Vardaan Group on Research & Development

The Research and Development (R&D) efforts in the
Solar Photovoltaic technology have been aimed at development of
materials used in fabrication of Solar cells and modules, different
types of Solar cell device structures, module designs, components,
sub-systems and systems, with a view to reduce the cost and improve the
overall efficiency at different stages. The Ministry has been sponsoring
Research and Development projects on different aspects of the PV
technology in academic and research institutions, national laboratories,
IITs and industry, for development of new materials, processes, systems,
production and testing equipment for Solar cells and modules and
electronics used in the PV systems.

There are number of R & D projects are going on Solar PV Program in
India.

• The Solar Energy Centre has been established by Government of
  India as a part of MNRE to undertake activities related to design,
  development, testing, standardization, consultancy, training and
  information dissemination in the field of Solar Energy.
• Recently, development of polycrystalline silicon thin film Solar
  cells and small area Solar cells concluded at the Indian Association
  for Cultivation of Science at Jadavpur University.
• The National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi is working on
  development of materials and process to make dye sensitized
  nano-crystalline TiO2 thin films.
• The Centre for Materials for Electronics, Pune has been working
  on development of phosphorous paste for diffusion of impurities in
  Solar cells.
• Under a joint R&D project of MNRE and Department of Science &
  Technology (DST), the Indian Association for Cultivation of Science
  (IACS), Kolkata continued to work on optimization of process for
  fabrication of large area double junction amorphous silicon modules.
• Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore to develop efficient
  electronic system for connecting small PV systems to the grid.
• Indian Institute of Technology Bombay to work on development and
  testing of low concentration PV systems.
• The scientists at the Indian Association for Cultivation of
  Sciences, Jadavpur continued their work on development of nano and
  multi junction silicon thin film Solar cells and optimization of the
  performance of multi junction thin film Solar cells through computer
  modeling.
• A proto type Solar car was successfully developed and
  demonstrated by the students of Delhi college of Engineering. The
  car operates on Solar power, which is stored in storage batteries.
  In one charge the car is capable of traveling about 70 km. The
  maximum speed of the car was demonstrated at 60 km/hr. The Solar car
  was also displayed in the 9th Auto Expo held in New Delhi during
  10-17th January, 2009.