT 407 Turbo Truck
• SFC 709 E Aerial Lift Turbo Truck
Tata Novus

Pic-Up
• Tata Xenon XT

Volvo

Rigid Trucks
Volvo FM
Volvo FH

Tippers
Volvo FM9 Tippers
• FM400 8x4 Tipper
• FM340 6x4 Tipper

























Largest manufacturers in the world as of 2007
Pos. Make Units
1 Isuzu 478,535
2 Daimler AG (Mercedes-Benz, Freightliner Trucks, Sterling Trucks,
Unimog, Western Star, Fuso) 438,954
3 Volvo Group (Volvo, Mack, Renault, UD Nissan Diesel) 210,446
4 Hyundai Group (Hyundai) 159,237
5 Tata Group (Tata Motors, Daewoo Commercial Vehicle) 157,781
6 UD Nissan Diesel 131,429
7 Hino Motors (Toyota Group) 129,107
8 Fiat Group (Iveco, Magirus, Astra, Seddon Atkinson,
Yuejin)127,542
9 PACCAR (DAF Trucks, Kenworth, Peterbilt, Leyland Trucks) 126,960
10 MAN 92,485









Chapter - 3
Career growth and Opportunities of Truck Industry

There is so much more to the trucking industry than you probably realize. Sure, we understand that drivers are the face of the industry, but the truth is that there is a whole team of people behind them making sure everything reaches its destination. That's why, when you look into the trucking industry, one thing becomes real clear: there are many opportunities in a variety of different areas, including driving, operations, cargo, maintenance and the Allied Trades. Each of these areas provides an excellent opportunity to earn a good living, and plenty of potential for you to progress through the industry.

Positions that are open in the truck industry

There is a wide range of occupations and positions that make up the trucking industry and each has its own rewards. The following list will provide you with a global view of all the occupations and positions that are available within the industry.

 Functional Positions

 Local Pick-up and Delivery Driver
 Short-haul Driver
 Domestic and International Long-haul Driver
 Owner-Operator
 Shunt Driver
 Forklift/Tow Motor Operator
 Dock Worker
 Truck and Transport Mechanic
 Truck and Trailer Technician
 Parts Technician
 Wheel and Tire Technician
 Maintenance Helper/Service Employee
 Auto Body Repairperson
 Welder
 Dispatcher
 Rate Clerk
 Licensing and Permitting Specialist
 Freight Claims Specialist
 Safety and Loss Prevention Specialist

 Supervisory/Management Positions

 Driver Trainer
 Driver Supervisor
 Dock Foreman/Supervisor
 Terminal Manager
 Operations Manager
 Fleet Manager
 Warehouse Manager
 Shop Supervisor/Foreman
 Maintenance Manager
 Traffic Manager

Career paths In this Industry

The trucking industry offers tremendous career growth. Many people in upper management today started their career working in one or more of the identified functional positions within the industry. The opportunities in this industry are limitless. As a result, career can be made up of a series of lateral moves from one functional position to another, or you may hone your skills within a functional area and move up the ladder into a supervisory or management position. The opportunity for career progression and growth is limitless, so explore the road you can travel starting with the position that interests you the most.



Opportunities

Smart trucking companies face several opportunities to emerge victorious amidst these turbulent times. Three options appear particularly compelling: go niche, combine with asset-light logistics providers, or seek scale.

Go Niche. Trucking companies that develop differentiated services in specialty services enjoy stronger profitability and growth. For instance, expedited ground transportation provider Panther II has prospered by focusing on same-day freight needs, which it provides on an asset-light basis. In June 2005, Panther sold its business to a private equity firm, Fenway Partners, for $142 million. In a marketplace where trucking companies typically get valued at four to six times operating profit, Panther received a valuation of nearly double that rate. Similarly, in an environment where truckers may get valued at 0.5-0.7 times sales, Panther received more than 1 times sales (with $138 million of revenues). This reflects the strong underlying performance niche carriers can achieve. It also highlights the superior valuations that asset-light trucking companies can receive.

Combine with Asset-Light Logistics Providers. Truckers that merge with other logistics service providers can generate more valuable combinations. Schneider’s acquisition of APS highlights one model. For smaller companies, it may be more practical to consider selling rather than buying. For example, one of the leading drayage and inter-modal trucking providers in the country, Comtrak, recently agreed to be acquired by the Hub Group, the inter-modal marketing company. The combination provides a tighter suite of inter-modal services for Hub customers.

Seek Scale. Small and mid-sized trucking companies can also seek to generate scale by merging with one another. In the inter-modal trucking arena, Road Link USA was formed by the simultaneous merger of six regional companies. On a more conventional one-to-one basis, Estes Express and GI Trucking joined forces. The companies decided that they would be more likely to cut costs, complete a national network, and provide superior marketing as a combined entity. As a result, they merged to add scale.


Employment growth related to industrial production. Trucking employment6 generally correlates with industrial production, declining in recessions and increasing during recoveries. The cyclical pattern of employment in trucking thus contrasts with that of the other private service-producing industries. For example, employment in the service-producing sector actually increased during the 1973–75 and 1980–1982 recessionary periods, while industrial production and trucking employment fell. Although employment trends in trucking appear to have been less cyclical in the 1990s, a large portion of industry sales continues to originate from the manufacturing sector. Therefore, the trucking industry, while classified among the service-producing industries, still tends to react quite strongly to changes in industrial production, as indicated in the following tabulation of recessionrelated peaks and troughs in trucking and warehousing employment (monthly data, seasonally adjusted):

While most job losses in trucking are related to economic contractions, developments between the 1980 and 1981–82 recessions are in need of explanation. Employment losses over this period may have been due to rapid restructuring in the industry that resulted from new legislation. (See next section.) The combined recessions and industry restructuring resulted in a net job loss of 183,000 between June of 1979, the prerecession peak of the employment series, and February of 1983, the series trough following the second of the back-to-back recessions. Employment losses were not quickly recovered, with the industry taking 2 years to hire up to prior employment levels. Growth was moderate from 1985 forward. Even the 1990– 91 recession had only a modest impact on employment compared to earlier downturns, with job losses measuring about one-third those posted over each of the prior three recessions. However, the subsequent recovery was slow, with almost no employment gains occurring through 1993. The following year was marked by especially strong growth in employment, although increased subcontracting of trucking services from other industries may have accounted for some of this. Thereafter, payroll employment plateaued in 1995 and through 1996.



Employment and legislation. Major legislation affected the trucking industry in the 1980s and 1990s. Industry restructuring occurred beginning in 1980, when air, rail, and trucking services were all deregulated to some extent. The Motor Carrier Act (MCA) of that year allowed for interstate competition in the for-hire trucking industry, Standard Industrial Classification (SIC), which accounts for a small portion of the Nation’s trucks, but a relatively large portion of freight movement. Yet, interstate deregulation was only the beginning of renewed competition. Shortly after the deregulation of interstate operations, intrastate regulations also were dismantled.

Before Federal preemption of States’ authority in 1995, most States controlled the routes, rates, and services of motor carriers within their borders. Continued circuitous routing of shipments and use of empty trailers on return trips were common, both examples of inefficiency. Deregulation of intrastate trucking first began in Florida in 1980, followed in Maine and Arizona in 1982, and later in five other States.Then, in 1995, the Trucking Industry Regulatory Reform A ct(TIRRA) prohibited all States from regulating carriers’ routes, rates, or services. States were still allowed to regulate such areas as safety, financialfitness, hazardous m aterial m ovem ent, and vehiclesize and weight. W hile the im pact of deregulation is difficult to separate from other factors, itis evidentthat growth in em ploym ent (including self-em ploym ent) was stronger during the period just priorto deregulation. Atthattim e, theInterstate Com - m erce Com m ission (ICC) lowered restrictions for new entrants to the industry in anticipation of deregulation. Because deregulation and recessionary economic conditions coincided, it is unknown how much of the reduction in employment between 1979 and 1983 is due to industry restructuring, and how much is due to economic conditions. One can speculate that it is a bit of both. The official estimate of total savings due to the Motor Carrier Act of 1980 is about $10 billion annually. When savings in inventory costs are added, gains have been estimated to be 6 times that figure.

The economic situation at the time when the Trucking Industry Regulatory Reform Act took effect bears some resemblance to that at the time when the Motor Carrier Act was implemented, in that industrial production had begun to decline. There was a marked slowdown in payroll employment growth after TIRRA. However, when growth among the selfemployed in 1995 is factored in, there appears to be little change in employment trend. (See next section). Nevertheless, increased efficiency arising from TIRRA will generate a $43 billion savings over 5 years, according to a source in the logistics industry.

Trucking-related jobs. While employment in transportation and warehousing comprises the majority of trucking jobs, it does not include almost 500,000 jobs among self-employed truckers and transportation brokers. Among selfemployed truckers, only those supporting trucking and warehousing are reflected here; these workers account for 80 percent of all self-employed truckers, with the remaining jobs supporting other industries. Most of the increase among the self-employed occurred between 1975 and 1982, with growth subsequently flat until 1995, when TIRRA was passed. (As mentioned earlier, employment of self-employed truckers picked up in 1995 when growth in the number of workers on payrolls in the trucking industry slowed.) Both the self-employed and subcontracting trucking companies are involved in leasing arrangements with trucking companies. Insight into this contracting activity is captured in the Census Bureau’s Motor Freight Transportation and Warehousing Survey, which indicates that the leasing of drivers with equipment increased by 50 percent between 1986 and 1995, averaging an annual growth rate of 6 percent per year. Leasing the services of drivers accounted for 66 percent of purchased transportation by trucking companies in 1995.15 Growth among the self-employed between 1995 and 1996 is corroborated by an increase of 80 percent in miles driven by leased drivers. Further evidence of the participation of truckers in leasing arrangements comes from the Current Population Survey, which shows that truckers are represented heavily among on-call workers.

As inter- and intrastate deregulation opened new routes and introduced new suppliers, third-party transportation brokers and freight forwarders rushed in to connect suppliers of freight services with customers. Transportation brokers operate between the shippers who need to move goods and the (truckload) carriers, creating a link between the two. Growth in this industry, captured in SIC 473, Freight Transportation Arrangement, has been dramatic. Only 75 transportation brokers were licensed by the ICC in 1975. Subsequently, the business grew by leaps and bounds to approximately 6,100 brokers in 1988 and more than 8,000 by the end of 1993. Employment in this industry segment rose at an annual rate of 7 percent between 1988 and 1996, more than twice as fast as jobs in trucking services. Demand for brokers’ services was so great that their employment increased throughout the 1990–91 recession, and, unlike for-hire trucking, brokers have posted accelerated job growth since the passage of TIRRA. These trucking-related job gains have come on top of the already significant job gains evident in the for-hire industry. The new jobs contribute to a more flexible and dynamic trucking operation. Next, we review changes in pay and working conditions for persons employed in trucking services.

Workload statistics. Traffic measures imply an increasing workload for most trucking employees. For example, the average length of haul for interstate freight increased dramatically between 1975 and 1985, as trucking firms expanded their geographic coverage. Increased average hauls are normally associated with more time away from home, because most hauls are delivered by one operator (although this is not always the case). Growth of intrastate freight and increasing “just-in-time” demands may have caused trip lengths to decline for intercity movements, although overall lengths of hauls have increased.

High labor turnover. Increasing workloads and less-attractive pay have contributed to an extremely high driver turnover rate. Recent labor turnover statistics show that within the large truckload sector, labor turnover ranges between 80 and 100 percent a year; smaller carriers in the truckload sector experience turnover in the 60- to 80-percent range. In the lessthan- truckload sector, which is generally better paid, turnover is closer to 15 percent. One study calculated a 38-percent turnover rate for both types of carriers combined, compared with only 12 percent in manufacturing. The high turnover rate in trucking is indicative of an occupation that is relatively easy to enter (highly labor-elastic), but difficult to perform over an extended period. For companies, high turnover results in a greater share of resources devoted to recruitment. Companies are beginning to experiment with wage increases in an effort to reduce these turnover costs.


Other industry developments
As indicated earlier, trucking companies have been aggressive in pursuing strategies that yield cost reductions or increased efficiency. Carriers are faced with the same demands that transportation buyers face: better and faster service, specific delivery and pickup times, and better tracking and tracing of shipments. For shippers, predictable service sometimes is more important than the cost of goods movement, depending on whether the production schedule is “just-in-time” or not. Shippers of high-valued products such as computers, electronics, medical products, and auto parts are especially likely to demand fast, reliable delivery. If market demand can change suddenly, as it does in computer markets, products have shorter “lifespans” and must be turned around quickly. Whatever the case, transportation companies have responded by focusing on better management of time and assets in the delivery process, a strategy that relies on new technologies and less intermediate handling of goods in transport.

Just-in-time delivery. Customers began to demand quicker and more flexible service from the transportation network as they switched to just-in-time processes. In 1990, 18 percent of production was just-in-time, compared with 28 per cent in 1995, and inventory-sales ratios declined sharply over that 5-year period. Further improvements in inventory systems are expected to reduce the time that warehouses take to fill orders by 15 to 20 percent over the next 5 years, and to cut transit times by 5 to 10 percent. As world trade grows and the business environment becomes even more sophisticated, demands for efficiency will continue to increase. Many new technologies have come into play in the search for quicker and better distribution methods. For example, electronic data interchange, new vehicle location detection systems, and voice and data communication services all are improving the logistical management of the trucking operation. Innovations in mobile communication systems have enabled companies to monitor such statistics as mileage traveled on a specific vehicle, fuel efficiency, best fueling locations, and vehicle location and speeds, as well as other data. Companies can better utilize their equipment when they can quickly reschedule or combine existing delivery pickups, vastly improving their ability to manage inventory. Transportation brokers and third-party providers lower the cost of goods movement by filling empty return hauls and increasing freight volume per mile traveled.

More capital-intensive operations. The capital-to-labor ratio increased for the trucking industry in recent decades, due in part to the use of larger and more fuel-efficient trucks. This, in turn, contributed to a 20-percent increase in the average tonnage of freight hauled between 1975 and 1995. As a result, companies were able to spread variable costs over larger volumes of freight. While the fuel efficiency of the Nation’s motor vehicles in general has increased, the move towards larger trucks partially reduced the gains but economized firms’ use of labor. Any increased fuel efficiency in freight transportation also has been mitigated by the movement of freight from slow-moving modes (rail) to faster moving ones (air and truck). Like increasing vehicle size, the growing use of containerization in the inter-modal industry also has helped firms to save on labor costs. Inter-modal firms link different modes of transportation, often truck and rail or truck and air, for ultimate delivery to the customer. Providing a seamless flow of goods from the Nation’s ports to railroads and highways, the inter-modal delivery system has been supported through provisions of the Inter-modal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991, which provides funding for inter-modal projects. Between 1988 and 1995, the average annual rate of growth in this industry component was 6 percent. Containerization refers to movement of commodities in large containers or trailers rather than as smaller units, representing a shift to more capital-intensive operations. Use of containers reduces handling costs, costs of damage or theft, and very importantly, time required to transfer cargo. Because commodities are in bulky containers, cargo is moved by crane or forklift, a procedure requiring less manual labor than the handling of smaller packages. Forms of containerization took hold in the early 1980s in both rail-truck transport and truck-water transport, and have continued to become more widespread.

The widening market. Competition is taking place across traditional modes of transport. In fact, in 1996 several major players in the trucking industry were reclassified into the air courier industry, due to a shift over time in their primary product. Because the decision to move freight has become a function of cost and time rather than regulation, traditional market definitions (and concentration levels) no longer apply, and this has resulted in a “market” that encompasses every possible mode of transport. in response to deregulation and the intense competition that followed, the trucking industry has changed the quality and types of services it renders By most accounts, the resulting reductions in cost have been passed on to consumers. Today, trucking services are more responsive to our increasingly dynamic and complex economic environment, incorporating improvements in technology that have pervaded all industries. Competition has resulted in increasing capital intensity in the industry, as firms strive to reduce average variable costs per load. Firms often are coupling with other transportation sectors to minimize the cost for specific delivery requirements by combining the efficiencies of different modes of transport. Increased competition also has led companies to change the character of compensation plans for their workers, replacing those based on time with plans based on output. Over the years, wage premiums for unionized truckers have been bid down, and union representation has fallen dramatically. Increasing workloads and less attractive pay have led to high labor turnover and persistent driver shortages.





















Chapter - 4
CHALLENGES OF TRUCK INDUSTRY

Overcapacity in the trucking industry through the 2001-2003 recession resulted in significant capacity rationalization. As the economy improved in 2004, demand for truck capacity increased substantially, leading to shortages within the industry, with availability of drivers being the limiting factor. High fuel costs and strict regulatory environment following 9/11 have placed additional pressures on the trucking industry. The industry's major challenges are summarized as under:

• Low operating margins - sharp competition
• Centralized decision making in a mobile work environment – disenfranchised mobile workforce (drivers) controlling 80 percent of variable costs
• Driver shortage - high rate of driver churn into the construction sector
• Stricter regulatory environment and compliance regimen post 9/11 - loss of productivity and increase in operating costs
• Higher driver qualifications post 9/11 - higher cost of hiring and employing drivers
• High fuel costs
• Increase in insurance costs
• High cost of truck down time - need for effective maintenance management

Truck driver is the most critical link in the road transport chain. Despite the significance of his role, he faces several problems. His working conditions are appalling. Long working hours away from home, absence of proper facilities at work, driving on bad roads, inadequate space in the cabin, etc. are responsible for his fatigue which endanger road safety. The various problems of the drivers should be addressed at the earliest. The driver shortage is probably the number one factor affecting capacity. According to the American Trucking Association, the driver shortage has reached 20,000 today and is expected to exceed 114,000 by 2014. Further, because of the high rate of turnover, over 300,000 new truck drivers are expected to be needed over the next 5 years. This problem is large and growing. Barring a sudden solution, many operators may soon see a combination of idle fleets and lower margins, as driver pay may have to double by 2014 in order to alleviate the driver crunch. This is not a speculative risk – it is already occurring. In Werner’s recent second quarter release, it conceded that 129 trucks in their fleet are sitting idle due to the current driver market.

Driver issues rank high on this list, and even some seemingly unrelated items such as fuel and insurance costs are in the hands of drivers to a fair extent. The major reasons for driver dissatisfaction are quality of life issues - being away from home for extended periods, unpredictable schedules, and inability to follow an after-work routine. Driver disenfranchisement and lack of a career path further compound the problem. Although drivers are better educated and more qualified than ever before, they have little voice within their companies. Decision-making is highly centralized within trucking companies, even though the workforce is highly decentralized, with drivers controlling about 80 percent of variable cost. Variable costs are factors such as labor, fuel, and maintenance. For these reasons, driver turnover is high - over 130 percent (annual rate) in the fourth quarter of 2005. Fleet operators estimate that recruiting and training of a new driver costs $5,000 to $8,500. Reducing turnover thus is a key goal, and improving driver satisfaction is key to this end. Ironically, some fleets are reluctant to invest in training because of high turnover, but lack of training may contribute to turnover. The ability to manage affairs such as banking, health plans, retirement accounts, remote education, and to stay in touch with friends and family and have access to information and entertainment while on the road, can increase driver satisfaction by minimizing the disruptions to lifestyle caused by long periods away from home.

Fuel prices are the second highest operational cost for truckers. With fuel costs in the $2.75 to $3.25 a gallon range, many trucking operators are only maintaining profitability by imposing surcharges. Unfortunately smaller trucking operators have had more difficulty than large companies in passing on surcharges to their customers. Going forward, it appears likely that smaller truckers will not be able to mitigate the increase in diesel fuel. Additionally, larger trucking operators can count on economies of scale, which enables them to buy fuel in bulk and control their own filling stations. In contrast, smaller operators are forced to pay retail prices. Skyrocketing fuel prices not only exacerbate the pressure small truckers feel in comparison with larger competitors, but also encourage shippers to reconsider lower-cost rail options. The recent expansion in inter-modal transportation, which has increased from a growth rate of 5% in the 1990s to 9% today, is a direct result of these trucking cost shocks. The $14 billion inter-modal market is dwarfed by the $312 billion truckload market, but is growing into an increasingly competitive alternative for shippers. As fuel prices continue to increase, smaller trucking companies will increasingly face margin pressures. In response, we expect bankruptcies to skyrocket. In 2005, the trucking sector saw 2,250 bankruptcies. By 2010, we expect this number to more than double.

With rising fuel costs, reducing fuel consumption is another important goal. Idling trucks waste much fuel. Fleet operators also face capital costs, truck maintenance and downtime costs, insurance costs, and the costs of back-office functions such as record keeping and billing. The burden of regulatory compliance enters into the need for record keeping. Sharp competition translates into low margins (under 4 percent net margin for class 1 & 2 carriers). In a tough pricing environment, efficient operation is critical as there is no room for unnecessary costs. Fleets must maximize efficiency in all aspects of their operations to remain competitive and profitable.

Taxation of Road Users and Highway Expenditure

Road users are responsible for vehicle operating costs such as fuel, tyres, maintenance etc. They are also responsible for certain social costs which include costs of road damage, administration of traffic police, signaling etc., environment degradation, road accidents and congestion. It may be noted that there is no well defined road user charge policy in India for recovery of road costs. There has been some progress towards road pricing and cost recovery from road users over the last few years. This aspect will assume more importance as road agencies are granted more autonomy in raising funds. Both the central government and some state governments are moving towards “the user pays” principle in road pricing through levy of fuel cess for road development and maintenance. It is important to distinguish between tax revenue and road user charges. Specific taxes/charges like fuel cess can be considered as a road user charge. But most taxes on vehicles and operating inputs (fuel, tyres etc.) are part of the general tax revenue.

Chapter - 5
Summary of Recommendations

1. A number of policy changes are recommended to improve axle load controls: expand enforcement authority beyond officials of the Motor Vehicles Department (for instance Karnataka State has empowered PWD engineers); distinguish between minor (up to 5%) and more excessive overloading for which there would be extreme penalties; and make abetment of overloading an offence so as to enable action against the broker or transporter arranging the load.

2. To reduce delays at border crossings, particularly for high value or time-sensitive goods, the report recommends consideration of a system such as the European T.I.R., to permit sealed trucks which elect to use the system to operate without en-route inspections on the basis of a certificate issued at origin by a duly authorized and bonded issuing entity.

3. To encourage use of multi-axle vehicles and tractor-trailer combinations, thereby reducing transport costs and road pavement damage, it is recommended that incentives be put in place such as tax rates favoring such vehicles and reduced tolls on highways to reward their reduced impact on pavements.

4. Since a significant portion of the driver population is illiterate, it is recommended that audio-visual driver training materials be developed in the local language. This is already being done in the ongoing Kerala and Karnataka state road projects, and could be further pursued in the new state road projects proposed for Bank financing..

5. To improve axle load controls, changes recommended are: expand enforcement authority beyond officials of the Motor Vehicles Department; distinguish between minor (up to 5% of gross vehicle weight) and more excessive overloading for which there would be extreme penalties; and make abetment an offence to enable action against the broker or transporter arranging the load.




6. Invest in permanent weigh stations at strategic locations on the National Highway network to enable random checks of trucks passing the weigh station when the station is open. Require trucks found to be over-loaded to unload the excess load at their own cost and risk.

7. To prevent excessive hours of driving, it is recommended that trucks operating outside their home state be required to carry two licensed drivers at all times. This too could be taken up as a policy initiative under various State road projects.



Insurance Issues in Trucking Safety

1. As clearly demonstrated in country after country, an effective insurance industry has a critical role to play in improving the safety of the road transport system. However, for reasons that are not entirely clear, the Indian insurance system has never assumed the pivotal role in highway safety that it has in other countries. Supporting law enforcement in imposing accountabilities for unsafe driving is, of course, not the only function of the insurance industry, but arguably it is its most important one from the perspective of public policy. The problems related to the insurance system are described in the following:

2. In liability insurance in India it is the vehicle, not the owner or driver, which is insured. Thus it is the vehicle’s accident record that impacts on the experience rating aspects of the insurance premium. Since most accidents are due to the performance of either the driver of the vehicle or the owner who controls the driver, owners and drivers should bear the economic brunt of experience-rated premium increases if the driving or accident record is not good. As it stands now, it is a simple matter for an owner or driver with a bad accident record to replace the vehicle and thus avoid an adverse experience-rated premium increase. Experience-rated premiums should attach to the owner and to the driver of the vehicle.


3. In auto and truck liability insurance the policies do not have an upper liability limit while premium rates are controlled. The result has been loss ratios on truck insurance that exceed 100% by a wide margin, obviously decreasing any incentives the insurers may have to pursue such business. This is due in large part to government regulatory controls on premiums charged. Insurance industry representatives indicate that political lobbying by trucking interests has kept the premiums down. This constitutes an implicit subsidy to trucking, but one mainly realized by unsafe vehicle operators. Consideration should be given to allowing the insurance carriers greater flexibility to set policy limits and deductibles and to have more freedom in adjusting insurance rates on an owner or driver experience-rated basis. Some additional flexibility has been granted recently, whereby insurers can increase liability rates up to 400 percent of the base rate for a driver with a poor driving record, however, they cannot refuse to issue liability insurance.

4. Accident investigation and records-keeping are inadequate, and the insurance industry have either not been sufficiently motivated or empowered to compel improvements. Police are supposed to collect records relating to accidents, but according to the Sundar Committee, the Motor Vehicle Incident (MVI) reports mostly contain a statement that records were not produced, so it is not possible for the insurance company to prove any violation.

5. The driver licensing system is badly broken. It is commonly stated that a majority of truck drivers have invalid commercial driver licenses. It is imperative for highway safety that the system of driver licensing function properly. This must include not only proper and reasonable driver qualification and testing, but also an open system so that insurers, vehicle owners and others with valid needs can get complete information on an individual driver’s accident and violation record. This information will help insurers and truck operators get unsafe drivers off the road.

6. In addition to accident liabilities, there are also problems in the cargo insurance area. The transporter is liable for cargo loss or damage though in most cases the prevention of that loss and damage is in the hands of the truck operator. While it is possible for the transporter to obtain carrier’s liability coverage for the cargo, the insurance is high, and apparently is only available as part of a broader policy that is difficult or impractical for small transporters to obtain. The owner of the goods can obtain cargo coverage from insurers and usually does get such coverage on loss- or damage-sensitive cargo. In the event of a cargo loss the insurer pays the claim and then proceeds via subrogation to collect its loss from the transporters. This activity is only effective against the more financially established transporters; the small truck operators usually escape liability for their losses. Combined with the deficient driver licensing system, the ultimate result is both bad economics and bad safety performance. In conjunction with the overall reforms in this area, transporters should be allowed to buy individual cargo coverage for the goods in their (or their subcontractor’s) possession on a basis that will draw insurance industry interest to that line of coverage.

7. A review of government policies that may inhibit India’s recently privatized insurance industry from playing a much more prominent role in trucking safety is one of the more important and urgent policy actions that need to be considered by the government. The

8. Sundar Committee did not fully appreciate the contribution made by the insurance industry to an orderly and safe trucking industry in other countries, and therefore did not lay sufficient stress on resolving the problems of the insurance industry in India. However, the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA) has constituted a Committee headed by Shri Money which would be looking into these aspects.











Chapter - 6
Future of Truck Industry

The future of the trucking industry is a hotly contested issue if ever there was one. The primary question is whether the future is going to be profitable or not.

The current economic meltdown has been a huge slap in the face for just about everyone. People living beyond their means are starting to realize that isn’t such a smart idea. Businesses are seeing massive downturns in revenue and entire industries are reconsidering their viability. When the second largest mall owner goes bankrupt, you know the economic status quo is no longer the status quo at all.

The trucking industry is no different than any other part of the economy. The future of the trucking industry has always been an issue that most of us haven’t really wanted to address. Well, that no longer is a choice. The industry has been slapped around something seriously the last few years and the future is one that needs to be discussed. The good news is the trucking industry is a critical part of the economy in this country.

o Who moves goods and raw materials around?
o Who brings fuel to gas stations?
o Who brings food to grocery stores?
o Who brings medical supplies and equipment to hospitals?
o Who moves raw materials?
This is indisputable and the answer is the Trucks Will Do. Hence the question should not be “What will be the future of truck industry”, but what will it look like?

Fuel is going to be a big issue moving forward. The high prices of 2008 were a huge wakeup call for every trucking company and a death note for more than a few of them. The current economic recession has created a major pull back on demand and fuel prices have plummeted. This does not mean the issue has gone away. When the economy eventually revs back up, demand will rise again. When it does, fuel prices will shoot back up.


The bigger issue with future is not the next few years, but the next 10, 20 or 30 years. The problem is Availability. There is something known as peak fuel that gets everyone in a huff. The argument is we are now producing the most oil we ever will and production will start to drop in the next few years. The merits of this argument are difficult to determine, but what is not disputed is we’ve found all the easy to drill oil. There is more oil off Brazil, Alaska and perhaps in the melting arctic not to mention Iraq. The problem is it is going to cost a ton to produce it. An oil drill for the Gulf of Mexico was just completed and it cost $6 BILLION dollars for one well. The pumps you see driving down the freeway cost in the thousands. This represents a huge increase in cost and it will be passed along in fuel prices. How high will they go? Nobody knows, but what is clear is the issue of fuel price is going to revolutionize how the trucking industry works. In fact, the future of the trucking industry more or less boils down to this issue.






















Annexure

Bibliography

1. National Transport Policy Committee 1980
2. Report of the Steering Committee on Trucking Operations in India, 1999
3. India Transport Sector: the Challenges Ahead, Document of the World Bank, 2002
4. China: Strategies for Road Freight Development, Document of the World Bank, 1995
5. India: Efficiency of the Road Transport Industry, World Bank Policy Note, 2003
6. Highway Sector Financing in India, Document of the World Bank, 2004
7. Road Development Plan: Vision 2021, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways
8. Report of the Working Group on Road Transport for the Tenth Five Year Plan
9. India Vision 2020, Planning Commission
10. Economic Survey, Ministry of Finance, 2002-04
11. Publications of All India Motor Transport Congress
12. Publications of All India Confederation of Goods Vehicle Owners’ Associations
13. Report of National Aid Control Programme, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, 1996
14. Paper by SM Afsar, DFID, New Delhi on HIV/AIDs Programme amongst Truckers: The Need and Challenges.






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BHARAT HEAVY ELECTRICALS [B H E L] by varun-v

BHARAT HEAVY ELECTRICALS [B H E L]



Submitted by-varun-v
1st semester MBA ICM-IMK


CONTENTS
1. Introducing BHEL
2. BHEL products
3. BHEL’s involvement in the Transportation sector
4. BHEL an Electrical manufacturing giant
5. Current importance
6. BHEL in Power sector
7. BHEL in Hydro Projects
8. Financial audit ofBHEL
9. Major achievements of BHEL
10. Future plans
11. Global competators

















PREFACE
BHEL or BHARAT HEAVY ELECTRICALS LIMITED is the largest
• Engineering and manufacturing entrrprise in India in the Energy related/infrastructure sector.BHEL was founded in 1956.Its operations are organised around SIX business sector including.
• POWER
• TRANSPORTATION
• TRANSMISSION
• TELECOMMUNICATION
• RENEWABLE ENERGY
• OVER SEAS BUSINESS

TYPE PUBLIC
FOUNDED 1956
HEAD QUARTERS NEW DELHI
KEY PERSON K-RAVIKUMAR
INDUSTRY ELECTRICAL POWER
REVENUE RS 214.97 billion
EMPLOYEES 44,305


BHEL
BHEL or Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited is the largest engineering and manufacturing enterprise in India in the energy related/infrastructure sector.BHEL is one of the nine large public sector undertakings known as Navaratnas or nine jewels.BHEL offers over 180 products and provide systemsand services to meet the needs of core sectors like:
Powertransmission,transportation,oiland gas,non conventional energy sources and telecommunication.

BHEL was founded in 1956. Its operations are organised around three business sectors including power,tranportation, telecommunication ,renewableenergy and overseas business.Today BHEL has a wide spread net work comprising 14 manufacturing divisions, 8service centers,4power sector,18 regional offices,and alarge number of project sites spread all over India and abroad.BHEL is the largest exporter of engineering products
BHEL Products
• Steam turbinesand generators
• Gas turbines
• Rotary valves
• Steam generators
• Power station control equipment
• Swith gear
• Locomotive engines
• Bus ducts
• Transformers
• Insulators
• Capacitors,turbines upto 500mw
Energy meters etc







BHELS involvement in the transportation sector
Today over 85% of Indian Railways ,one of the largest railway networks in the world ,is equipped with Traction equipment busines with BHEL.
The range includes traction motors tractiongenerators,altrnators,transformers,locomotive engines,chopper controlbrakes,software control doors and
Other transport applications.
BHEL has manufactured and supplied large number of electric locomotives[up to 5000] to Indian rail waysand diesel , electric locomotives ranging from 350hp to 2600hp
This has established BHEL as a leading locomotive manufacturer in the country.

Diesel multiple units,underground-metrorail system at calcutta ,electric multiple units [e m u] services at mumbai
Calcutta , chennai and Delhi operates on drives and controls supplied by BHEL.


BHEL an ELECTRICAL MANUFACTURING GIANT
• BHEL is a leading A.C manufacturer and the last fur decades have supplied more than 2000ht and LTAC machines for various applications to Indian as well as export market. The applications include.
• Power plants
• Nuclear energy
• Petro chemicals
• Irrigation projects
• Fertilizers
• Refineries
• Cement and steel industries
Pipe line ...etc

Over 65% of power generated from India comes from BHEL-supplied equipment.over all it has installed power equipment for over 90,000mw.




Current importance
BHEL has assimilated and updated/adopted the state of the art technologies in the power and industrialequipment sector acquired from world leaders. BHEL has successfully undertaken trunkey projects on its own and posses the requisite flexibility to interface and complement international companies for large projects ,and also exhibited adaptibility by manufacturing and suppliying intermidiate products to desighn of other manufacturers and original equipment manufacturers [OEMs] . The success
In the area of rehablitation and life extension of power projects has established BHEL as a reliable alternative.








BHEL IN BHOPAL
Heavy Eiectrical plant,BHOPAL is the mother plant of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited,the largest engineering and manufacturing enterprise in India in the energy-related and infrastructurew sector.It is located about 7 kms from Bhopal railway station. It was associated with Electricals India ltd and U.K based company.

BHEL, Bhopal certified to ISO :9001, ISO 14001 and OSHAS 18001, is moving towards excellence by adopting TQM and per EFQM/C11 model of business excellence.

BHEL in Bhopal has its own laboratories for material testing and instrument calibration which are accredited with ISO 17025 by NABL. THE Hydro laboratry,Ultra high voltage laboratry and centre for Electric Transportation are the only laboratories of its in this part of the world.
BHEL in Bhopals strength is its employees. The company continously invests in Human Resuorces and pays utmost attention to their needs.[The plant’s township is well known for health services free health services is extended to all the employees through 350 bedded Kasturba Hospital ] .
BHEL IN POWER SECTOR

BHEL is the largest producer of power generating equipments including Turbines,Generators ,Boilers and auxilaries in the country. BHEL has supplied thermal sets up to 500mw rating and has the technology to go up to800mw.BHEL manufactured 500/236mw nuclear sets aare also installed in the country.
BHEL manufactured sets accounts for 65% of total installed capacity in India.Based on more than 35 years of experience in the field of desighn, manufacturing ,erection and operating experence services services in steam turbine ,bhel is undertaking renovation and modernization of bhel and non bhel thermal power plants this includes , life assesment studies reccomendation for uprating/up gradation retrofitting repairs etc.





BHEL in Hydro Projects
BHEL has expertise in the desighn of the hydro mechanical equipments for the water resurces projects. Various types of gates and hoists including vertical lift gates, slide gates ,draft tube gates ,radical gates, sector gates, stop logs ,bulk heads,electrical hoists,gantry cranes ,monorail hoists etc are desighned and manufactured in BHEL.
















MAJOR ACHIVEMENTS OF BHEL

1. Acquired certification for quality management systems,Environmental management system ,occupational and safety management systems[OHSAS].
2. Installed equipment for over 90,000mw power generation.
3. Supplied over 2,25000 mw transformer and other equipment operating in transmission and distribution net work up to400kv[ac&dc].
4. Supplied over 25,000 motors with Drive control systems to power projects, petrochemicals,Refineries,Steel, Aluminium ,Fertilizer ,Cement plants etc.
5. Supplied Traction electrics and AC/DC locos to power over 12000km railway net work.
Supplied over one million valves to power plants and other industries.





STANDARDS
• British standard specification-132
• British standard specification-2613
• British standard specufication-752
• Indian boiler regulation
• American society of mechanical engineers
• American national standard code
• ASME and ASA power test code
• American standard asssociation
• Standards of heat exchange USA
• Standards of the institute of electrical and electronic engineers.
• Standards of the Canadian electrical manufactures association.
Standards of the national electrical manufactures association.




Future plans
BHEL ‘s vision is to become a world-class engineering enterprise, commited to enhancing stake holder value.The company is striving to give shape to its aspirations and fullfill the expectations of the country to become a globalplayer.

The greatest strength of bhel is its highly skilled and commited 43,300 employees .Every employee is given an equal opportunity to develop him self and grow in his carrer.Continous trainng and retraining, career planing a positive work culture and parcipative style of management all these have engendered development of a commited and motivated work force setting new bench marks in terms of productivity,quality of responsiveness.







GLOBAL CMPETITORS WITH BHEL
1.SUZLON ENERGY
2.BEML
3.BGR ENERGY
4.AIA ENGINEERING
5.ALFA LAVAL
6.PRAJ INDUSTRIES
7.ELECON ENGNEERING
8.SANGHVI MOVERS

AN ASSIGNMENT ON SOLAR ENERGY SECTOR by ELSA CHERIAN

AN ASSIGNMENT ON SOLAR ENERGY SECTOR




SUBMITTED BY

ELSA CHERIAN


1 ST YEAR
ICM POOJAPURA









CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION.
2. INDIAN SOLAR ENERGY.
3. RURAL ELECTRIFICATION.
4. RELATIVE COST OF ELECTRICITY BY GENERAL COST.
5. CONCLUSION.



































CHAPTER 1


GENERAL FEATURES OF SOLAR ENERGY SECTOR


An Overview

Solar energy is the radiant light and heat from the Sun that has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar radiation along with secondary solar resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass account for most of the available renewable energy on Earth. Only a minuscule fraction of the available solar energy is used.
Solar power provides electrical generation by means of heat engines or photovoltaic. Once converted, its uses are limited only by human ingenuity. A partial list of solar applications includes space heating and cooling through solar architecture, potable water via distillation and disinfection, delighting, hot water, thermal energy for cooking, and high temperature process heat for industrial purposes.
Solar technologies are broadly characterized as either passive solar or active solar depending on the way they capture, convert and distribute sunlight. Active solar techniques include the use of photovoltaic panels and solar thermal collectors (with electrical or mechanical equipment) to convert sunlight into useful outputs. Passive solar techniques include orienting a building to the Sun, selecting materials with favorable thermal mass or light dispersing properties, and designing spaces that naturally circulate air.












CHAPTER 2


Indian Solar Energy


India is both densely populated and has high solar potential, providing an ideal combination for solar power in India. Much of the country does not have an electrical grid, so one of the first applications of solar power has been for water pumping, to begin replacing India's four to five million diesel powered water pumps, each consuming about 3.5 kilowatts, and off-grid lighting. Some large projects have been proposed, and a 35,000 km² area of the Thar Desert has been set aside for solar power projects, sufficient to generate 700 to 2,100 gig watts.

Present Status
Installed capacity
The amount of solar energy produced in India is merely 0.5% compared to other energy resourcesThe Grid-interactive solar power as of June 2007 was merely 2.12 MW. Government-funded solar energy in India only accounted for approximately 6.4 megawatt-years of power as of 2005.
Still unaffordable
Solar power is currently prohibitive due to high initial costs of deployment. To spawn a thriving solar market, the technology needs to be competitively cheaper — i.e. attaining cost parity with fossil or nuclear energy. India is heavily dependent on coal and foreign oil — a phenomenon likely to continue until non-fossil / renewable energy technology becomes economically viable in the country. The cost of production ranges from Rs 15 to Rs 30 per unit compared to around Rs 2 to Rs 6 per unit for conventional thermal energy.


Government policy
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) have initiated schemes and incentives — like subsidy, soft loan, concessional duty on raw material imports, excise duty exemption on certain devices/systems etc. — to boost the production and use of solar energy systems. The Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) provides revolving fund to financing and leasing companies offering affordable credit for the purchase of PV systems. An Expert Committee constituted by the Planning Commission has prepared an Integrated Energy Policy which envisions a 10 million square meter solar collector area, to be set up by 2022, and capable of conserving electricity equivalent to that generated from a 500 MW power plant. The state of West Bengal has initiated to make the use of solar power mandatory in new multi-storeyed buildings. However the Indian government support is insignificant compared to the support solar energy receives by governments in Europe and East Asia.

Solar Funds and Investments
With high deployment price as the main hurdle before a solar market, various organizations have developed innovative funding schemes to catalyze solar's attractiveness. One of the most successful examples is the solar loan programme in India, sponsored by UNEP in partnership with two of India's major banking groups - Canara Bank and Syndicate Bank, and their sponsored Grameen Banks. It was a four-year $7.6 million effort, launched in April 2003 to help accelerate the market for financing solar home systems in southern India. Foreign Direct Investment up to 100 percent is permitted in non-conventional energy sector through the automatic route. The Multilateral Development Banks like World Bank and Asian Development Bank are also helping India but, the funding from MDBs on solar energy enhancement is negligible compare to other clean energy support in India. Investment by private companies is a trend that has just started.(Examples include Signet Solar, U.S.-based Cypress Semiconductor, SunTechnics Energy, etc.)

Thar Desert
In 1996 Amoco/Enron Solar Power Development planned to build a 50 MW solar photovoltaic plant in the Thar Desert near Jaisalmer in Rajasthan state. Two other projects were proposed, one a 50 MW photovoltaic plant and the other a 200 MW solar chimney. None of these have been completed. The Rajasthan government, however, has set aside a 35,000 km² area of the Thar desert for solar power.
PV manufacture in India
Current PV manufacturing in India includes:
• BP-Tata joint venture.
• Moser-Baer signed up for a thin film Si plant provided by Applied Materials.
• Solar Semiconductor Pvt in Hyderabad, AP.
• Green Brilliance Pvt. Ltd.
Solar engineering training
The Australian government has awarded UNSW A$5.2 million to train next-generation solar energy engineers from Asia-Pacific nations, specifically India and China, as part of the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate (APP). Certain programmes are designed to target for rural solar usage development.











Applications


Rural electrification

Lack of electricity infrastructure is one of the main hurdles in the development of rural India. India's grid system is considerably under-developed, with major sections of its populace still surviving off-grid. As of 2004 there are about 80,000 unelectrified villages in the country. Of these villages, 18,000 could not be electrified through extension of the conventional grid. A target for electrifying 5,000 such villages was fixed for the Tenth National Five Year Plan (2002–2007). As on 2004, more than 2,700 villages and hamlets had been electrified mainly using SPV systems.Developments on cheap solar technology is considered as a potential alternative that allows an electricity infrastructure comprising of a network of local-grid clusters with distributed electricity generation.That could allow bypassing, or at least relieving the need of installing expensive, and lossy, long-distance centralised power delivery systems and yet bring cheap electricity to the masses.
























CHAPTER 3


Applications

Relative cost of electricity by generation source
When comparing renewable energy sources with each other and with conventional power sources three main factors have to be considered:
• Capital costs (including waste disposal and decommissioning costs for nuclear energy)
• Operating and maintenance costs
• Fuel costs (for fossil fuel and biomass sources, and which may be negative for wastes)
These costs are all brought together using discounted cash flow here and here Inherently renewable are on a decreasing cost curve, while non-renewable are on an increasing cost curve. In 2009, costs are comparable between wind, nuclear, coal, and natural gas, but CSP - concentrating solar power, and PV - photovoltaic are somewhat higher.
There are additional costs for renewable in terms of increased grid interconnection to allow for diversity of weather and load, but these have been shown in the pan - European case to be quite low, showing that overall wind energy costs about the same as present day power.

Energy from the Sun
About half the incoming solar energy reaches the Earth's surface.
The Earth receives 174 pet watts (PW) of incoming solar radiation (insolation) at the upper atmosphere. Approximately 30% is reflected back to space while the rest is absorbed by clouds, oceans and land masses. The spectrum of solar light at the Earth's surface is mostly spread across the visible and near-infrared ranges with a small part in the near-ultraviolet.
Earth's land surface, oceans and atmosphere absorb solar radiation, and this raises their temperature. Warm air containing evaporated water from the oceans rises, causing atmospheric circulation or convection. When the air reaches a high altitude, where the temperature is low, water vapor condenses into clouds, which rain onto the Earth's surface, completing the water cycle. The latent heat of water condensation amplifies convection, producing atmospheric phenomena such as wind, cyclones and anti-cyclones. Sunlight absorbed by the oceans and land masses keeps the surface at an average temperature of 14 °C. By photosynthesis green plants convert solar energy into chemical energy, which produces food, wood and the biomass from which fossil fuels are derived.
Yearly Solar fluxes & Human Energy Consumption
Solar 3,850,000 EJ
Wind 2,250 EJ
Biomass 3,000 EJ
Primary energy use (2005) 487 EJ
Electricity (2005) 56.7 EJ
The total solar energy absorbed by Earth's atmosphere, oceans and land masses is approximately 3,850,000 exajoules (EJ) per year. In 2002, this was more energy in one hour than the world used in one year. Photosynthesis captures approximately 3,000 EJ per year in biomass. The amount of solar energy reaching the surface of the planet is so vast that in one year it is about twice as much as will ever be obtained from all of the Earth's non-renewable resources of coal, oil, natural gas, and mined uranium combined.
From the table of resources it would appear that solar, wind or biomass would be sufficient to supply all of our energy needs, however, the increased use of biomass has had a negative effect on global warming and dramatically increased food prices by diverting forests and crops into biofuel production. As intermittent resources, solar and wind raise other issues.
Applications of solar technology
Average insolation showing land area (small black dots) required to replace the world primary energy supply with solar electricity. 18 TW is 568 Exajoule (EJ) per year. Insolation for most people is from 150 to 300 W/m² or 3.5 to 7.0 kWh/m²/day.
Solar energy refers primarily to the use of solar radiation for practical ends. However, all renewable energies, other than geothermal and tidal, derive their energy from the sun.
Solar technologies are broadly characterized as either passive or active depending on the way they capture, convert and distribute sunlight. Active solar techniques use photovoltaic panels, pumps, and fans to convert sunlight into useful outputs. Passive solar techniques include selecting materials with favorable thermal properties, designing spaces that naturally circulate air, and referencing the position of a building to the Sun. Active solar technologies increase the supply of energy and are considered supply side technologies, while passive solar technologies reduce the need for alternate resources and are generally considered demand side technologies.
Architecture and urban planning
Darmstadt University of Technology in Germany won the 2007 Solar Decathlon in Washington, D.C. with this passive house designed specifically for the humid and hot subtropical climate
Sunlight has influenced building design since the beginning of architectural history. Advanced solar architecture and urban planning methods were first employed by the Greeks and Chinese, who oriented their buildings toward the south to provide light and warmth.
The common features of passive solar architecture are orientation relative to the Sun, compact proportion (a low surface area to volume ratio), selective shading (overhangs) and thermal mass. When these features are tailored to the local climate and environment they can produce well-lit spaces that stay in a comfortable temperature range. Socrates' Megaron House is a classic example of passive solar design. The most recent approaches to solar design use computer modeling tying together solar lighting, heating and ventilation systems in an integrated solar design package. Active solar equipment such as pumps, fans and switch able windows can complement passive design and improve system performance.
Urban heat islands (UHI) are metropolitan areas with higher temperatures than that of the surrounding environment. The higher temperatures are a result of increased absorption of the Solar light by urban materials such as asphalt and concrete, which have lower albedos and higher heat capacities than those in the natural environment. A straightforward method of counteracting the UHI effect is to paint buildings and roads white and plant trees. Using these methods, a hypothetical "cool communities" program in Los Angeles has projected that urban temperatures could be reduced by approximately 3 °C at an estimated cost of US$1 billion, giving estimated total annual benefits of US$530 million from reduced air-conditioning costs and healthcare savings.
Agriculture and horticulture
Greenhouses like these in the Westland municipality of the Netherlands grow vegetables, fruits and flowers.
Agriculture seeks to optimize the capture of solar energy in order to optimize the productivity of plants. Techniques such as timed planting cycles, tailored row orientation, staggered heights between rows and the mixing of plant varieties can improve crop yields. While sunlight is generally considered a plentiful resource, the exceptions highlight the importance of solar energy to agriculture. During the short growing seasons of the Little Ice Age, French and English farmers employed fruit walls to maximize the collection of solar energy. These walls acted as thermal masses and accelerated ripening by keeping plants warm. Early fruit walls were built perpendicular to the ground and facing south, but over time, sloping walls were developed to make better use of sunlight. In 1699, Nicolas Fatio de Duillier even suggested using a tracking mechanism which could pivot to follow the Sun. Applications of solar energy in agriculture aside from growing crops include pumping water, drying crops, brooding chicks and drying chicken manure. More recently the technology has been embraced by vinters, who use the energy generated by solar panels to power grape presses.
Greenhouses convert solar light to heat, enabling year-round production and the growth (in enclosed environments) of specialty crops and other plants not naturally suited to the local climate. Primitive greenhouses were first used during Roman times to produce cucumbers year-round for the Roman emperor Tiberius. The first modern greenhouses were built in Europe in the 16th century to keep exotic plants brought back from explorations abroad. Greenhouses remain an important part of horticulture today, and plastic transparent materials have also been used to similar effect in polytunnels and row covers.
Solar lighting
Day lighting features such as this oculus at the top of the Pantheon, in Rome, Italy have been in use since antiquity.
The history of lighting is dominated by the use of natural light. The Romans recognized a right to light as early as the 6th century and English law echoed these judgments with the Prescription Act of 1832. In the 20th century artificial lighting became the main source of interior illumination but day lighting techniques and hybrid solar lighting solutions are ways to reduce energy consumption.
Day lighting systems collect and distribute sunlight to provide interior illumination. This passive technology directly offsets energy use by replacing artificial lighting, and indirectly offsets non-solar energy use by reducing the need for air-conditioning. Although difficult to quantify, the use of natural lighting also offers physiological and psychological benefits compared to artificial lighting. Day lighting design implies careful selection of window types, sizes and orientation; exterior shading devices may be considered as well. Individual features include saw tooth roofs, clerestory windows, light shelves, skylights and light tubes. They may be incorporated into existing structures, but are most effective when integrated into a solar design package that accounts for factors such as glare, heat flux and time-of-use. When day lighting features are properly implemented they can reduce lighting-related energy requirements by 25%.
Hybrid solar lighting is an active solar method of providing interior illumination. HSL systems collect sunlight using focusing mirrors that track the Sun and use optical fibers to transmit it inside the building to supplement conventional lighting. In single-story applications these systems are able to transmit 50% of the direct sunlight received.
Solar lights that charge during the day and light up at dusk are a common sight along walkways.
Although daylight saving time is promoted as a way to use sunlight to save energy, recent research has been limited and reports contradictory results: several studies report savings, but just as many suggest no effect or even a net loss, particularly when gasoline consumption is taken into account. Electricity use is greatly affected by geography, climate and economics, making it hard to generalize from single studies.
Solar thermal
Solar thermal technologies can be used for water heating, space heating, space cooling and process heat generation .
Water heating

Solar water heaters facing the Sun to maximize gain.
Solar hot water systems use sunlight to heat water. In low geographical latitudes (below 40 degrees) from 60 to 70% of the domestic hot water use with temperatures up to 60 °C can be provided by solar heating systems. The most common types of solar water heaters are evacuated tube collectors (44%) and glazed flat plate collectors (34%) generally used for domestic hot water; and unglazed plastic collectors (21%) used mainly to heat swimming pools.
As of 2007, the total installed capacity of solar hot water systems is approximately 154 GW. China is the world leader in their deployment with 70 GW installed as of 2006 and a long term goal of 210 GW by 2020. Israel and Cyprus are the per capita leaders in the use of solar hot water systems with over 90% of homes using them. In the United States, Canada and Australia heating swimming pools is the dominant application of solar hot water with an installed capacity of 18 GW as of 2005.
Heating, cooling and ventilation

Solar House #1 of Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States, built in 1939, used seasonal thermal storage for year-round heating.
In the United States, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems account for 30% (4.65 EJ) of the energy used in commercial buildings and nearly 50% (10.1 EJ) of the energy used in residential buildings. Solar heating, cooling and ventilation technologies can be used to offset a portion of this energy.
Thermal mass is any material that can be used to store heat—heat from the Sun in the case of solar energy. Common thermal mass materials include stone, cement and water. Historically they have been used in arid climates or warm temperate regions to keep buildings cool by absorbing solar energy during the day and radiating stored heat to the cooler atmosphere at night. However they can be used in cold temperate areas to maintain warmth as well. The size and placement of thermal mass depend on several factors such as climate, daylighting and shading conditions. When properly incorporated, thermal mass maintains space temperatures in a comfortable range and reduces the need for auxiliary heating and cooling equipment.
A solar chimney (or thermal chimney, in this context) is a passive solar ventilation system composed of a vertical shaft connecting the interior and exterior of a building. As the chimney warms, the air inside is heated causing an updraft that pulls air through the building. Performance can be improved by using glazing and thermal mass materials in a way that mimics greenhouses.
Deciduous trees and plants have been promoted as a means of controlling solar heating and cooling. When planted on the southern side of a building, their leaves provide shade during the summer, while the bare limbs allow light to pass during the winter. Since bare, leafless trees shade 1/3 to 1/2 of incident solar radiation, there is a balance between the benefits of summer shading and the corresponding loss of winter heating. In climates with significant heating loads, deciduous trees should not be planted on the southern side of a building because they will interfere with winter solar availability. They can, however, be used on the east and west sides to provide a degree of summer shading without appreciably affecting winter solar gain.
Water treatment


• Application of SODIS technology in Indonesia to water disinfection.

• Small scale solar powered sewage treatment plant.
Solar distillation can be used to make saline or brackish water potable. The first recorded instance of this was by 16th century Arab alchemists. A large-scale solar distillation project was first constructed in 1872 in the Chilean mining town of Las Salinas. The plant, which had solar collection area of 4,700 m², could produce up to 22,700 L per day and operated for 40 years Individual still designs include single-slope, double-slope (or greenhouse type), vertical, conical, inverted absorber, multi-wick, and multiple effect. These stills can operate in passive, active, or hybrid modes. Double-slope stills are the most economical for decentralized domestic purposes; while active multiple effect units are more suitable for large-scale applications.
Solar water disinfection (SODIS) involves exposing water-filled plastic polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles to sunlight for several hours. Exposure times vary depending on weather and climate from a minimum of six hours to two days during fully overcast conditions. SODIS is recommended by the World Health Organization as a viable method for household water treatment and safe storage. Over two million people in developing countries use SODIS for their daily drinking water.
Solar energy may be used in a water stabilization pond to treat waste water without chemicals or electricity. A further environmental advantage is that algae grow in such ponds and consume carbon dioxide in photosynthesis.
Solar energy has also been used for detoxification of contaminated water like distillery effluent via photolysis. The economics of this process is though doubtful.

Cooking

The Solar Bowl in Auroville, India, concentrates sunlight on a movable receiver to produce steam for cooking.
Solar cookers use sunlight for cooking, drying and pasteurization. They can be grouped into three broad categories: box cookers, panel cookers and reflector cookers. The simplest solar cooker—the box cooker first built by Horace de Saussure in 1767. A basic box cooker consists of an insulated container with a transparent lid. It can be used effectively with partially overcast skies and will typically reach temperatures of 90–150 °C. Panel cookers use a reflective panel to direct sunlight onto an insulated container and reach temperatures comparable to box cookers. Reflector cookers use various concentrating geometries (dish, trough, Fresnel mirrors) to focus light on a cooking container. These cookers reach temperatures of 315 °C and above but require direct light to function properly and must be repositioned to track the Sun.
The solar bowl is a concentrating technology employed by the Solar Kitchen in Auroville, India, where a stationary spherical reflector focuses light along a line perpendicular to the sphere's interior surface, and a computer control system moves the receiver to intersect this line. Steam is produced in the receiver at temperatures reaching 150 °C and then used for process heat in the kitchen.
A reflector developed by Wolfgang Scheffler in 1986 is used in many solar kitchens. Scheffler reflectors are flexible parabolic dishes that combine aspects of trough and power tower concentrators. Polar tracking is used to follow the Sun's daily course and the curvature of the reflector is adjusted for seasonal variations in the incident angle of sunlight. These reflectors can reach temperatures of 450–650 °C and have a fixed focal point, which simplifies cooking. The world's largest Scheffler reflector system in Abu Road, Rajasthan, India is capable of cooking up to 35,000 meals a day. As of 2008, over 2,000 large Scheffler cookers had been built worldwide.
Process heat

• STEP parabolic dishes used for steam production and electrical generation.
Solar concentrating technologies such as parabolic dish, trough and Scheffler reflectors can provide process heat for commercial and industrial applications. The first commercial system was the Solar Total Energy Project (STEP) in Shenandoah, Georgia, USA where a field of 114 parabolic dishes provided 50% of the process heating, air conditioning and electrical requirements for a clothing factory. This grid-connected cogeneration system provided 400 kW of electricity plus thermal energy in the form of 401 kW steam and 468 kW chilled water, and had a one hour peak load thermal storage.
Evaporation ponds are shallow pools that concentrate dissolved solids through evaporation. The use of evaporation ponds to obtain salt from sea water is one of the oldest applications of solar energy. Modern uses include concentrating brine solutions used in leach mining and removing dissolved solids from waste streams.
Clothes lines, clotheshorses, and clothes racks dry clothes through evaporation by wind and sunlight without consuming electricity or gas. In some states of the United States legislation protects the "right to dry" clothes.
Unglazed transpired collectors (UTC) are perforated sun-facing walls used for preheating ventilation air. UTCs can raise the incoming air temperature up to 22 °C and deliver outlet temperatures of 45–60 °C. The short payback period of transpired collectors (3 to 12 years) makes them a more cost-effective alternative than glazed collection systems. As of 2003, over 80 systems with a combined collector area of 35,000 m² had been installed worldwide, including an 860 m² collector in Costa Rica used for drying coffee beans and a 1,300 m² collector in Coimbatore, India used for drying marigolds.
Electrical generation
Sunlight can be converted into electricity using photovoltaic (PV), concentrating solar power (CSP), and various experimental technologies. PV has mainly been used to power small and medium-sized applications, from the calculator powered by a single solar cell to off-grid homes powered by a photovoltaic array. For large-scale generation, CSP plants like SEGS have been the norm but recently multi-megawatt PV plants are becoming common. Completed in 2007, the 14 MW power station in Clark County, Nevada, United States and the 20 MW site in Beneixama, Spain are characteristic of the trend toward larger photovoltaic power stations in the United States and Europe.[71] As an intermittent power source, solar power requires a backup supply, which can partially be complemented with wind power. Local backup usually is done with batteries, while utilities normally use pumped-hydro storage. The Institute for Solar Energy Supply Technology of the University of Kassel in Germany pilot-tested a combined power plant linking solar, wind, biogas and hydro storage to provide load-following power around the clock, entirely from renewable sources.
Experimental solar power

• Solar Evaporation Ponds in the Atacama Desert, South America
A solar pond is a pool of salt water (usually 1–2 m deep) that collects and stores solar energy. Solar ponds were first proposed by Dr. Rudolph Bloch in 1948 after he came across reports of a lake in Hungary in which the temperature increased with depth. This effect was due to salts in the lake's water, which created a "density gradient" that prevented convection currents. A prototype was constructed in 1958 on the shores of the Dead Sea near Jerusalem.[73] The pond consisted of layers of water that successively increased from a weak salt solution at the top to a high salt solution at the bottom. This solar pond was capable of producing temperatures of 90 °C in its bottom layer and had an estimated solar-to-electric efficiency of two percent.
Thermoelectric or "thermo voltaic" devices convert a temperature difference between dissimilar materials into an electric current. First proposed as a method to store solar energy by solar pioneer Mouchout in the 1800s, thermoelectric reemerged in the Soviet Union during the 1930s. Under the direction of Soviet scientist Abram Ioffe a concentrating system was used to thermoelectrically generate power for a 1 hp engine. Thermo generators were later used in the US space program as an energy conversion technology for powering deep space missions such as Cassini, Galileo and Viking. Research in this area is focused on raising the efficiency of these devices from 7–8% to 15–20%.


Solar chemical
Solar chemical processes use solar energy to drive chemical reactions. These processes offset energy that would otherwise come from an alternate source and can convert solar energy into storable and transportable fuels. Solar induced chemical reactions can be divided into thermo chemical or photochemical.
Hydrogen production technologies have been a significant area of solar chemical research since the 1970s. Aside from electrolysis driven by photovoltaic or photochemical cells, several thermo chemical processes have also been explored. One such route uses concentrators to split water into oxygen and hydrogen at high temperatures (2300-2600 °C).[78] Another approach uses the heat from solar concentrators to drive the steam reformation of natural gas thereby increasing the overall hydrogen yield compared to conventional reforming methods. Thermo chemical cycles characterized by the decomposition and regeneration of reactants present another avenue for hydrogen production. The Solzinc process under development at the Weitzman Institute uses a 1 MW solar furnace to decompose zinc oxide (ZnO) at temperatures above 1200 °C. This initial reaction produces pure zinc, which can subsequently be reacted with water to produce hydrogen.
Sandia's Sunshine to Petrol (S2P) technology uses the high temperatures generated by concentrating sunlight along with a zirconia/ferrite catalyst to break down atmospheric carbon dioxide into oxygen and carbon monoxide (CO). The carbon monoxide can then be used to synthesize conventional fuels such as methanol, gasoline and jet fuel .
A photo galvanic device is a type of battery in which the cell solution (or equivalent) forms energy-rich chemical intermediates when illuminated. These energy-rich intermediates can potentially be stored and subsequently reacted at the electrodes to produce an electric potential. The ferric-thionine chemical cell is an example of this technology. Photo electrochemical cells or PECs consist of a semiconductor, typically titanium dioxide or related titanates, immersed in an electrolyte. When the semiconductor is illuminated an electrical potential develops. There are two types of photo electrochemical cells: photoelectric cells that convert light into electricity and photochemical cells that use light to drive chemical reactions such as electrolysis.

Solar vehicles

Australia hosts the World Solar Challenge where solar cars like the Nuna3 race through a 3,021 km (1,877 mi) course from Darwin to Adelaide.
Development of a solar powered car has been an engineering goal since the 1980s. The World Solar Challenge is a biannual solar-powered car race, where teams from universities and enterprises compete over 3,021 kilometers (1,877 mi) across central Australia from Darwin to Adelaide. In 1987, when it was founded, the winner's average speed was 67 kilometers per hour (42 mph) and by 2007 the winner's average speed had improved to 90.87 kilometers per hour (56.46 mph). The North American Solar Challenge and the planned South African Solar Challenge are comparable competitions that reflect an international interest in the engineering and development of solar powered vehicles.
Some vehicles use solar panels for auxiliary power, such as for air conditioning, to keep the interior cool, thus reducing fuel consumption.
In 1975, the first practical solar boat was constructed in England. By 1995, passenger boats incorporating PV panels began appearing and are now used extensively. In 1996, Kenichi Horie made the first solar powered crossing of the Pacific Ocean, and the sun21 catamaran made the first solar powered crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in the winter of 2006–2007.[91] There are plans to circumnavigate the globe in 2010.
Helios UAV in solar powered flight.
In 1974, the unmanned Sunrise II plane made the first solar flight. On 29 April 1979, the Solar Riser made the first flight in a solar powered, fully controlled, man carrying flying machine, reaching an altitude of 40 feet (12 m). In 1980, the Gossamer Penguin made the first piloted flights powered solely by photovoltaic. This was quickly followed by the Solar Challenger which crossed the English Channel in July 1981. In 1990 Eric Raymond in 21 hops flew from California to North Carolina using solar power. Developments then turned back to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) with the Pathfinder (1997) and subsequent designs, culminating in the Helios which set the altitude record for a non-rocket-propelled aircraft at 29,524 meters (96,860 ft) in 2001. The Zephyr, developed by BAE Systems, is the latest in a line of record-breaking solar aircraft, making a 54-hour flight in 2007, and month-long flights are envisioned by 2010.
A solar balloon is a black balloon that is filled with ordinary air. As sunlight shines on the balloon, the air inside is heated and expands causing an upward buoyancy force, much like an artificially heated hot air balloon. Some solar balloons are large enough for human flight, but usage is generally limited to the toy market as the surface-area to payload-weight ratio is relatively high.
Solar sails are a proposed form of spacecraft propulsion using large membrane mirrors to exploit radiation pressure from the Sun. Unlike rockets, solar sails require no fuel. Although the thrust is small compared to rockets, it continues as long as the Sun shines onto the deployed sail and in the vacuum of space significant speeds can eventually be achieved.
The High-altitude airship (HAA) is an unmanned, long-duration, lighter-than-air vehicle using helium gas for lift, and thin-film solar cells for power. The United States Department of Defense Missile Defense Agency has contracted Lockheed Martin to construct it to enhance the Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS). Airships have some advantages for solar-powered flight: they do not require power to remain aloft, and an airship's envelope presents a large area to the Sun.
Energy storage methods
Solar Two's thermal storage system generated electricity during cloudy weather and at night.
Solar energy is not available at night, and energy storage is an important issue because modern energy systems usually assume continuous availability of energy.
Thermal mass systems can store solar energy in the form of heat at domestically useful temperatures for daily or seasonal durations. Thermal storage systems generally use readily available materials with high specific heat capacities such as water, earth and stone. Well-designed systems can lower peak demand, shift time-of-use to off-peak hours and reduce overall heating and cooling requirements.
Phase change materials such as paraffin wax and Glauber's salt are another thermal storage media. These materials are inexpensive, readily available, and can deliver domestically useful temperatures (approximately 64 °C). The "Dover House" (in Dover, Massachusetts) was the first to use a Glauber's salt heating system, in 1948.
Solar energy can be stored at high temperatures using molten salts. Salts are an effective storage medium because they are low-cost, have a high specific heat capacity and can deliver heat at temperatures compatible with conventional power systems. The Solar Two used this method of energy storage, allowing it to store 1.44 TJ in its 68 m³ storage tank with an annual storage efficiency of about 99%.Off-grid PV systems have traditionally used rechargeable batteries to store excess electricity. With grid-tied systems, excess electricity can be sent to the transmission grid. Net metering programs give these systems a credit for the electricity they deliver to the grid. This credit offsets electricity provided from the grid when the system cannot meet demand, effectively using the grid as a storage mechanism.
Pumped-storage hydroelectricity stores energy in the form of water pumped when energy is available from a lower elevation reservoir to a higher elevation one. The energy is recovered when demand is high by releasing the water to run through a hydroelectric power generator.
Development, deployment and economics
Nellis Solar Power Plant in the United States, the largest photovoltaic power plant in North America.
Beginning with the surge in coal use which accompanied the Industrial Revolution, energy consumption has steadily transitioned from wood and biomass to fossil fuels. The early development of solar technologies starting in the 1860s was driven by an expectation that coal would soon become scarce. However development of solar technologies stagnated in the early 20th century in the face of the increasing availability, economy, and utility of coal and petroleum.
The 1973 oil embargo and 1979 energy crisis caused a reorganization of energy policies around the world and brought renewed attention to developing solar technologies. Deployment strategies focused on incentive programs such as the Federal Photovoltaic Utilization Program in the US and the Sunshine Program in Japan. Other efforts included the formation of research facilities in the US (SERI, now NREL), Japan (NEDO), and Germany (Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE).
Commercial solar water heaters began appearing in the United States in the 1890s. These systems saw increasing use until the 1920s but were gradually replaced by cheaper and more reliable heating fuels. As with photovoltaics, solar water heating attracted renewed attention as a result of the oil crises in the 1970s but interest subsided in the 1980s due to falling petroleum prices. Development in the solar water heating sector progressed steadily throughout the 1990s and growth rates have averaged 20% per year since 1999. Although generally underestimated, solar water heating is by far the most widely deployed solar technology with an estimated capacity of 154 GW as of 2007























CONCLUSION

Solar energy is the radiant light and heat from the Sun that has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar radiation along with secondary solar resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass account for most of the available renewable energy on Earth. Only a minuscule fraction of the available solar energy is used.
Solar power provides electrical generation by means of heat engines or photovoltaics. Once converted, its uses are limited only by human ingenuity. A partial list of solar applications includes space heating and cooling through solar architecture, potable water via distillation and disinfection, daylighting, hot water, thermal energy for cooking, and high temperature process heat for industrial purposes.