The pathway to outcompete fossilfuels : Solar thermal as an alternative for industrial heating processesin Gujarat, India

Abstract: 2015 the Paris agreement was signed to tackle the climate change and reduce emissions from fossil fuel burning. The industrial and manufacturing sector which alone accounts for 32% of global energy use relies heavily on fossil fuels. Solar thermal energy is a renewable energy source that has potential of replacing large portions of this energy. The Swedish research and development company, Absolicon Solar Collectors AB are manufacturers of solar collectors and production lines of dito. Their main product, the Absolicon T160, is a concentrating solar collector which can produce heat up to 160°C.India, and more specifically the state of Gujarat is an interesting market for the solar collectors. This study is aiming to give Absolicon a better understanding of the potential of replacing fossil fuel with solar thermalenergy in Gujarat, so that they can direct their efforts in the right direction. It is a qualitative study mainly focused on the dairy and textile processing industry, two important sectors in the state that has process demands which can be run on solar thermal energy. Since no reliable data regarding the energy consumption in the studied industries where found, a method for estimating the energy consumption is presented in the study.The results from the study shows that large scale manufacturing is possible from a demand point of view, but there are many hindrances for a market penetration. In India large portions of the industry segments studied is non-organized, i.e. small scale with low level of modern technology. Integration of solar thermal energy in the non-organized sector demands a different approach. Based on the results a market analysis with suggestions on how to proceed for the different industrial segments studied is presented.Despite good solar insolation in the state the solar resource was studied in greater detail as aerosols and dust can affect the energy yield from the solar collectors. The results indicates that the annual solar irradiation can be both over- and underestimated when using satellite derived models. India has monsoon seasons and seasonal winds which affects the levels of aerosols in the atmosphere. The level of aerosols and dust has ahigh impact on the solar resource.Ground measurements are therefore a complement that could be used to get a better understandingon site.