Perceptions And Attitudes Towards Solar Energy Environmental Sciences Essay

The scope of this research is on the energy consumption patterns in India and what proportions of the energy needs are met. We will consider the size of the market for the solar power generation as most parts of India focus on the conventional energy rather than the renewable energy. A brief about the power sectors in India is also discussed; the data for this research is collected by interpreting the secondary data and by conducting interviews as in the primary data. A literature review on environmental marketing is made by taking up the existing technology this will help us in making a market plan for the solar power sector that is viable.

Power sector in India-A Brief:

The power industry is growing rapidly in India as it consumes 3.4% of the global energy. There is an increase in the annual demand by 3.6% over the last 30years. The surging demand is from the industrial and domestic sectors.

Domestic sector − 25.87% (2006-07)

Industrial sector − 35.5% (2006-07)

The private and the global firms made their entry ever since they were allowed to participate in the power sector, 1991. But the State Electricity Board (SEBs) is the main source for generation and supply of electricity.

Coal remains the dominant source of electricity, though there are many sources of power in India like Gas, Hydroelectric, Wind, and Solar. The installed capacity for power generation in India is 1,49,391.91 MW, and less than 60% of households consume electricity, the Industries followed by Agriculture are the two main sectors that consume power which is why the per capita consumption is very low in India.

(India Reports,2009)

Solar Energy scope and utilization:

Solar energy in the recent times has been proved to be one of the most efficient ways to generate electricity. Usage of Solar-powered equipment in large scale can be beneficial as the carbon dioxide emission would be reduced to a great extent thus leading to a Green environment. The Solar-powered equipment could be used in hotels, hospitals, household purposes and government buildings as these are easily mountable on top of the buildings and requires less space. (Hughes,2009).

Source: Central Electricity Authority, Ministry of Power, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and Frost & Sullivan estimates

As India receives 3000 hours of sunshine every year which is equivalent to over 5000 trillion kWh and has many solar resources. The daily average solar energy is 4-7 kWh per sq m in different parts of India depending on the location (kotwal,A,2008). India is useful for exploiting the solar power for generating electricity with the technology available as there are about 300 clear sunny days in most parts of the country and the three important ways in harnessing the solar power is with the use of:

Photovoltaic Cells- which convert the sunlight into electricity when the light rays are incident on the cells.

Active solar heating systems- A collector is kept on the roof which absorbs the sunlight and in return heats the water tank connected to the collector.

Passive solar design- Is used to trap more heat during the winter whilst not over heating during summers.

Since the solar power is available in abundance it helps in fulfilling the energy needs of humans and with the usage of the solar power, there might as well be a day where the buildings and households need not rely on the external grid for the power (Earthsummit,2002).

There has been much advancement made regarding the solar power and with the introduction of nanotechnology which will improve the efficiencies and result in reduced infrastructure cost this can very soon be a very competitive source of energy in a tropical place like India, though there are other sources of energy solar power has its advantages like the there are no trade barriers for the suns energy and this type of equipment can be placed anywhere where there is sunlight and is also eco-friendly which will not hinder the other surrounding factors thus making solar power more affordable (Brito et al,2005), this type of tiny nanotechnology solar cell can be printed on a thin flexible light- retaining material which will reduce the cost of production compared to the silicon cells which requires a clean room for manufacturing with no dust and should be free from airborne microbes, moreover the nano materials are useful in capturing and transmitting the energy. (Carlstrom,2005).

The use of plastic materials has brought a change in harnessing the sun’s rays as half of the sun’s energy lies in the infrared rays and the other half in the visible spectrum, the plastic materials with the nanotechnology has the tendency to capture the energy from the infrared rays which is five times more efficient than the existing solar cell technology (Lovgren,2005).

We will look at the market and the players globally and in India which suits consumer needs.

Aim:

To undertake a study on public awareness, attitude and perceptions of Solar power as an alternative to sources of power and to suggest a marketing plan for a technology/company that would be viable in India.

Objectives:

To examine and evaluate power sector in India.

Identify and evaluate the alternative power sources in India

Study on solar energy sector.

To examine and analyze public awareness and perception of solar energy and alternative energy sources

Identify solar power generation technology in India and abroad.

Identify the technology that consumer needs and would be most viable in India.

To carry out a literature review on Environmental marketing.

On basis of the complete study a market plan is made to popularize the solar power generation technology in India.

Research Questions:

What proportions of India’s energy needs are met by solar power?

Size of market, players, types of equipment and their effectiveness/efficiency?

How are they being marketed? Are domestic households being targeted?

What is the level of awareness of domestic usage of solar power amongst Indians?

Why has solar power not caught on in a big way in a tropical country like India?

Forming a market strategy.

Research Methodology:

The methodology used in this research is both primary and secondary, as this research deals with the current issues and also the data which is existing in the databases related to the Solar energy.

Secondary Data:

The data from journals, articles gives us an idea of how things were earlier regarding the usage of solar power equipment and also the data bases like Proquest-ABI Global, EBSCO, and Science Direct helps us to find out about the advancements made in the history of solar power with the help of the available statistics. This type of data is readily available on the internet or in the libraries so the time required to collect is comparatively less and there is a scope to find data in large amounts. The information which is obtained from the secondary data can be re-phrased and cited in the research with proper references and a detailed analysis on various power sectors can be obtained.

Primary Data:

The data collected from the primary data can be both qualitative and quantitative, as it uses different forms of data collection techniques like:

Questionnaires

It focuses on the sections of the research which are to be covered and can cover a large number of peoples opinion about a particular area of interest, a wider geographic coverage is obtained. In this research we make a questionnaire to find out about the attitudes and perceptions of Indian consumers regarding the usage of solar powered equipment. We mainly concentrate on the households as these constitute a major part in knowing the demand.

The questionnaires once completed could be sent across through an email to various household groups in different locations in India and as well receive the reply through an email or post. The questionnaire could be structured or unstructured with open and closed type questions in it which would help us yield information regarding the perceptions of the Indian consumers regarding the usage of solar power. With the help of resources like the survey monkey the questionnaires can be formed and sent across to people for their views about a particular aspect concerned with the research.

Interviews

It is a technique that is used to gain an understanding of the underlying reasons for people’s attitudes, preferences or behavior. Interviews can be undertaken on a personal one-to-one basis or in a group. This can be done by calling up people personally or by having a gathering where a conference call could be setup and finding out information on how they feel about the usage of the solar powered equipment and as well make them aware of the advantages they get with the usage of the equipments. We can mainly focus on to what extent people in India are aware of the viability of the solar power.

Project plan: Gantt chart representation:

S.No.

Title.

June

July

August

Week2

Week3

Week 4

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week

4

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

1

Research proposal completion

2

Sector analysis in India

3

Study of Solar power sector in India and world

4

Preparation of questionnaires and interview planning.

5

Interviewing people and filing responses received and literature review on environmental marketing.

6

Mapping needs to technology: identification of technology/company.

7

Forming a marketing strategy.

8

Coalition of research work.