Can Plastic Roads be an Answer to the Global Plastic Waste Crisis?

By Sandeep Bhattacharjee
, Published On: March 27, 2019
Global Plastic Waste Crisis

One of the gravest environmental challenges facing mankind today is plastic pollution. According to conservative estimates by the United Nations, humans today produce more than 300 million tonnes of plastic waste every year and this figure is continuously on the rise. Even worrisome is the fact that only 9% of this waste gets recycled, 12% incinerated and the rest – more than 75% – gets dumped in landfills, water bodies and the natural environment worldwide. As a result, plastic waste has become a major environmental hazard polluting our cities, farmlands, rivers and even our oceans. Researchers estimate that at this…

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Energy conservation with efficient LED lighting solutions

By Ashad Mofiz
, Published On: March 26, 2019
LED lights

Lighting accounts for about 20 percent of the total energy usage worldwide, approximately 1,944 terawatt hours. Because lighting is relatively simple to upgrade, the trend in recent years is to switch to LEDs. Doing so greatly improves energy efficiency, mitigating impacts of global warming and reducing energy dependence. What is an LED light? A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor light source that emits light when current flows through it. Appearing as practical electronic components in 1962, the earliest LEDs emitted low-intensity infrared light mainly used in remote-control circuits. The first visible-light LEDs were of low intensity and limited to…

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BOS costs will play an important role in future solar installations

By Ashad Mofiz
, Published On: March 25, 2019
future solar installations

There has been prolific growth in the adoption of solar PV technology worldwide in the last few years and the trend is set to continue in the future. Solar power is increasingly competing with conventional energy sources, with many countries around the world attaining grid parity, which essentially means levelized cost of electricity (LOCE) from solar PV is less than or equal to the price of power from the electricity grid. This growth can be mainly attributed to significant cost reductions in the segment, including a reduction in the cost of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules. With constantly falling price of solar…

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Amorphous Silicon PV modules opens-up new possibilities for solar power generation

By Ashad Mofiz
, Published On: February 11, 2019
Amorphous Silicon PV modules

A photovoltaic cell, which specifically converts sunlight into electrical energy, is one of the most promising technologies towards achieving global renewable energy goals. Crystalline silicon solar cells have become mainstream because of their higher conversion efficiency, yet they are restricted to their massive size and higher cost of production. However, in the last few years, there has been new innovations in this sector giving rise to silicon thin-film materials which is extremely encouraging because of their accessibility, light weight, lower cost, and less demanding manufacture technique. Amorphous silicon (a-Si) is the non-crystalline form of silicon. It is primarily used as semiconductor…

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Will Micro Grids Shape the Future of Indian Power Landscape?

By Manaaf Riza
, Published On: December 26, 2018

India has witnessed tremendous progress in the power infrastructure since the dawn of independence. Complete electrification of Indian households, a distant dream for rural citizens, just a decade ago is turning into a reality to be fulfilled in the near future. Promising schemes of the Government of India coupled with concentrated efforts of state agencies and private developers are major drivers, propelling the power industry and consequently creating enormous opportunities for the growth of industrial sectors. Though, ambitious projects have been envisaged by the government, there remain challenges with regards to infrastructure development and last mile connectivity, which have to…

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Delhi’s Perennial Winter Smog – Causes and Possible Solutions

By Sandeep Bhattacharjee
, Published On: December 15, 2018

Every winter, India’s national capital grabs newspaper headlines across the globe for an unpleasant phenomenon. As mercury starts dipping, Delhi along with its neighbouring suburbs of Noida, Gurgaon, Ghaziabad and Faridabad, together termed as the National Capital Region (NCR) gets engulfed in a thick blanket of hazardous smog for the 10-12 weeks putting the health of its residents at severe risk from various respiratory disorders. This unpleasant situation during has earned the city the epithet of the ‘most polluted city in the world’. Every year, hospitals in the region register an instant spike in the number of patients with respiratory…

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Top 5 Developments of Indian Solar Industry in 2018

By Sandeep Bhattacharjee
, Published On: December 13, 2018

2018 was a mixed year for the Solar Industry in India. Although the nation achieved 6.6 GW of new solar installations across the country, industry analysts pointed to a deceleration in the pace of growth in the sector. While the government is making all efforts to achieve its ambitious target of 100 GW installed solar capacity by 2022 and is confident of achieving this target. While there is no question on the intent of the government, statistics and figures show otherwise. So what were the top developments in the sector in the year 2018? As we inch closer to the…

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Electric Vehicles are set to conquer the highways of the future

By Ashad Mofiz
, Published On: December 11, 2018

Passenger vehicles are a major pollution contributor, producing significant amounts of nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and other pollution. Studies have shown that vehicular transportation contributed more than half of the carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides, and almost a quarter of the hydrocarbons emitted into the air worldwide. The health risks of air pollution are extremely serious. Poor air quality increases respiratory ailments like asthma and bronchitis, heightens the risk of life-threatening conditions like cancer, and burdens our lives with substantial medical costs. Particulate matter is singlehandedly responsible for thousands of premature deaths each year. Why Electric Vehicles The EV market…

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PERC Technology in Solar Modules explained

By Ashad Mofiz
, Published On: December 11, 2018

The solar PV Module industry has been dominated by one primary solar cell and module technology for more many years now – Aluminum Back Surface Field (“Al-BSF”). However, this technology is near its practical limit and further gains in efficiency are unlikely. The search for continued efficiency improvements has led the industry to adopt Passivated Emitter and Rear Contact (“PERC”) solar cells. PERC cells enabled access to module with higher power ratings of up to 370 W for a 72-cell module and power ratings could cross 400 Wp in the near future. Undoubtedly, there has been a lot of excitement…

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Half Cut Solar Cell Modules – The next big thing in PV module technology

By Sandeep Bhattacharjee
, Published On: November 5, 2018
solar modules

Solar cell technology has come a long way since the development of the first solar cell in 1888 by Aleksandr Stoletov. While the contribution of Stoletov to PV module technology cannot be denied, his solar cells with efficiencies of less than 1%, could hardly produce enough energy for any meaningful usage. The credit for breakthrough in this area solar cells was achieved by Bell Labs in the year 1954 that produced solar cells with efficiencies of upto 6% and were used for high-tech applications by leading research institutions. Over the next few decades, solar cell and module technology underwent remarkable…

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