As concern for climate change is increasing across the globe, renewable energy is becoming a big focus for industries as well as Governments. Let’s take the example of Australia-Asia power link – the US $ 22 billion world’s largest solar and storage proposed project, which will generate power from Australia’s sun-drenched Northern Territory and pipe it to Singapore via a 3,800 kilometre electrical cable along the sea floor. In India, Reliance Industries invested US $ 1.14 billion on green energy acquired solar panel manufacturer REC Solar Holdings AS and it agreed to acquire 40 per cent of Sterling & Wilson Solar Ltd. On the other side, after achieving the initial target of 25 giga watt renewable portfolio four years ahead of schedule, the Adani Group now plans to triple its solar power generation capacity in the next four years. And it is good to see that the Indian textile and garment industry is also not behind in using solar energy. Giant companies to micro-level organisations are geared up in this direction and everybody from Government to buyers are pushing for it. In long-term, investing in green energy will be cost-effective also.
Apparel/textile companies investing in solar energy
In the last few years, a lot of companies have invested in solar energy like India’s largest exporter Shahi Exports has two solar power plants of 32 MW and 52 MW capacities which cater to around 65 per cent of its electricity requirements. Pee Empro Exports has installed solar panels at two of its units, Matrix Clothing, Gurgaon has installed a solar power plant of 258 KW, KG Fabriks has a 1.05 MW solar power plant, Dollar Industries has invested Rs. 18 crore for solar power plant in Tirupur and Trident Group recently commissioned 7.6 MW solar power plant at Budhni. It is not that only giants have invested in solar energy. SME Sekawati Impex , Jaipur invested in this long back and Noida-based company Washerman Textile Processing House has also invested in solar energy. Besides these, there are many more names which have done commendable investment in solar energy.
Not only factories at individual level have invested or are investing in solar plants, there are collaborative efforts too being made for the same. For example, there is a huge solar plant at Netaji Apparel Park, Tirupur.
Government support and policies
Various State as well as Union Governments have come up with interesting policies to support and motivate the industry to use solar energy. For example, the installation of solar power plant is necessary for factories in Haryana as per the order passed by the State Government in September 2014. A notification, for the installation of rooftop solar power systems for commercial buildings, having load connection of 50 KW to 1 MW, was sent across the state, making it mandatory for such factories to produce 5 per cent solar power of the total requirement or 10 KW, whichever is higher.
Maharashtra State Government is providing three-year subsidy of Rs. 3 per unit to spinning mills. The mills are expected to set up solar power plants at their premises in these three years in lieu of the subsidy.
Union Government too is offering around 30 per cent capital subsidy for general category States/UTs under its National Solar Mission (NSM). The Mission targets installing 100 GW grid-connected solar power plants by the year 2022.
Interestingly Ministry of Textiles has also approved a financial scheme to aid small powerloom units, hit hard due to frequent power cuts, for installation of solar photovoltaic (SPV) plants. The fund requirement for the three years (2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-2020) was Rs. 19.95 crore, covering 480 powerloom units in the country.
Most recently it was announced that the Government will soon enhance the funding under the Production Linked Incentive scheme for the domestic solar cells and module manufacturing to Rs 24,000 crore from the existing Rs 4,500 crore.
Financial aspects
As per various reports, the application of solar energy in textile industry has the potential of saving more than Rs. 770 crore annually. Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) has identified a total saving worth Rs. 13,940 per year for the textile industry based on solar energy application.
As far as cost of electricity is concerned, it is pertinent to mention here that electricity rate per unit across the leading apparel/textile producing states ranges between Rs. 6.35 to Rs. 8.80. And for factories, it is a huge cost.
From cost point of view, initial investment depends on what type of solar panels are being installed. There are different options that are available under 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation solar panels depending on the technology and efficiency range. Though photovoltaics (PV) and concentrated solar power (CSP) are much preferred.
On the basis of market research, it can be said that the panels could cost anywhere between Rs. 30 per W and Rs. 50 per W. A typical PV system includes an inverter, cables, batteries (in case of off-grid systems), etc. Generally, PV modules with higher capacity are cheaper than modules with lower capacity. The cost of grid-connected PV systems range from Rs. 50,000 to Rs.75,000 per kWp and the cost varies according to the inverter and type of panel chosen. The cost of off-grid solar PV systems is approximately Rs. 1,00,000 as these PV systems require batteries which are costly. The cost of a rooftop solar is approximately Rs. 1,00,000 per kWp inclusive of installation charges while using a battery for back-up. Then another Rs. 25,000 can be added to this cost.
Looking from a broader perspective, India is the lowest cost producer of solar power globally. A report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) says that India was estimated to have the lowest total installed cost for new utility-scale solar PV projects that were commissioned in 2018 at US $ 793/kW, 27 per cent lower than for projects commissioned in 2017.
Solar water heating
Along with solar energy, the use of solar water heating is also growing. It is a well-established technology and can be used in apparel and textile industries for boiler feed applications in raising the temperature of water from 25℃ to 80℃. It saves a substantial amount of fuel oil used in boilers.
Textile processing itself requires a lot of hot water in the range of 40℃-110℃ at various stages of the process. The requisite heat can easily be generated through solar energy.
A solar air heating system with 90 sq. m. collector area was installed at Raghav Woollen Mills, Ludhiana, for drying of garments in their tumbler dryers. It replaced the cool ambient air of about 30°C with solar pre-heated air of 55°C–65°C further raised by diesel fired hot air generator to 100 °C–110 °C for drying garments. As a result, the company has been saving 25 per cent of their fuel consumption amounting to around Rs. 1.50 lakh per year. The payback period has been reported to be two years and the system is expected to last for more than 15 years.
Along with the above mentioned facilities and growth in the solar energy in textile and apparel industry, there are some challenges also. The drawback of solar energy is that it drops down to zero after 6 pm, so for greater efficiencies solar panels should be oriented in the north-south direction, while facing south. Another major challenge especially for small factories is that most of them are in rented premises or even their congested premises don’t have enough space for solar panels. This is why many SMEs can’t avail this facility.
