Renewable Energy in South Asia
Solar power is not yet a significant source of large scale electricity generation in South Asia mainly due to the higher cost of solar panels.
But being a region in the sunny tropical belt, South Asia could greatly benefit from a renewable energy trend, as it has the ideal combination of both - high solar insolation [1] and a big consumer base density.[2][3][4] For example, considering the costs of energy consumed for temperature control (a major factor influencing a regions energy intensity) and the fact that - cooling load requirements, unlike heating, are roughly in phase with the sun's intensity, cooling from the excessive solar radiation could make great energetic (and hence economic) sense in the subcontinent, whenever the required technology becomes competitively cheaper.[5] [6] [7]
South Asia's very long-term solar potential may be unparalleled in the world because it is one of the few places with an ideal combination of both high solar power reception and a large consumer base in the same place. For e.g. India's theoretical solar potential is about 5000 TW·h per year (i.e. 600 GW), far more than its current total consumption.