Testing & Standardisation

4.18 The Ministry continued to work with the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) for standardisation of solar thermal products. The Indian National Standards on solar flat plate collectors were brought out by BIS in 1990 (revised in 1992) as IS 12933 (parts 1-5). These (parts 1-3 &5) have further been revised by the Solar Thermal Sub-Committee of BIS. The revision has been approved by the Sectional Committee of the BIS on Non-Conventional Energy Sources in its meeting held on 3^rd July 2002. The revised standards are likely to be available to public shortly. The standards for solar cookers (IS: 13429 parts 1-3) have already been revised in 2000. The Sectional committee in its meeting in July 2002 approved a few amendments to these standards. The Committee also decided to revise the `Solar energy-Thermal applications-Vocabulary' (IS 12934: 1990) based on the revised international standards ISO 9488:1999.

4.19 Six Regional Test Centres (RTCs) for solar thermal energy funded by the Ministry are in operation in Pune, Calcutta, Vallabh Vidyanagar, Indore, Madurai and Chandigarh. In view of large concentration of manufacturers of solar flat plate collectors in Karnataka, it has been proposed to set up a new RTC in the region. An expert has been deputed to examine the feasibility and prepare a detailed report for the same.

4.20 In addition to the RTCs at Vallabh Vidyanagar and Calcutta, the RTCs in Pune and Indore have recently been recognised as approved test centres under the revised laboratory recognition procedure of BIS. Apart from regular testing of solar collectors and cookers for BIS and manufacturers, the RTCs conducted training programmes for capacity building in this area and also a few workshops and seminars to promote solar energy utilisation.

Solar Buildings

4.21 The Ministry has been implementing a comprehensive Solar Buildings Programme since 1995 to promote energy efficiency in the building sector through solar building design principles, and use of renewable and other energy efficient technologies. During the financial year it continued to sponsor programmes for capacity building and awareness creation, and also to provide partial financial support for design and construction of demonstration solar buildings. During the year, financial sanction has been issued for construction of the office building of Science City at Chennai. Work on buildings sanctioned earlier is on progress. A number of training programmes and workshops have been planned.

4.22 In Himachal Pradesh, the state government has taken keen interest to promote solar passive buildings in the state. 20 major solar buildings have already been constructed in seven complexes. Three more buildings are under construction. Most of these buildings have been designed and constructed under the MNES programme. A large number of primary schools and teachers' hostels in high altitude cold desert areas of the state are also being constructed by the state government. The project management cell at Himachal Pradesh State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (HPSCSTE), which has acquired considerable experience in executing various MNES projects, has provided the designs for these buildings.

4.23 A few new provisions have now been incorporated in the programme to be implemented during the tenth five-year plan period. These include: (a) central financial assistance for formulating guidelines for energy efficient buildings by housing development organisations/ corporations / institutions etc. (b) provision for incorporating photovoltaic elements in building design, also known as building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV).

4.24 Under a project entitled "Development of guide to sustainable building design" sponsored to TERI, New Delhi, a comprehensive database and a user-friendly interface is currently being compiled. The School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), New Delhi, through a MNES funded project has developed a software for a computer aided climate responsive integrated approach to architectural design. The software is proposed to be refined further in consultation with the practitioners in the field.

Research & Development

4.25 R&D activities are undertaken through universities, national laboratories, and research institutions. Industry sponsored research projects are encouraged. During the year one new research project has so far been sanctioned. Seven research proposals have further been processed for consideration of the R&D Advisory Committee of the Ministry.

4.26 A meeting to review some on going projects on solar thermal materials by an expert team was held in October 2002. Under the project `Development and evaluation of spectrally selective coatings for solar energy utilisation' in operation in Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, the design and fabrication of an instrument based on vacuum calorimetric technique to measure solar absorptance and thermal emissivity of solar selective coatings has been completed. An optical technique to measure the total emissivity of various materials has also been developed. The objective of the project on `Smart Electrochromic Windows for Energy Conservation' being implemented by National Physical Laboratory (NPL), New Delhi is to develop a cost-effective smart window of size 30cm. x 30cm. After analysing the progress made it was suggested that a reliable cost-effective window may be developed within the project duration through the Solgel technique. As recommended by the expert team, a oneday workshop on the Solgel technique has been planned by NPL in February 2003 for deliberations on effective utilisation of the technology.