How India Found Its Place in the Sun: 7 Facts About the International Solar Alliance!

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former French President Francois Hollande had unveiled the International Solar Alliance (ISA) in 2015. The project was launched to combine the efforts of both countries to work against climate change and adopt renewable energy, replacing the use of fossil fuels.

Here are seven things to know about ISA and India’s role in the coalition:

1. The idea behind the project is to develop solar resources in various countries to reduce their reliance on non-renewable resources. Countries which have come together for the project identify and address gaps in their energy requirements through a collective approach.

2. ISA aims to invest $1 trillion, raised from public and private investors, for solar projects that will provide 1 TW of solar energy globally.

3. Speaking about India’s contribution to this goal, PM Modi had said, “India will produce 175 GW electricity from renewable sources by 2022, and 100 GW will be from solar energy… Distribution of 28 crore LED bulbs in three years has saved $2 billion and 4 GW of electricity. India will also provide 500 training slots for ISA member-countries and start a solar tech mission to lead R&D.”

4. A total of 121 countries are prospective members of ISA, usually those located between the equator and the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. These countries are identified as they receive abundant sunlight throughout the year.

5. 56 of these 121 countries have signed to be members of ISA since 2015.

France and India are the founding countries and the remaining 54 in alphabetical order are: Australia, Bangladesh, Benin, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Chad, Chile, Comoros, Costa Rica, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, DR Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gambia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Kiribati, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nauru, Niger, Nigeria, Peru, Rwanda, Sao Tome, Senegal, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Tuvalu, UAE, Uganda, Vanuatu, Venezuela and Yemen.

6. The ISA is the first international body to have a secretariat in India. Although it was founded in Paris, France, its headquarters is in Gurugram, India. The first assembly of ISA will be held in Delhi on 2nd October 2018.

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7. Some of the short-term priorities, as enlisted by ISA are as follows:

• Assisting member countries in drafting solar policies;
• Development of standards, specifications and test protocols for solar energy systems;
• Encouraging collaborations in solar resource mapping in member countries and the deployment of suitable technologies;
• Designing training programmes for students/engineers/policymakers, etc., and organising workshops, focused meetings and conferences.
•  Working with ISA member countries to strive for universal access to solar lighting.

(Edited by Shruti Singhal)

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