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How Delhi cut electricity loss from 50 to 5 percent

592 points · 336 comments · rbanffy

  1. thelastgallon · · focus · HN ↗
    India has one thing going for it, sunlight all the time.

    India can adopt plug-in standards, solar and batteries. I guess most people use some form of battery (UPS/Inverter) anyways, so the idea is familiar.

    Rooftop is known and it can continue to grow. Next, add vertical solar. This will add ~4 hours of solar production.

    Required gated communities to be self sufficient or net producers. Cover the surfaces of all high rises with vertical panels. Require these communities to have BESS and EV charging for all car parking. This adds two layers of storage. BESS instead of diesel generators. Add outlet for induction stove. No need of piped gas. I've seen villa communities where most homes are net producers, these ideas are happening, need to be standardized as regulation. Easiest thing is to create standards for the gated communities, which can be enforced.

    Don't build rural transmission infrastructure. They can be offgrid, using solar and batteries. It is not worth the cost to build and maintain transmission and distribution infrastructure to millions of small villages.

    Work towards regulating uber/rapido to require EV cars. These drive the most miles in cities and would do wonders.

    Lots of scope for growth.

    1. sieve · · focus · HN ↗
      All great points.

      We installed a 5 kWp plant last month. Grid-tied, of course. Our daily usage is in the 12-25 kWh range depending on the season and the plant produces ~12 kWh on the worst days (~35 on the best, so far).

      We have been doing our cooking almost exclusively on induction for the last 6-7 years, and I have been trying to get others to switch as well. However, it is difficult to convince people of the benefits. Some Indian cooking requires exposing the food directly to the flames, so piped/bottled gas cannot be completely eliminated.

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