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05 Feb 2024 : The Hindu Editorial

Topic 1 : A sunshine initiative: On the government’s rooftop solar panel plan

Context: Centre’s solar initiative should be accommodative to States

Introduction

  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s interim Budget day speech reiterated a plan by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to supply power to one crore households in the country using rooftop solar panels.

 

Solar energy in India: Potential, Advantages and Challenges

  • India has significantly increased its photovoltaic capacity over the last ten years, from less than 10 MW in 2010 to over 50 GW by 2022.
  • India hopes to deploy 500 GW of renewable energy by 2030, with solar PV accounting for about 280 GW of that total.
  • This stipulates the need for 30 GW of annual solar capacity through 2030.
  • India can currently only produce about 15 GW of solar modules annually; the remaining demand is supplied by imports.
  • Three nations—China, Vietnam, and Malaysia—account for an estimated 85% of this import requirement.
  • Since 2014, solar energy imports have totalled $12.93 billion, or Rs 90,000 crore.

Advantages:

  • This is India's best non-renewable energy substitute because it is an endless supply of energy.
  • Being environmentally friendly, solar energy is ideal for India, which is among the most polluted nations in the world.
  • Solar energy can replace other energy sources in rural areas of India and be used for a variety of purposes, such as cooking, drying, heating, and electricity production.
  • It is also suitable for use in automobiles, aircraft, big power boats, satellites, calculators, and many other similar devices, making it ideal for urban dwellers.
  • Solar energy is the most cost-effective alternative to generate power in a country with a shortage of energy, such as India.

Challenges:

  • Solar cell manufacturing needs a huge amount of capital. The cost of debt in India (11%) is highest in the Asia-Pacific region, while in China it is about 5%.
  • Solar cell manufacturing is a complicated process that is technology intensive. Establishing state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities needs access to technology. It is unlikely that companies that have spent millions of dollars on R&D would make it easy for India to access the latest technologies easily or at a lower cost.
  • Lack of an integrated set-up and the economies of scale (despite 100 per cent FDI in the renewable energy sector) translates into higher cost of domestic production.
  • The manufacturing of solar panels faces a severe shortage of raw materials. India does not produce silicon wafer, the costliest raw material used in panels.
  • Every eight to ten months, advances in solar cell technology render manufacturing unfeasible for new players.

 

About the Plan

  • This would help households save ₹15,000 annually, the Minister claimed. What is known so far is that households that have a monthly electricity consumption of less than 300 units a month will be able to install a mid-sized system (1-2 kilowatt) with the government bearing the expense.
  • This could mean a minimum outlay of ₹1 lakh crore. As of today, rooftop solar systems are subsidised up to 40%, with the remainder having to be borne by the consumer.
  • Under the proposed policy, the subsidy will increase to 60% and the rest will be financed by a private developer who is affiliated to a public sector enterprise connected to the Power Ministry.
  • This will ostensibly ensure quality in installation and also reliable service. There is a mechanism of ‘net-metering’, wherein surplus electricity produced by households can be sold back to the grid to make good the loan, though the actual way in which this is implemented can be quite complex.
  • A monthly consumption of 300 units is paltry in houses where air conditioners and heaters are a given, but by national standards, is a significant metric of consumption.
  • About 80% to 85% of 25 crore to 30 crore households in India use between 100 units and 120 units of power a month on average. Therefore, finding one crore houses that will be eligible for the plan will not be a difficult task.

 

Solar Promotion in India: Centre's Role vs State Power Distribution Companies

  • The Centre will be pushing for solarization, not the State power distribution companies (discoms), which is a significant change from past solar promotion policies.
  • There is currently little incentive for India's discoms, the majority of which generate significant losses, to shift high-consumption customers to decentralised solutions like rooftop solar.
  • Ignoring such discoms will not work because they have the most detailed information about household power supplies.
  • It is good that the Centre is working to increase awareness of a programme that has lagged behind. After all, if households are left out, the transition to decarbonised power will be pathetic.
  • So far, only 12 gigawatt (GW) out of an intended 40 GW of rooftop solar panels has been installed. Here too, household rooftops account for only 2.7 GW with the rest being commercial or building units.

 

Conclusion

  • The Centre’s move can thus galvanise a subsidiary domestic industry of solar panels — the subsidies will not be available for imported panels — and must be tweaked in a way to be more accommodative to States. Else, there is a real risk that much of the challenges that have impeded previous initiatives will resurface.

Topic 2 : Micro-credentials, the next chapter in higher education

Context: Higher education institutes in India can be the catalysts in integrating micro-credentials with existing academic programmes.

Introduction

  • Higher education institutes (HEIs) in India must play a much more active role in ensuring that students become employable by connecting them with the careers and job opportunities of tomorrow.
  • This is because there is a gap between the knowledge that students acquire in HEIs and the knowledge they must have in order to become employable.

  • Micro-Credentials in Higher Education

  • Micro-credentials are emerging as a disruptive way of bridging this gap to acquire ‘just-in-time’ modern skills and competencies.
  • They are evolving as the new normal in higher education due to their flexibility, accessibility, and advantages.
  • It must be noted that hiring practices are also changing, with a tendency to prioritise skills over degrees, and the endorsement of micro-credentials is on the rise.

The essence of Micro-Credentials!

  • Micro-credentials are short-duration learning activities that provide proof of specific learning outcomes validated through a standard assessment process.
  • They are offered in online, physical, or hybrid modes at various levels, such as beginning, intermediate, or advanced.
  • Micro-credentials are designed for life-long learners, working professionals who may not be able to attend a formal degree program in a university.
  • They are still developing, with terminologies such as digital badges, micro-master degrees, nano-degrees, and online certificates being used for this short-duration learning.
  • Micro-credentials are being offered by multiple players such as Atingi, Alison.com, Credly, Coursera, edX, FutureLearn, Google, Linkedin, Microsoft, PwC, and Udacity. Many universities in Australia, Canada, Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States are also engaged in providing micro-credentials.
  • In formal degree programs, 'credits' are used to assign value to different forms of learning, such as lectures, tutorials, laboratory work, seminars, projects, and internships.
  • Micro-credentials aim to associate the credit with the notional hours spent acquiring a defined minimum competency, making them universally validated and recognized.
  • However, clear quality benchmarking and regulation of micro-credentials are needed to prevent significant divergences in learning outcomes and facilitate easy endorsement in the workplace and higher education institutes.
  • India has a National Credit Framework (NCrF) that outlines learning outcomes and corresponding credits for students to progress to the next level of learning.
  • One of the primary benefits of micro-credentials is that they are portable and stackable on a digital platform such as the Academic Bank of Credits (ABC).

 

Fostering trust is a key step

  • Micro-credentials in higher education must align with higher education standards in areas such as delivery, assessment, grading, and qualification awarding. Establishing reliable assessment methods is crucial for fostering trust in micro-credentials, and HEIs play a significant role in this.
  • Indian universities can integrate diverse skills into their regular education, store credits on the ABC platform for redemption, or obtain separate certificates or diplomas.
  • Micro-credentials can be given as one to five credit short modules, or learners can accumulate multiple modules to earn the total number of credits required for a degree, as specified in the NCrF.

 

Indian Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and Industry Partnerships

  • Indian Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) should consider developing micro-credentials in partnership with industry as the National Education Policy 2020 focuses on providing skilled education from school to higher levels.
  • The NCrF presents an opportunity for HEIs to explore credit-based micro-credentials as part of regular degree programs. Further discussions on the potential impact of micro-credentials and their value in the tertiary education system are needed.
  • With millions of students viewing micro-credentials as a value-added advantage, millions may seek to earn them as stand-alone credits or as part of their standard higher education.

 

Conclusion

  • Indian HEIs must serve as agents of transformation and consider introducing micro-credentials a vital element of their strategic institutional objectives. Further to this, regulators and HEIs must work towards harmonising micro-credentials with existing academic programmes by coming up with clear validation metrics.