As we celebrate the world environment day in the midst of the COVID19 Pandemic, what is it that we as citizens can actually do contribute to the environment?
While there are talks globally on what the countries need to do to save the environment and mitigate climate change, here we will discuss how we as a common citizen can make the earth more sustainable with our small contributions. As we prepare our next generations, we also need to act now for a sustainable development and leave a better planet for them.
The World Environment Day was first held in 1974 and is celebrated every year on June 5th to encourage awareness and action for the protection of the environment. It stood for raising awareness about issues related to the environment like air pollution, marine pollution, global warming, and human overpopulation. The theme for this year’s World Environment Day is ‘Biodiversity’ and ‘Time for Nature’. Our health is tied to the health of nature & cities need to thrive protecting biodiversity and nature.
Covid 19 Pandemic is a testimony that the global lockdown has actually healed the mother earth and we understand now that it’s time for nature to relive and support the human civilization. With industries, transport, businesses, traffic on halt the environment around us has witnessed improved air quality, noise pollution, water quality, and biodiversity among others. On an average, reduction in particulate matter (PM) concentrations over southern part of India is around 50-60%, and over the Indo-Gangetic basin, including Delhi, UP, Bihar, West Bengal etc it is as much as 75%. Because of the lesser human footfall even the oceans are recovering and marine life is thriving.
We need to take a call to control our lifestyle and contribute to saving the environment by stopping the use of plastic, growing trees, rain water harvesting, solid waste management and using renewable sources of energy.
Of all the human needs, energy generation contributes to maximum greenhouse gas emissions. The electricity generated by coal emits greenhouse gases carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O) causing pollution in the atmosphere. It also leads to depletion of the ozone layer. We need to adopt alternative sources of energy like solar, wind or geothermal energy as they are abundantly available and provides clean energy.
India being a solar rich country can generate sufficient solar energy to cater for all its requirement through solar power plants. The solar photovoltaic panel coverts the free energy of the sun into electrical energy. The solar panels for home, institutions and factories can make them self-sufficient to produce their own electricity. Uses of solar energy are numerous. They can be in the form of solar photovoltaic or solar thermal technology. Solar power plants can be an On grid solar system, Off grid solar system or a Hybrid solar system.
On Grid or Grid tied Solar Power Plant – A typical On grid solar photovoltaic system is the most common and widely used by homes and businesses. It doesn’t need batteries. The excess generated solar power exported to the electricity grid through net metering. The net meter records the export and import of generated electricity and always shows the net reading. An On Grid solar PV system only generates power when the utility power grid is available. The solar inverter, module mounting structure, cables and balance of systems (BOS) are some of the other components of the On Grid solar power plant. They can be either solar rooftop or ground mounted power plants as per the area availability.
Off Grid Solar Power Plant – An Off Grid solar photovoltaic system is not connected to gird. It generates solar power and stores in batteries. By Storing power in a solar battery, it is possible to run household loads with solar energy.
Solar street light, Solar chargers, Solar lantern, Solar lamps, Solar water pumps and Solar home lighting systems are other Off grid solutions used for places not connected to grid. The most important component of the solar PV system is a solar panel or solar plate which constitutes of solar cells or photovoltaic cells.
Hybrid Solar Power Plant – A Hybrid Solar Power Plant is a combination of an On-grid and an Off- grid system. It generates power like Grid-tied solar PV system and has batteries to store energy for later use. This system is used when zero power interruption is required at places experiencing frequent load shedding.
On this World environment Day amidst the Pandemic, let’s make an endeavor to use this free energy for the sustainable development of our country and the world. To know more about how to use this free fuel and reduce your carbon footprint, contact us and we can help you with a free site feasibility of your premises.
By Major Priyanka Gupta
Co-Founder Visol Renewable Energy Solutions
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