Solar energy comes from the sun and can be harnessed as either thermal or electric energy. Thermal energy is used for heating applications while electric energy uses solar cells to produce electricity. There are two types of solar energy collection: passive uses natural heating/lighting while active uses mechanical devices to convert solar energy for later use. Common active solar technologies include solar thermal for heating, concentrating solar power for electricity production, and photovoltaics which directly convert sunlight to electricity using solar cells. India has several government schemes to promote greater solar energy use, such as targets for grid-connected solar power under JNNSM and subsidies for rooftop solar panel installation.

1. SOLAR ENERGY
The most precise Solar Energy definition : Energyfrom the sun.But what is
solar energy really?
There are two types of solar energy: ThermalEnergy & Electric
EnergyThermal Energy: Thermal Energy is everywhere. It'slights up our days.
It heats the earth, our bodies andour homes. It dries our clothes. All for
free!Electric Energy: Electric Energy uses the power ofthe sun to produce
electricity through solar cells,otherwise known as Photovoltaics

2. Types of solar energy
• 1. Passive Solar Energy
• 2. Active Solar Energy
• Passive solar energy is the type of harnessing the sun without the use of
mechanical devices. Using sun-facing windows to get natural lighting and
heat the homes are an example of using passive solar energy. Meanwhile
converting the solar energy into useful energy using mechanical devices,
collection, storage and distribution of energy to be used in the future is
called the active solar energy. There are several useful ways active solar
energy can be used to take advantages from.

3. SOLAR THERMAL ENERGY
• This Energy is used to satisfy heating needs by capturing the energy of
the sun for heating applications such as buildings, water or swimming
pools. Solar thermal power can be used for traditional heating
applications to satisfy human needs. In recent times many
developments in solar thermal technology have been made which
makes these systems more reliable and more efficient. New
technologies are re-imagining solar thermal systems by incorporating
photovoltaic (PV) components in it.

4. Concentrating solar power
• Concentrating Solar PowerThe type of solar thermal energy that is
used to generate electricity. It is mostly used at large-scale energy
production where flat or curved mirrors are installed over vast areas.
The power plants produce electric power by converting the sun’s
energy into high-temperature heat which is channeled through a
conventional generator. The concentrating solar plants consist of two
parts, the first one collects solar energy and converts it to heat, and
the second one converts heat energy to electricity to be utilized to
fulfill energy needs

5. Photovoltaics solar energy
• Photovoltaic Solar PowerThe type of energy is made by converting
solar energy into electricity to be stored and utilized later. This
conversion is done by using photovoltaic solar cells. Light hitting a
photovoltaic cell is converted into electricity by semiconductors. A
photovoltaic panel consists of several cells producing direct current,
which is then converted into alternating current by an inverter. These
Panels can be used in small systems or large plants to generate energy
from the biggest renewable energy source; Sun.Solar electricity,
Photovoltaic cooling, Photovoltaic solar lighting are the solar
applications we can use to take advantage of photovoltaic solar
power.

6. SOLAR SCHEMES IN INDIA
• India is blessed with abundant solar energy potential with 300 days of
sunlight. About 5,000 trillion kWh per year energy is experienced over
India’s land area with most parts receiving 4-7 kWh per sq. m per day.
The government henceforth aims to create solar schemes to use this
renewable source of energy efficiently. Below is a list of some of the
most successful and known solar schemes in India

7. • Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM)
The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission also called National Solar Mission is
one of the eight key National Mission’s comprising India’s NAPCC. The objective
of this solar scheme is to establish India as a global leader in the solar sector by
creating the policy conditions. The Mission has set the ambitious target of
deploying 20,000 MW of grid-connected solar power by 2022, which was revised
to 1,00,000 MW by 2022 during June 2015.
Government Yojana: Solar Energy Subsidy Scheme
The Government Yojana explains that a person is eligible for a subsidy if he has
solar panels installed on the rooftop. The subsidy is decided as per the capacity of
the solar power plant but the good part is that people are going ahead with solar
panel installation. Another benefit is that people are able to cut down on their
electricity bills and the load on thermal power plant will reduce increasing power
generation.

8. • Development of Solar Park Scheme
MNRE has formed a scheme aiming to set solar parks in various states, each with
a capacity of above 500KW. The Scheme proposes to offer financial support by
the government to establish and facilitate the infrastructure necessary for setting
up solar power plants. MNRE is executing a scheme for the development of at
least 25 solar parks with a combined capacity of at least 20,000 MW.
UDAY Scheme
UDAY or Ujjwal Discom Assurance Yojna was launched in November 2015 as a
revival package for electricity distribution companies of India initiated by the
Government of India with the idea to find a permanent solution to the financial
mess that the power distribution is in. It aims at reforming the power sector,
operational improvement, development in renewable energy, reduction of cost of
generation of power, energy efficiency, and conservation.

9. • SECI Scheme
The main objective is to engage in the development of large scale and rooftop solar
projects, channelize the investment in the government sector, implement MNRE and VGF
schemes, project management consultancy and trading of solar power. SECI has also
played a major part in installing rooftop solar power plant. Till date, it has released
tenders for 4307 MW of large scale solar projects of which 675 MW have been
commissioned. In the rooftop part, it has released tenders for around 200MW of projects
of which 46.5 have been commissioned.
Rooftop Scheme
Under the rooftop scheme executed by SECI, 200MW of projects have been allocated of
which 45MW have been commissioned. Special schemes including 75MW for
warehouses and 50MW for the CPWD have been launched. Recently, SECI has
commissioned a tender which is the largest global one of its kind. It has 132 bidders who
bid for a total capacity of 602MW. This tender is a part of the MNRE’s initiative to gain
momentum for achieving a target of 40 GW rooftop solar capacity by 2022.

11. CONCLUSION
• Solar energy is efficient because the sun is freeto use, it doesn't cause
pollution, and it's readilyavailable in Countries near the
equator.Countries that are cold most of the year,however, have a hard
time using solar energybecause it's not available when the sun is
notshinningSince solar power is not efficient in all parts ofthe world
my hypothesis is both correct andincorrect.