Out of the Shadows years ago the country had zero solar installations ,” Ahmad Chatila , CEO and Director of U . S . -based solar company SunEdison , explained in an interview with The Hindu Business Line . “ This year , it will be 14 GW . India is as big a country with similar needs . India needs energy and solar costs are on the decline and because of that , it is a match made in heaven .” Certainly , solar appears to be the answer to India ’ s energy issue , though the real key to solving the problem is the approach .
Thinking Both Big and Small Addressing India ’ s energy problem cannot be done with a one-sizefits-all solution . This has been made clear in the rural parts of the country , where traditional electrical grids are in shambles . Power lines frequently stop functioning and leave those affected by its downing without power , often for long periods of time . “ In our area , there are too many problems with electricity , sometimes the electric poles break down and other such issues ,” Singh told ClimateProgress writer Andrew Satter . This scenario is common across much of rural India , where
India ’ s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made a strong committment to solar in the country
older infrastructure lacks any sort of modern updates and is perpetually in a state of decay . To fix this , companies and innovators are thinking smaller .
SunEdison , Tata Solar Power , and First Solar are just some of the companies who ’ re trying to bring solar to consumers in the form of lower-cost installations , parts , and microgrids that power single communities rather than a whole state .
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