Changeover from fossil fuels to Solar PV is a need in today’s world to limit emissions & protect the environment. India is blessed with good potential for Solar PV. The target of 100GW of Solar Power by 2022 has been set by Govt. of India. Transportation sector in India is a major consumer of imported petroleum products leading to emissions & a drain in foreign exchange. Electric vehicles are one of the ways to overcome this. As numerically 2 & 3-wheelers make up around 84% of all vehicles in India, impact of changeover to e-vehicles in this segment is significant. This paper attempts to analyse the potential of Solar PV for charging the electric 2 & 3-wheelers in India. It also studies the impact, advantages & challenges related to the concept.

1. Journal for Research | Volume 02 | Issue 04 | June 2016
ISSN: 2395-7549
All rights reserved by www.journalforresearch.org 5
Potential in India for use of Solar PV in charging
of Electric 2 & 3 Wheelers
Aseem Kumar Sharma Prof. Dr. D P Kothari
Research Scholar Research Guide
Chandradeep Solar Research Institute, Kolkata Gaikwad-Patil Group of Institutions, Wardha Road, Nagpur
Abstract
Changeover from fossil fuels to Solar PV is a need in today’s world to limit emissions & protect the environment. India is
blessed with good potential for Solar PV. The target of 100GW of Solar Power by 2022 has been set by Govt. of India.
Transportation sector in India is a major consumer of imported petroleum products leading to emissions & a drain in foreign
exchange. Electric vehicles are one of the ways to overcome this. As numerically 2 & 3-wheelers make up around 84% of all
vehicles in India, impact of changeover to e-vehicles in this segment is significant. This paper attempts to analyse the potential of
Solar PV for charging the electric 2 & 3-wheelers in India. It also studies the impact, advantages & challenges related to the
concept.
Keywords: India, Solar PV , Vehicles
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
I. INTRODUCTION
Changeover from fossil fuels to Solar PV is a need in today’s world to limit emissions & protect the environment. India is
blessed with good potential for Solar PV. The target of 100GW of Solar Energy installations by 2022 has been set by Govt. of
India. (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
Transportation sector in India is a major consumer of imported petroleum products leading to emissions & a drain in foreign
exchange. Electric vehicles are one of the ways to overcome this. As numerically 2 & 3-wheelers make up around 84% of all
vehicles in India, impact of changeover to e-vehicles in this segment is significant. This paper attempts to analyse the potential of
Solar PV for charging the electric 2 & 3-wheelers in India. It also studies the advantages & challenges related to the concept.
II. ADOPTION OF ELECTRIC 2 & 3-WHEELERS IN INDIA
Following recent developments related to electric 2 & 3-wheelers in India are noteworthy –
1) Union Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Shri Anant Geete launched a scheme for faster Adoption and
Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India, better known as FAME India.(2)
2) Government of India launched the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) 2020 in 2013. It aims to achieve
national fuel security by promoting hybrid and electric vehicles in the country.(3)
3) On the occasion of World Environment day a Rally of electric and hybrid vehicles of all categories like 2W/3W/4W etc was
flagged off jointly by the Union Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Shri Anant Geete and Minister
Environment & Forests Shri Prakash Javdekar. This event was organized by Department of Heavy Industry with sole
objective to inform public at large that Government has initiated the scheme FAME India in order to protect the environment
and help reduction in the use of fossil fuel, which is one of the main sources of GHG emission from road transport sector.
(4)
4) Under FAME, demand incentives shall be available to buyers in the form of upfront reduced purchase price. All types of
vehicles like 2 wheelers, 3 wheelers, 4 wheelers, Light Commercial Vehicles, Buses and also retro fitment vehicles are
covered under this scheme.(5)
5) "India can become the first country of its size which will run 100 per cent of electric vehicles. The government is working
on a scheme to provide electric cars on zero down payment for which people can pay out of their savings on expensive fossil
fuels, for becoming 100 per cent electric vehicle nation by 2030.” Power Minister Piyush Goyal said at an event organised
by CII Young India.(6)
6) Prime Minister Narendra Modi distributed 5,100 e-rickshaws under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana. Customers in Delhi-
NCR region can book these e-rickshaws through Ola mobile app.(8)
7) Sweden-based electric vehicle maker Clean Motion plans to invest USD 10 million (about Rs 66 crore) in India over the
next three years to expand operations including setting up of an assembly unit for its Zbee three- wheelers in the
country.(24)
8) Leading electric vehicle player Lohia Auto Industries will start free e-rickshaw service exclusively for women and girls in
the city during odd-even days in the national Capital from Monday. (7)

2. Potential in India for use of Solar PV in charging of Electric 2 & 3 Wheelers
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9) Japanese electric vehicle maker Terra Motors Corporation plans to sell 30,000 e-rickshaws in the Indian market by year-end
on the back of enhanced sales network and new product launches.(25)
10) Electric vehicle manufacturer Kinetic Green indicates that their turnover by 2020-21 will be upwards of Rs 1,000 crore ,
comprising of various models of electric and hybrid vehicles. At present, Kinetic Green is only focusing on the three-
wheeler range of battery operated vehicles (BOVs) . They aim to have a lithium ion battery solution for e-rickshaws within a
year.(26)
The above developments demonstrate the priority accorded to electric vehicles by the Government of India & the industry.
Hence the rapid growth of electric vehicles in India is assured.
III. BASIS OF ESTIMATE (1, 10, 11, 12)
 Number of 2 wheelers in India - 79 million if we take into consideration 2 wheelers sold in India only in last 6 years
 Number of 3 wheelers in India - 3 million if we take into consideration 3 wheelers sold in India only in last 6 years
 Energy consumption per daily charging cycle of 8 hrs. for 2 wheelers – 1.5 KWh
 Energy consumption per daily charging cycle of 8 hrs. for 3 wheelers – 3.0 KWh
IV. ESTIMATE OF POTENTIAL (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
If all the 2 & 3 wheelers are converted to battery driven electric type in India,
The annual energy consumption for charging will be
 For 2 wheelers – 79 million x 1.5 KWh x 365 days = 43,252 million KWh
 For 3 wheelers – 3 million x 3.0 KWh x 365 days = 3,285 million KWh
Hence total 46537 million KWh per year.
If per KWh price of Solar Energy is taken as INR 6 (current tenders quoted at INR 4.5-5.0), cost for 46537 million KWh
comes to INR 279,222 million per year.
If this entire annual energy consumption for charging is met by Solar PV & considering 1.5 million KWh as output per year
per installed MWp Solar PV capacity ,
The total installed Solar PV capacity required will be
46537 ÷ 1.5 = 31024 MWp = 31 Gigawatt approx.
Assuming 20% energy loss in transmission & distribution , the installed Solar PV capacity required will be 31÷ 0.8 = 38.75
Gigawatt . A target of 40 Gigawatt can be taken for this purpose.
Taking fuel consumption for 2 wheelers as 1 litre per day per vehicle , with a daily run of 40 km & mileage of 40 km per litre
of fuel , the annual savings in fuel for 2 wheelers is 79 million x 365 days x 1 litre = 28835 million litres per year .
Taking 100 km run per day & mileage of 25 km per litre for 3 wheelers or 4 litres per day , the fuel savings per year is 3
million x 365 x 4 litres = 4380 million litres
Hence the total savings in fuel per year is 28835 + 4380 = 33215 million litres at current price of INR 66 per litre, the cost
comes to INR 2,192,190 million per year.
As India’s fuel import is around 200 million tonnes of crude per year or 200 x 1160 = 232,000 million litres , there is potential
of saving (33215 ÷ 232000) x100 = 14.3% of oil imports even if losses in refining are ignored.
As consuming each litre of petrol leads to emission of 2.653 kg of CO2,
Reduction in carbon footprint due to Solar PV charging of 2 & 3 wheelers in India per year can be 33215 million x 2.653 kg of
CO2 = 88119 million kg = 88 million tonnes of CO2 per year
A significant number since the annual carbon sink target for India by 2020 is 200 million tonnes.
The consumer stands to save (cost of fuel) less (cost of solar energy) = INR 2,192,190 million – INR 279,222 million = INR
1,912,968 million per year
V. ADVANTAGES
Solar PV charging of electric 2 & 3-wheelers may offer following significant advantages –
1) Reduction in oil imports – India is heavily dependent on imports to meet its requirement of petroleum & has to take all
measures to reduce the same
2) Reduction in carbon footprint – India has made commitments to the international community to reduce its carbon footprint.
3) Better ride quality – lower vibrations due to absence of engine ensure better ride quality in electric 2 & 3-wheelers
4) More economical – use of Solar PV charged electric 2 & 3-wheelers is more economical as compared to use of fossil fuel
driven engines for 2 & 3-wheelers
5) Distributed energy storage – Batteries of electric 2 & 3-wheelers act as a medium of distributed energy storage which is so
critical in Solar PV deployment.
6) Swappable batteries – option of using swappable batteries may eliminate waiting time for charging electric 2 & 3-wheelers

3. Potential in India for use of Solar PV in charging of Electric 2 & 3 Wheelers
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7) Encourages rooftop solar – use of Solar PV for charging electric 2 & 3-wheeler encourages deployment of rooftop solar by
the users for self-use
VI. CHALLENGES (8, 9, 10, 19, 20, 21, 22)
Use of Solar PV for charging of electric 2 & 3-wheelers in India faces the following challenges –
1) Capital investment – Electric vehicles & Solar PV need capital investment, but so does fossil fuel infrastructure along with
its running cost.
2) T&D – Power transmission & distribution infrastructure needs to be upgraded to use Solar PV, Distributed generation &
charging stations also need to be deployed.
3) Social resistance – Like all new ideas, this also may face some social resistance which can be overcome by education &
awareness.
4) Quality – The quality of vehicles, batteries & charging equipment needs to be regulated & controlled.
5) Range – The limited range of travel before next charging of electric vehicles may be a hindrance for those used to long daily
travel. Swappable batteries & improving battery technology may overcome this.
6) Charging time - The long charging time is not convenient & can be overcome by use of swappable batteries & constantly
improving battery technology.
7) Loss of employment – The large workforce involved in manufacturing & service of engines may face unemployment which
can be overcome by training & employment in electric vehicle & Solar PV industry.
VII.CONCLUSION
Use of Solar PV in charging of Electric 2 & 3-wheelers in India has potential of 40 Gigawatt capacity utilisation & can be
deployed as a mix of centralised & distributed generation. The potential is estimated based on present 2 & 3-wheeler usage in
India & expected to keep growing.
Solar PV usage in 2 & 3-wheeler charging in India is estimated to result in -
 Reduction of 14.3% in India’s oil imports
 Reduction of 88 million tons in India’s CO2 emissions
 Reduction in cost to consumer of INR 1,912,968 million per year.
 Improving energy storage capacity for the grid.
Hence Solar PV charging of Electric 2 & 3-wheelers is an important component of India’s renewable energy future.
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