Solar Energy for household use...?

[KHUBBU]

Hi everyone,
Anyone of u got some info on Solar Energy Systems being used in households in India....is there any company..or some government agency...distributing these. I have searched a bit on Internet...there have been some initiatives..in South India.
Is anybody using this system...how much does it costs...what equipments r reqd...plz share any details if u hav got..

The problem is we (here in UP) r going thru huge power cuts..during the day and night as well...for the last two days there was 24 hrs supply bcoz our PM was here...now again the same situation is back....Need help!

[sreevirus]

Since I'm doing a project on renewable energy, I might be able to give you some info.

Here in Mumbai, solar panels cost Rs.180 per watt (it can go up to Rs 220 per watt). This is the minimum price that I came to know when I inquired about it 2 months ago. That would mean that if you want to buy a standard 37W solar panel array, then the cost would turn out to be 180*37=Rs, 6660.

For a solar energy installation, the equipments required other than the panels are: the charge controller, the battery (for energy storage) and an inverter (for AC loads). There are a lot of electrical parameters that you have to consider, like the loads and and the backup time, which would decide the battery capacity (a dump load would be required to protect the battery from overcharging).

When you want to deal with solar energy, cost is a deciding factor. The panel rating would be according to your requirements, and consequently the costs. Keeping this constraint in mind, you should think of the equipments/appliances that you need to power, then plan accordingly. If you want to power the entire house, then the cost can be tremendous (this again will be decided by the installed loads in your house).

You could also go in for a hybrid system with both wind and solar energy. (I'm doing this in my project, but my aim is just to provide power for home lighting).

I might not be able to reply soon here, because I'm a bit busy these days.
In the meantime, just check out some of these sites for ideas:
otherpower.com
fieldlines.com