
Tara Chandra KandpalIndian Institute of Technology Delhi | IIT Delhi · Centre for Energy Studies
Tara Chandra Kandpal
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May 1979 - present
Publications
Publications (235)
Telecom services play a vital role in the socio-economic development of a country. The number of people using these services is growing rapidly with further enhance growth expected in future. Consequently, the number of telecom towers that are critical for providing such services has also increased correspondingly. Such an increase in the number of...
Top heat loss coefficient (Ut) is required for thermal performance evaluation of a box- type solar cooker. In the present work, the values of Ut were obtained from outdoor experiments undertaken to determine the First Figure of Merit (F1). Ut was found to vary from summer to winter. Acomparison of values of Ut obtained from the experiments with the...
Selection of condenser cooling technology can affect the financial as well as technical viability of concentrating solar power (CSP) plants. Detailed comparative assessment of three cooling technologies, i.e., wet, dry, and hybrid, is therefore desirable so as to facilitate selection of optimum cooling technology for the plant. Despite the high eff...
To increase the share of solar thermal power in the energy mix, deployment of large capacity plants with the provision of thermal energy storage can be an attractive option subject to their techno-economic feasibility. In this paper, an attempt has been made to assess the effect of the nominal capacity and the hours of thermal energy storage on the...
An attempt has been made to evaluate the financial feasibility of hybrid power supply option during real-time grid power unavailability (continuous and intermittent) conditions and determine the optimal hybrid power supply configurations for outdoor telecom towers in India. As grid power availability is highly dependent on locations, a review of re...
The choice of condenser cooling option for concentrating solar power (CSP) plants is likely to affect their techno-economic feasibility. In view of this, an attempt has been made to assess relative techno-economics and net life cycle CO2-eq emissions mitigation (LCCM) potential for 50 MW nominal capacity wet-cooled and dry-cooled parabolic trough s...
The capital cost of concentrating solar power (CSP) plants is relatively higher amongst other renewable energy-based electricity generation options. To make CSP plants more competitive, different possibilities to reduce capital costs of CSP plants need to be explored while making use of the recent developments in the field. Two potential modalities...
The contribution of power because of the nonconventional energy sources is enhancing day by day. This gives rise to power converter connected to the grid for an integration and to utilize the nonconventional energy sources economically and efficiently. However, this causes the distortion in the grid voltages and currents. All advanced high precisio...
An analysis to study the effect of three condenser cooling options on techno-economics of parabolic trough collector based solar thermal power plants in India has been presented. Wet, dry and hybrid condenser cooling technologies are considered for a 50 MW nominal capacity plant. The annual electricity output and the levelized cost of electricity d...
This study deals with an assessment of the potential of utility-scale floating solar photovoltaic (FSPV) plants in India. Global Solar Atlas (GSA) and Global Reservoir and Dam (GRanD) databases are used for examining water bodies such as man-made reservoirs used for hydroelectricity generation, irrigation, drinking water purposes, and few lakes in...
A framework to estimate the potential of solar cooking for institutional level applications is presented. Using the weather data of a given location (such as solar radiation, ambient temperature, and wind speed), the proposed framework estimates the number of days in a year when solar cooking is feasible and consequently the amount of useful energy...
An adaptive approach based on a neural network is presented here for the control of a grid interactive solar power generating system. This control approach is based on a summation and a product neuron, which are used to process the non-linearity of load currents. A sigmoidal and Gaussian functions are used to linearise the response of summation and...
In a photovoltaic array (PVA) tied grid system, PVA and the grid are connected at AC bus (ACB) to feed the power to the grid and the load connected locally at the ACB. The photovoltaic energy conversion system (PVECS) requires an improved dynamic controller to control the grid voltage harmonics under variable solar power and nonlinear unbalanced lo...
This paper presents an assessment of utilization potential and financial feasibility appraisal for meeting service hot water demand in star category hotels in India with solar energy. Service hot water demand and the means of hot water generation in such hotels were reviewed with the levelized (unit) cost of useful thermal energy estimated for the...
An attempt has been made to estimate the unit capital cost of parabolic trough collector (PTC) based concentrating solar power (CSP) plants in India to facilitate their financial appraisal. While reviewing approaches mentioned in the literature, a significant variation is observed in unit capital cost estimates for a 50 MW wet cooled without storag...
Top heat loss coefficient (Ut) is required for thermal performance evaluation of a box- type solar cooker. In the present work, the values of Ut were obtained from outdoor experiments undertaken to determine the First Figure of Merit (F1). Ut was found to vary from summer to winter. Acomparison of values of Ut obtained from the experiments with the...
A framework to estimate the extent of various incentives required to ensure financial attractiveness of institutional solar cooking is presented with typical examples from India. Incentives considered are capital subsidy/viability gap funding, accelerated depreciation, interest subsidy, and investment tax credit have been considered for three comme...
Design and implementation of an effective dissemination programme for decentralized renewable energy system necessitates accurate estimate of its utilization potential. Hence, in this study, an attempt has been made to develop frameworks to estimate the utilization potential of decentralized renewable energy systems in the state of Uttarakhand in I...
An assessment of the financial attractiveness of using Scheffler dish for solar steam cooking at institutional/community level in India is presented. Three sizes of institutional kitchens, i.e. small (200 persons), medium (500 persons) and large (1000 persons) have been considered. Aperture area of solar energy collection, the investment required a...
This study presents results of a preliminary attempt to assess water availability for wet cooled solar thermal power plants at potential locations in India. A total of 95 locations with sufficient wastelands and annual average DNI more than 2000 kWh/m² have been considered for the analysis. Options of rainwater harvesting and groundwater extraction...
Dairy industry in India has a substantial demand for process heating at temperatures that can be provided with solar collectors. However, the acceptance and dissemination of solar industrial process heating systems would also be affected by their financial attractiveness for the users. Another attractive feature of SIPH systems is their ability to...
Financial appraisal of two solar cookers (SK-23 and Scheffler dish) that may be used for institutional/community cooking is presented. For each solar cooker type, three different categories in terms of performance and cost as prevailing in the market have been considered. Annual numbers of solar cooked meals and consequently the values of several m...
An approach to estimate the required extent of incentives so as to make solar industrial process heating (SIPH) financially competitive with conventional process heating system for cotton-based industry in India has been presented. The levelized cost of useful thermal energy (LCUTE) delivered by the conventional (furnace oil based) and SIPH systems...
A review on various aspects of institutional solar cooking is presented. Starting with an overview of energy requirement for cooking, the review includes cooking technologies developed for institutional solar cooking, polices and programs for their promotion and case studies reported in the literature on field level application. State of the art co...
In this paper, we estimate the cost reduction potential of parabolic trough based concentrated solar Power systems in India and consequently their implications for levelized cost of electricity. Using the past as well as envisaged global cumulative diffusion of CSP systems and the learning rates reported in the literature, the expected capital cost...
A significant share of final energy consumption in the industrial sector is used for meeting the process heating applications at low and medium temperatures (up to 250 °C). Solar industrial process heating is being considered as one of clean and renewable energy options in many countries of the world. An attempt to present a review of the available...
An assessment of the financial feasibility of using solar pre-heated water in institutional cooking applications in India is made. Use of solar heated water to reduce fuel requirement for institutional cooking applications is being proposed as the existing solar cooking options have not yet been acceptable. For example, hot water delivered by solar...
The choice of a solar radiation data source is expected to have significant impact on the predicted performance of a CSP system and consequently on its technical and financial feasibility. In the present study, an attempt has been made to analyze the effect of choice of various solar radiation data sources on the predicted performance of a CSP syst...
Financial viability is arguably the most important requirement for large scale dissemination of decentralized renewable energy systems (DRESs). Financial viability of a DRES can vary from region to region as it depends on various geographical and socio-economic factors. With sufficient solar radiation availability throughout the year, abundant fore...
India has a huge industrial demand for process heating at temperatures that can be provided with commercially available solar collectors. Government of India with support from multi-lateral agencies has initiated an ambitious programme for promoting large scale adoption of Solar Industrial Process Heating (SIPH) in the industrial sector of the coun...
A preliminary attempt to estimate the potential of solar process heating in producing cotton based textiles in India as well as the amount of greenhouse gases likely to be mitigated consequently has been made. To begin with, all the processes involved in the production of cotton based textiles (yarn and cloth) that require thermal energy have been...
Micro-grids are actively employed for rural electrification along with integrated renewable energy systems in developing countries. For determining their optimal configurations, it is often challenging in obtaining accurate input data, particularly prospective electricity loads and local renewable resource availability. In this study, the configura...
The idea of greening the curriculum is picking up in wake of serious concerns about global climate change and security of energy supply. Renewable energy utilization is expected to help in achieving long term environmental sustainability. As a consequence, the need for renewable energy education and training at all levels is globally recognized. Ju...
Estimation of renewable energy utilisation potential is important for identification of niche areas and prioritisation amongst different options. However, large variation in the potential estimates has been observed in different studies for the same renewable energy technology. This study is an attempt to analyse such a variation in the estimated p...
An attempt to estimate the potential of solar industrial process heating (SIPH) and corresponding mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions in dairy industry in India is presented. An assessment of availability of solar radiation as well as of the ambient conditions at various locations with milk processing plants has been made. The effect of the choi...
This paper reviews the available literature dealing with the barriers to the dissemination of decentralized renewable energy systems. Decentralized renewable energy systems may face a range of technical, economic, institutional, socio-cultural and environmental barrier to their dissemination. In the paper, barriers impeding the dissemination of dec...
The sizing of a solar thermal power plant directly affects its cost and also the annual electricity output and hence its financial attractiveness. It involves deciding appropriate values of design DNI, solar multiple and hours of thermal storage to achieve high annual capacity utilization factor (CUF) with the least cost of electricity delivered. A...
This paper presents the results of a preliminary assessment towards the potential estimation of solar process heating in paper industry in India. To begin with, data for (i) classification of paper mills on the basis of size and feedstock used (ii) extent of cogeneration in paper mills (iii) annual paper production (feed stock wise) (iv) specific t...
This paper presents results of an analysis undertaken to determine the values of design for direct normal irradiance (DNI), solar multiple and hours of thermal storage for least cost of power generation for parabolic trough based solar thermal power plants at 4 niche locations in India. Solar radiation data source of SEC-NREL has been used and annu...
For large-scale dissemination of solar thermal power plants, in countries identified with huge potential, governments are offering various incentives. In an attempt towards studying the effectiveness of various incentives in reducing the levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) delivered by solar thermal power plants in India, this paper presents simpl...
In India, kerosene is primarily used for domestic lighting in un-electrified rural households. The government incurs significant expenditure on subsidies and under-recoveries associated with supply of kerosene distributed through public distribution system. In addition to poor illumination and indoor pollution, kerosene lamp usage necessitates expe...
For a planner of decentralized renewable energy systems with micro-grids, an accurate load prediction is imperative for proper sizing of the system. For an accurate load projection, the following questions need to be answered: How many households actually get connected to the micro-grid? How much electricity do they actually use? What factors affec...
A simple framework to estimate the potential of solar industrial process heating (SIPH) and corresponding CO2 emissions mitigation in paper industry in India is presented. Geographical locations with clusters of paper mills have been identified and the annual process heating requirement for paper production (based on raw material use) at each clust...
Ensuring financial viability for a decentralized renewable energy project and still setting tariffs within the affordability of the users in remote areas with low income is a major challenge. Many decentralized rural electrification projects suffer from financial shortage during operation partly due to lack of tariff revenue. However, if tariff is...
a b s t r a c t Realistic assessment of utilization potential of solar energy for thermal power generation and identification of niche areas/locations for this purpose is critically important for designing and implementing appropriate policies and promotional measures. This paper presents the results of a detailed analysis undertaken for estimating...
An attempt to assess solar lantern based lighting option for street vendors (often without access to grid electricity) in the city of Dehradun through a questionnaire based survey is presented. Survey results indicate that the vendors are more likely to adopt a lighting device on rental mode that offers the benefit of low operation cost and high re...
Need for renewable energy education and training at all levels is globally recognized. During the last three decades a large number of countries across the globe have initiated academic programmes on renewable energy technologies and related aspects. A review of published literature on renewable energy education initiatives across the globe, challe...
Results of a preliminary techno-economic appraisal of solar thermal power generation at three locations in India are presented. The study uses System Advisor Model developed by NREL, USA. The results of the study provide useful insight into (a) selecting appropriate reference direct normal irradiance for design of solar thermal power plants, (b) id...
Results of a preliminary analysis to study the financial feasibility of a hybrid mode operation of a direct evaporative cooler (DEC) with an air conditioning (AC) unit to reduce the annual expenditure on electricity usage (as against a standalone AC unit to provide almost similar level of comfort) are presented. Four different building applications...
Load prediction is an essential component of the planning process of decentralized electricity supply systems based on micro-grids. However, accurate demand forecasting is a challenging task particularly for rural electrification projects. In this paper, actual operational data of a PV based micro-grid system in Sagar Island of India are analyzed i...
This paper presents a new control strategy for a grid-connected doubly fed induction generator (DFIG)-based wind energy conversion system (WECS). Control strategies for the grid side and rotor side converters placed in the rotor circuit of the DFIG are presented along with the mathematical modeling of the employed configuration of WECS. The propose...
Public understanding of science PUS is a central concept among science communicators. Public understanding of renewable energy PURE is proposed as an important sub-concept of PUS. The aim of our paper is to interest and invite renewable energy scientists to join a PURE research project. Four separate important questions for a PURE research project...
The objectives, methodology and results of a pilot survey of urban households using box type solar cookers in Delhi are briefly described. Also included are the suggestions of the users for improving the acceptability of the solar cookers.
This paper deals with the analysis, modeling, and control of a doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) driven by the wind turbine. A control technique is presented for extracting the maximum power from the wind turbine. The wind energy conversion system (WECS) is equipped with a DFIG and two back-to-back connected voltage source converters (VSCs) in...
The challenges of providing electricity to rural households are manifold. Ever increasing demand–supply gap, crumbling electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure, high cost of delivered electricity are a few of these. Use of renewable energy technologies for meeting basic energy needs of rural communities has been promoted by the Gove...
Solar home systems are typically used for providing basic electricity services to rural households that are not connected to electric grid. Off-grid PV power plants with their own distribution network (micro/minigrids) are also being considered for rural electrification. A techno-economic comparison of the two options to facilitate a choice between...
About 68 million households in India rely on kerosene as a fuel for domestic lighting. Kerosene-based lighting devices, not only for poor quality of light, but also for the risks of indoor air pollution and fire hazards, etc. are not a desired option for domestic lighting purposes. Solar lantern is a better alternative in terms of its quality of il...
This paper presents the results of a study undertaken for identifying niche areas in India where renewable energy based decentralized generation options can be financially more attractive as compared to grid extension for providing electricity. The cost of delivering electricity in remote areas considering cost of generation of electricity and also...
About 78 million rural households in India reportedly lack access to grid electricity. About 67 million of them use kerosene for lighting. Government of India is promoting the use of solar home systems (SHS) as one of the options for meeting lighting requirements in households in remote and less inhabited villages. About 363,399 SHS were reportedly...
This study presents the results of a preliminary attempt towards identifying potential areas in India where provision of electricity through renewable energy-based decentralized generation options can be financially more attractive as compared to extending the grid. The cost of generation of electricity from coal, hydro and nuclear power plants and...
SYNOPSIS
This paper attempts an energy study of box-type solar cooker utilisation in India. A framework has been developed for estimation of the useful output of a box-type solar cooker based on the hourly global solar radiation data of the location and the thermal performance characterizing parameters F1 and F2. Values of useful energy output, Ene...
An attempt to develop simple frameworks for quantification of the CO2 emissions mitigation potential of renewable energy technologies for domestic water heating, domestic lighting, water pumping, and crop drying has been made. The annual useful energy provided by each of the renewable energy technology and the annual saving of fuel/electricity have...
An attempt for the techno-economic evaluation of biogas-based water pumping systems in India has been made in the present work. The potential reduction in the amount of CO2 released in the atmosphere due to the use of the biogas-based water pumping systems has also been taken into account in the estimation of economic benefits. The economic figures...
An attempt has been made to estimate unit cost of CO2 emissions mitigation pertaining to four
renewable energy technologies for water pumping in India. The annualized costs and benefits associated with each of the technologies have been estimated and tiie same have been used to estimate tiie unit cost of CO2 emissions mitigation of these technologi...
India has a very large potential for harnessing renewable energy sources. However, there is a large gap between the estimated potential and the cumulative achievements made so far. A variety of reasons are attributed to the current low levels of dissemination of renewable energy technologies in India as against their respective estimated potentials...
Simple frameworks have been developed for estimating the utilization potential of: (a) solar photovoltaic (SPV) pumps; (b) windmill pumps; (c) producer gas based dual fuel engine pumps; and (d) biogas based dual fuel engine pumps for irrigation water pumping in India. The approach takes into account factors such as: solar radiation intensity, wind...
A techno-economic evaluation of small wind electric generator (SWEG) projects for providing decentralized power supply in remote locations in India is presented. SWEG projects that have either been implemented or are under implementation have been considered. The capital costs of the SWEG projects and sub-systems have been analysed. Levelised unit...
An attempt has been made to develop a simple framework for quantification of the CO2 emissions
estimation of potential of solar photovoltaic (SPV) pumps and associated cost of mitigation in India.
Using the estimated annual useful energy provided by an SPV pump and the efficiency of utilization
of the diesel/electricity in the conventional pump, th...
Results of a techno-economic evaluation of biomass gasifier based projects for decentralized power supply for remote locations in India are presented. Contributions of different components of diesel engine generator (DG) sets, dual fuel (DF) engine generator sets and 100% producer gas (HPG) engine generator sets to their capital costs as well as to...
The present study concentrates on photovoltaic (PV) projects for providing decentralized power supply in remote locations in India. Results of a techno-economic evaluation are presented. Some PV projects in the capacity range 1–110 kWp, that have either been implemented or are under implementation, have been considered. An analysis of the capital c...
Initiatives towards large-scale dissemination of solar dryers for drying of agri-produce face severe competition from the largely prevalent practice of open sun drying in most of the developing countries. Therefore, solar drying systems must offer exceptionally attractive financial gains to enhance their acceptance among the potential users. A mode...
The suitability of using biomass briquettes to substitute coal is debatable, as a substantial amount of energy is required for briquetting of biomass. In the present work, an attempt to evaluate the energetic viability of briquetting of agricultural residues compared with the energy embodied in coal in India has been made. Briquetting of agricultur...
Results of a techno-economic feasibility evaluation of few micro-hydropower (MHP) projects being planned and implemented for decentralized power supply for remote locations in India are presented. The capital cost of such projects (including cost of power evacuation and distribution system), cost per unit of rated capacity, and relative cost of dif...
Using the past diffusion trends of four renewable energy technologies for irrigation water pumping in India (SPV pumps, windmill pumps and biogas/producer gas driven dual fuel engine pumps), results of an attempt to project their future dissemination levels, have been presented in this study. The likely contribution of the renewable energy options...
Social cost benefit analysis of an investment on SPV water pumping systems in India has been made. The potential reduction in the amount of CO2 released in the atmosphere due to the use of the SPV water pump has also been taken into account in the estimation of economic benefits. Values of economic figures of merit such as net present value, benefi...
A simple framework for the financial performance evaluation of a solar photovoltaic (SPV) water pump has been presented. The unit cost of water delivered by such a pump has been estimated. The monetary benefits accrued to the end user have also been quantified on the basis of the amount of diesel or electricity saved. The Net Present Value and Inte...
Development and dissemination of solar energy technologies in India has been aided by a variety of policy and support measures. One of the promotional measures is the provision of financial and fiscal incentives such as capital subsidy, low interest loan and accelerated depreciation related income tax benefits to the users on the purchase of solar...
An attempt to estimate the potential of solar crop drying for some selected cash crops in India has been made. The amount of cash crops that can be dried by solar dryers and the required aperture area of solar dryers have been estimated. Estimates for unit cost of solar drying for different crops have also been worked out. The potential of net foss...
Results of a techno-economic feasibility evaluation of some micro-hydro power (MHP) plants being planned and implemented for remote village power supply in the state of Uttaranchal in India are presented. The capital cost of MHP plants in the capacity range of 20--100 kW (including cost of local transmission and distribution system), investment req...
A framework for techno-economic evaluation of solar crop dryers is presented. The unit cost of drying and the unit cost of useful energy have been estimated for different crops. The monetary benefits accrued to the end user have been quantified on the basis of commercial fuels saved. The values of different financial performance indicators have als...
An attempt to estimate the utilization potential of renewable energy technologies for irrigation water pumping in India has been made. The potential has been estimated by taking into account most of the important factors such as solar radiation intensity, wind speed, availability of bovine dung and agri-residues and their alternative uses, groundwa...
Emission characteristics of a diesel engine in diesel alone and dual mode (with producer gas) at different load conditions are presented in this paper. Concentration of pollutants such as carbon monoxide (CO), oxides of nitrogen (NOx), sulphur dioxide (SO2), hydrocarbons (HC) and particulates in the flue gas were monitored and emission factors have...
The Government of India has been providing various financial incentives including capital subsidy, interest subsidy and depreciation related income tax benefits with the objective of promoting development and dissemination of renewable energy technologies in the country. These financial incentives have, however, changed from time to time in their t...