Kerala Solar Policy and it's Solar Highlights
Kerela or Keralam as it was famously called, is a state located on the South West coast of India. The state has the highest literacy rate and the highest Human Development Index in India. Kerala is also a popular tourist destination in India thanks to its beaches and beautiful coastal lines. Kerala has 15.86MW of commissioned and grid connected solar power with 1.33MW being added in FY 2016/17. The growth of solar in the last year or so has been slow in the state. However, January 2017 has already seen some interesting traction with the inauguration of a 2MW Solar PV plant of Agency for Non-Conventional Energy and Rural Technology or ANERT at Kazhalmannam as well as the launch of a solar-powered boat called 'Aditya'. This solar powered boat
will be a part of the state water transport department and will serve as a model allowing the government to develop the transport system of the state without significantly increasing its costs. The boat can travel at about 14km/h which is almost double the speed of what a normal ordinary boat does. ANERT also ran a subsidised scheme last year, which aimed at closing at least 10,000 rooftops for installation of rooftop solar plants
with an aim to generate at least 10MW solar power.