In an effort to reduce water usage in solar plants, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has asked the states and the solar industry to “preferably” use robotic cleaning and other new technologies for cleaning solar panels.
“The excess usage of water, sometimes, leads to wastage of the precious resource and it can be avoided through judicious usage,” the letter from the MNRE, reviewed by FE, addressed to all state principal secretaries and solar associations said.
Though water consumption levels in solar plants — roughly about 100 litre for 1,000 units of electricity — is 22 times lower than thermal power plants, water procurement is nonetheless a considerable operational burden as solar units are usually located in remote, arid regions with acute water shortage. On top of that, it puts additional water pressure in the top five states which account for 70% of total installed solar capacity.
