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Is your boiler truly efficient?

Given that your boiler accounts for the majority of your heating fuel bill, I am sure you are constantly looking at ways to improve its efficiency.  In a typical industrial environment, even at its best, your boiler can only be 85% efficient. Do you monitor the performance of your boiler at plant load condition?  Are you aware of how these losses contribute to your boiler’s inefficiency? Radiation and Exhaust losses Start-up losses Pre & post purge losses Loss at high turn down Loss during change of loads Idle and stand-by losses Download to know more about these losses. At Aspiration Energy provide renewable energy solutions in the areas of Solar Thermal, Solar Photovoltaic, and Energy Efficiency Services. As part of our Energy efficiency services, we offer True Boiler Efficiency services that will help you uncover your actual costs on boiler. Kanchana. R Head – Operations

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Few questions; few answers (3) – FAQs on Roof Top Solar PV Plants

Capacity of the power plant Solar PV power plants are specified in KWp, not KW.  KWp means Kilowatt Peak.  Please read this link for more information. So a quote for 100KWp does not guarantee that you will get 100 units of electricity per hour. Typically a 100 KWp plant will produce 1,50,000 to 1,80,000 Units of electricity per year. The actual generation every month, week, day and hour will depend on various factors and location. 2. What are the parameters that affect actual generation? Actual delivery of energy will depend on the following parameters: Sunshine intensity:  The variation of sun\’s intensity in your location. The history of this data is available for your specific location (latitude and longitude). You can look for it in MNRE\’s database. Angle of the sun to the installed base.  We normally propose fixed tilt installation – which means modules are fixed at an angle and sunshine incident angle on the module will vary by the day. Ambient Temperature : Change in Ambient temperature affects the solar cell temperature and in turn that it will affect the power generated. You can look at the solar module specification to know the power de-rating for various cell temperatures. 3. What happens when the solar energy generated is more than what we need or if it is less than what we need? Solar energy is infirm power, and that is why, we either sync it to the Electricity Grid or have a battery back up or Sync it to a DG set. For Industrial applications, we sync with grid or DG. When the solar power generated from the plant is less than what is required by your load, the additional required energy will be drawn from either grid or DG for supplying the load. If it is more than what is required, it can be fed back to the Grid, provided you have a net meter connection. 4. Can Sunshades and porticos be used for mounting solar panels in addition to roof tops? In theory, Yes. But feasibility needs to be studied by an engineer during preliminary assessment. 5. Can the Solar plant be synchronised with Grid Power and DG Power? Yes , it can be synchronised. Check the specifications of the invertor – it should mention that it is sync-able to both DG and Grid. 6. Can AEPL do a turnkey project from design, engineering and supply to mounting on roof top, installation and commissioning, including the electrical circuit for power evacuation? Yes. The detailed scope of work will be detailed in the commercial contract. Drawings will be submitted for customer’s approval. 7. Can AEPL take care of the CEIG approval and also organize Net Metering facility? Yes. There will be a liaising fee for the same. 8. Do we need Lightning arresters in addition to what we already have in the building? If the condition of the existing arresters are OK, then additional arresters may not be required. This will be ascertained during execution. 9. Who will do the Earth pit for the Solar Plant? Separate chemical earthing up to 5ft as per standard design norms will be constructed by us as part of our execution scope. 10. Will the mounting of Solar Panels, damage the roof / weathering course? Will it load the roof? No damage will be caused because of mounting Solar panels. The additional weight of Solar panels will be within the load bearing capability of concrete and metal roofs. If customer uses Asbestos roofing or if the roof is damaged in some places, the same needs to be replaced / repaired by customer. The structural details of the mounting arrangement will be submitted for customer’s approval before commencement of the project. In case of concrete roofs, there are 2 basic approaches: Penetrative fixing of modules: In this case, sufficient care is taken in finishing the rooftop back after competing the foundation to ensure that the resultant surface is equal or better than the original surface. Dead weight:  If you are very strict that there should be no perforations, then we need to go for concrete legs which will function as weights to hold the module and structure.  We can design optimally, based on your requirements. 11. Are there are any Safety Standards for Solar Power Plant? Yes there are published safety standards for roof top solar power plants. AEPL will ensure that the supply and installation follows all the safety standards applicable. 12. Will you guarantee the no. of units produced or the efficiency of Solar Plant? Yes we can guarantee the no. of units produced per year per KWp installed. This guaranteed generation will vary from location to location. The exact guarantee figure will be incorporated in the commercial contract. In any case since the contract is based on price per KWH, if the plant produces less, the revenue is less.  Which means, there is an in-built guarantee and incentive for us to produce the most. 13. Can the Solar Panel withstand wind, rain and seismic conditions? Yes, the design takes care of all these conditions, as relevant to the city / location of installation. The structural engineering and drawings on roof top installation will be submitted for customer’s approval. This can be further validated by the customer with the help of a suitable architect  / expert. 14. What are the warranty terms? Solar PV Modules are covered under a 20 year manufacturer warranty with performance warranty with the following terms: 90% minimum rated performance in 10 years 80% minimum rated performance in next 15 years. Inverters are covered with a 5 years warranty with the following terms: As per the Manufacturer All other structures, electrical wiring and other components are covered by 1 year warranty. 15. Do you offer AMC? Yes. Please refer to our Warranty and AMC terms below: Quarterly inspection of Solar Panels,Inverters,protection circuit, cabling junction boxes,means of isolation and earthing for 5 years, 4 Visits for the entire system Staff will be trained for cleaning as to

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Green "Power" Market Development Group at Hotel-Hilton

When they named it as Green \”Power\” Market Development Group, I was skeptical.  Solar Energy vs Solar Power – the long standing debate,  came to my mind.  But, they invited me to talk about Solar Heat, and actively listened. Overall, the audience was appreciative of the different direction that we are taking in terms of solar heaters for the industry. Some myths of solar thermal, mistaken with Solar Thermal Plants was raised, and I am happy to dispel them.  My take on  \”Solar Thermal Power vs Solar Thermal Energy\”. ~Bhoo, Aspiration Energy

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Workshop on Renewable Energy – Solar Thermal Systems, Hosur

It was a focused gathering of Industry Engineers and few finance persons from the industrial belt of Hosur with an openness to know details on “Renewable Energy – Solar Thermal Systems” on 18th December 2014. The workshop was conducted by Aspiration Energy in association with CSIR – CEERI. Dr. Harish Barshillia, Chief Scientist from National Aerospace Lab, Bangalore talked about various aspects of surface coatings required for Solar Systems for achieving mid and high temperatures. Surface coatings plays an important role in solar systems. He pointed out that in solar thermal systems, high quality absorber coatings are able to absorb upto 95% of the energy in sunlight throughout the spectral range whereas for photo voltaic (PV) the commercial technology available has only 20% absorption of the spectrum. Dr. Bala Pesala, Sr Scientist at CSIR, Chennai spoke about the new emerging concepts in the solar field that would be a hybrid of Solar PV and Thermal. The most awaited talk was from our ” Proud Pioneer”, Mr. Shunmuganathan, Sr. Engineer from Harita Seatings, who shared their experience and the benefits they enjoy on Aspiration Energy’s latest solar systems installed at Harita Seatings. A proud moment for Aspiration Energy. Following this, our Solar Thermal Head Mr. Manoharan and CEO, Mr. Bhoo Thirumalai presented more details about Aspiration Energy’s mission, vision, technology and financial model, “Pay as you Save” (PAYS) model.   Mr. Raman, International Business & Investment Specialist, Onefinite LLC, talked about the Energy Security and world economics on fuel. The gathering had all the perspectives that were required for opting to Renewable Energy and also responded positively that their recommendation to Aspiration Energy Solar Thermal Systems for their companies. There was a interesting interactive session with the crowd , who all later dispersed for a sumptuous lunch. After lunch, a Site visit to our Harita Seatings installation was arranged for workshop participants. ~Revathy Ramakrishnan, Marketing, Aspiration Energy

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Comprehensive tariff order on solar power – TNERC

Comprehensive tariff order on solar power – TNERC This is good in more than one way for the solar developers. How will Tangedco fund it without massive tariff rationalization is the usual question that lingers in my mind. If not funded well, the payments will stutter and hence development may not happen. I am not seeing escalation specified clearly or may be I am missing something. As always, the reverse – higher the volume or capacity better pricing offer, unique to India and some developing countries is intriguing. Conventional wisdom says otherwise. Main comment is on the opposite view – Tangedco is ready to procure at 6.48. Alright. At generation end! Alright! So, tangedco absorbs transmission losses here. So, why can\’t we waive transmission losses for solar developers or make it concessional – some direct PPAs with end customers with group captive will immediately happen if that is done without much loss to the Government compared to this. Either way transmission loss is absorbed by tangedco, but higher tariff will be paid by the end user. Better, right? ~Bhoo

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I pretend for a living. But, you do not – Leonardo DiCaprio

Actor and environmental activist Leonardo DiCaprio addresses the UN summit meeting on climate change. DiCaprio was recently named a United Nations Messenger of Peace. ‘This disaster has grown beyond the choices that individuals make. This is now about our industries, and governments…’ he tells the summit. DiCaprio – “Thank you, Mr Secretary General, your excellencies, ladies and gentleman, and distinguished guests. I’m honored to be here today, I stand before you not as an expert but as a concerned citizen, one of the 400,000 people who marched in the streets of New York on Sunday, and the billions of others around the world who want to solve our climate crisis. As an actor I pretend for a living. I play fictitious characters often solving fictitious problems. I believe that mankind has looked at climate change in that same way: as if it were a fiction; as if pretending that climate change wasn’t real, would somehow make it go away. But I think we all know better than that. Every week, we’re seeing new and undeniable climate events, evidence that accelerated climate change is here right now. Droughts are intensifying, our oceans are acidifying with methane plumes rising up from the ocean floor. We are seeing extreme weather events and the West Antarctic and Greenland ice-sheets melting at unprecedented rates, decades ahead of scientific projections. None of this is rhetoric, and none of it is hysteria. It is fact. The scientific community knows it, Industry knows it, governments know it, even the United States military knows it. The chief of the US navy’s Pacific command, admiral Samuel Locklear, recently said that climate change is our single greatest security threat. My Friends, this body – perhaps more than any other gathering in human history – now faces this difficult but achievable task. You can make history … or you will be vilified by it. To be clear, this is not about just telling people to change their light bulbs or to buy a hybrid car. This disaster has grown BEYOND the choices that individuals make. This is now about our industries, and governments around the world taking decisive, large-scale action. Now must be our moment for action. We need to put a pricetag on carbon emissions, and eliminate government subsidies for oil, coal, and gas companies. We need end the free ride that industrial polluters have been given in the name of a free-market economy, they do not deserve our tax dollars, they deserve our scrutiny. For the economy itself will die if our ecosystems collapse. The good news is that renewable energy is not only achievable but good economic policy. This is not a partisan debate; it is a human one. Clean air and a livable climate are inalienable human rights. And solving this crisis is not a question of politics. It is question about own survival. This is the most urgent of times, and the most urgent of messages. Honoured delegates, leaders of the world, I pretend for a living. But you do not. The people made their voices heard on Sunday around the world and the momentum will not stop. And now it’s YOUR turn, the time to answer humankind’s greatest challenge is now. We beg you to face it with courage. And honesty. Thank you.”

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Comprehensive tariff order on solar power – TNERC

Comprehensive tariff order on solar power – TNERC This is good in more than one way for the solar developers. How will Tangedco fund it without massive tariff rationalization is the usual question that lingers in my mind. If not funded well, the payments will stutter and hence development may not happen. I am not seeing escalation specified clearly or may be I am missing something. As always, the reverse – higher the volume or capacity better pricing offer, unique to India and some developing countries is intriguing. Conventional wisdom says otherwise. Main comment is on the opposite view – Tangedco is ready to procure at 6.48.  Alright. At generation end! Alright! So, tangedco absorbs transmission losses here. So, why can’t we waive transmission losses for solar developers or make it concessional – some direct PPAs with end customers with group captive will immediately happen if that is done without much loss to the Government compared to this. Either way transmission loss is absorbed by tangedco, but higher tariff will be paid by the end user. Better, right?

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Indian firms moving towards low carbon economy: CDP – The Hindu

Indian firms moving towards low carbon economy: CDP – The Hindu. Among the top 200 Indian companies by market capitalization, only 59 companies (30%) responded to the CDP survey (India 200 Climate Change Report 2014). Over 90% of them (53+) state that climate change opportunities are driven by change in regulation. About 15% of them (10) reduced their emissions despite a tough business situation and 50% of them have reduced their emission quantity or emission intensity, without compromising on business growth and profitability. The following 5 Indian companies have made it to the global ranking : Wipro, Essar, Tech Mahindra, L&T, TCS. The responding companies have acknowledged the role of government and regulations as the primary driver of climate change opportunities and investments.

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Solar against Biomass

Solar Energy is 100% clean energy. It controls pollution in atmosphere, paving way to cleaner, greener environment. Using Briquette based boilers for heating though renewable, still spoils the atmosphere by CO2 emissions. Most of the industries invest in Solar technologies not as a energy saving or ROI initiative but more from the Social responsibility angle for Clean, Green energy with ZERO emissions and Carbon reduction commitments. Investment on Solar is an added benefit for the brand image. In such a scenario a strict ROI calculation may not be required as long as the project pays for itself – even if it takes longer to pay back the investment. Compared to Solar PV and Solar CSP technologies, Aspiration Energy thermal has the lowest cost per MW and hence is a better Solar investment than other Solar alternatives. Another reason you may want to switch will be due to concerns of continued fuel availability in right quantities at the right time. Here the risk mitigation approach is difficult to quantify in terms of monetary value, even though you may have some numbers associated with loss of production, down time etc. When we replace the system with a Solar system (with hot water storage facility), the boiler itself could be sold and the re-sale price could be adjusted against the solar investment.

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Bhoo’s interview with EAI

Bhoo’s interview with Narsi, EAI on “Aspiring High with Solar Thermal” Source: EAI For those of us glued to the solar radar, most of what we see and hear today are news about solar PV. As if solar thermal simply did not exist. Or matter. And if at all we hear anything on the thermal side, it is about how large scale solar CSP plants under the National Solar Mission are facing tough times. Newspapers and mainstream blogs have a purpose – to report mainstream news. But most emerging (and attractive) business opportunities are not mainstream. Which is why these should be more interesting to entrepreneurs and investors. Solar thermal is one such. Until a few years ago, the equation was simple. Solar thermal = solar water heaters: those nice and reliable tanks on our roofs which gave us water at 65 °C. A nice product, of course, but nothing any entrepreneur would go ga-ga about. Fast forward to 2010, and you suddenly start seeing interesting movements in the solar thermal scene. Let me start from the very beginning. What indeed is solar thermal? Leaving aside CSP (concentrating solar power), which is for power generation, the heat of sunlight when used for heating purposes is solar thermal. As I said before, think solar water heaters. But now, extend your thought. Solar water heaters can give up to 65 °C; all right, stretch it a bit, perhaps 70 degrees. Which is fine for household purposes and select commercial units, but what about industrial units which require water at much higher temperatures? Say, 120 degrees? Your ordinary solar water heater will not be able to help. This is where medium temperature solar thermal kicks in. Let me lay the stuff out for you. Using the Heat of the Sun Type of solar thermal Low temp solar thermal Medium temp solar thermal class I Medium temp solar thermal class 2 High temp solar thermal for power generation Example Solar water heater Enhanced solar heaters Concentrating solar thermal (CST) Concentrating solar power (CSP) Temperatures Upto 70 °C 70-120 °C Upto 250 °C Upto 450 °C You can observe the gradation from the low 70 °C we obtain from solar water heaters up to 450 °C required for generating power from the solar heat. The first two – water heaters and enhanced solar heaters – use fairly simple technologies and materials and hence can be considered fairly low on capex. The last two depend on concentrating sunlight to produce much higher temperatures, and you are suddenly getting into more sophisticated and expensive territory. The Enhanced Solar Heaters thus falls in an interesting intersection – it is fairly simple in terms of technology and operations (similar to solar water heaters), but provides significantly higher temperatures than the water heaters. And the 70-120 °C is an interesting sweet spot for a whole host of industries and commercial units. This is the sweet spot Aspiration Energy is trying to tap into. Bhoovarahan Thirumalai (popularly called Bhoo), is a well-known entrepreneur in the solar thermal field, having been an early mover in medium temperature sector with a solution providing distinct benefits. And with the memorable nickname Bhoo, he has ensured that no one can forget him either. His company, Aspiration Energy, has ploughed along and stayed course in this pioneering area, and today he is a position to show some of his first successes. His innovative PAYS model, that eliminates capex investments for end users, appears close to an inflexion point. Having known Bhoo for almost 5 years now, I felt that there is no better time than this to sit down with him and do a detailed interview. Here we go. I ask Bhoo: So, tell me a bit more on how you got into this. I have known you for a long time, but somehow never got to know some of your history. Bhoo: Well, my partner and I were running the software company Aspire Systems, a successful software venture specializing in software product architecture support. I wanted to do something that is different and ventured out, and solar appealed to me. To begin with, I explored solar PV. Our company did a fair bit of work in developing solar PV systems for mobile telecom towers to offset diesel use. Soon after this, I explored solar thermal and zeroed in on enhanced solar thermal for industrial heating and drying. Me: The sweet spot you are aiming at, the 70-120 °C bracket for industries – what are its characteristics? Somehow, I had thought that it was not a big enough opportunity. Bhoo: Well, that sweet spot is indeed a significant opportunity. A Rs. 50,000 crore business sector of which solar thermal has the potential to have a Rs. 20,000 crore piece of the pie. Now, if Rs. 20,000 crores per year is not a big opportunity, I have to start asking what is. What is not well known is that there are many pre-treatment processes and low hanging heating processes in industries that require only temperatures up to 120 °C. For instance, in the automobile industry there is a pre-treatment process before painting. This is typically a 7-tank wash, of which 5 tanks require moderate heating temperatures. Add the hundreds of automobile units across the country, and many other industries where such pre-treatment or pre-heating is required, and we are looking at a pretty sweet spot for the 70-120 degrees bracket. For a large automobile company alone, such pre-treatment fuel costs could touch upwards of Rs 40 crores a year. There are hundreds of companies for which these costs will range between Rs 2-10 crores per year. Me: Which would these target industries be, that will be glad to have a renewable solution for the 70-120 °C bracket? Bhoo: Some of the sectors that will find medium temperature solar thermal useful are: Consumer durables (including automotive), chemical industries, companies in the dairy and food industries Me: We are talking about replacing fossil fuels such as furnace oil,

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