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Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308

Indian Solar Cities Programme: 

An Overview of Major Activities 

and Accomplishments

Preprint

Alicen Kandt

To be presented at the 2012 World Renewable Energy Forum

Denver, Colorado

May 13-17, 2012

Conference Paper

NREL/CP-7A40-54705

May 2012
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1

WREF 2012: INDIAN SOLAR CITIES PROGRAMME: AN OVERVIEW OF MAJOR 

ACTIVITIES AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Alicen Kandt

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

1617 Cole Boulevard, Golden, CO 80401

alicen.kandt@nrel.gov

The government of India’s Ministry of New and Renewable 

Energy (MNRE) has created a Solar City Programme, which 

supports 60 Indian cities in the development of energy 

efficiency (EE) and renewable energy (RE) projects and 

aims to reduce conventional energy demand by 10% by 

2013, compared to 2008 energy use levels. Under the 

programme, each city must develop a master plan which 

provides projections for energy demand and supply for five 

and ten year periods (for 2013 and 2018) and includes 

annual targets for energy conservation, renewable energy 

addition, and greenhouse gas (GHG) abatement along with 

an action plan for implementation and identification of 

potential sources of funding.

ABSTRACT

The U.S. had a similar program, called Solar America 

Cities, which ran from 2007-2010 and provided funding and 

technical support to 25 American cities. The goal of the 

American program was support cities in their plans to 

remove market barriers and encourage the adoption of solar 

energy by residents and businesses.

The support and expertise provided to the American cities 

has applicability to Indian cities, and staff from the National 

Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have been tasked 

with supporting MNRE in the development and 

implementation of the Solar City Programme, similar to 

support that NREL provided to American cities. This paper 

details the Indian Solar City Programme, provides an 

overview of one city’s master plan and implementation 

progress, describes NREL’s support of the Indian Solar City 

Programme, and outlines synergies and differences between 

the Indian and American programs including unique 

challenges and opportunities India is facing. 

Keywords: India; solar cities; Ministry of New and 

Renewable Energy (MNRE); Solar America Cities

1.

India’s energy consumption has been increasing at one of 

the fastest rates in the world. This is attributed to population 

and economic growth, urbanization, and increasing access to 

energy. As an example, commercial primary energy 

consumption in India has grown by about 700% in the last 

four decades.

BACKGROUND

1 Aside from this staggering growth in energy 

use, an existing energy supply-demand imbalance poses a 

hurdle for future increased economic growth. Also, despite 

this growth, over half of the citizens have no access to 

energy.2

Renewable energy technologies have the potential to 

improve the quality of life in India by helping to meet the 

growing demand for energy and reducing the reliance on 

fossil fuels, thus reducing associated GHG emissions. Thus, 

MNRE has been actively promoting renewable energy 

sources in the country. An overview of the potential for 

renewable energy technologies as well as the installed 

capacity and renewable energy targets for India is presented 

below.

TABLE 1: ESTIMATED RENEWABLE ENERGY 

POTENTIAL, INSTALLED RENEWABLE ENERGY 

CAPACITY AND TARGETS IN INDIA3

Renewable 

Energy Source

Estimated 

Potential 

(MW)

Installed 

Capacity 

(MW)1

2007-2012 

Target (MW)

Wind 48,500 13,184 9,000

Small 

Hydropower

15,000 2,953 14,000

Biopower2 23,700 2,673 1,780

Solar Power 20-30 

MW/square 

km

32 50

 1 As of January 31, 2011

2 Includes biomass power, bagasse cogeneration, urban and 

industrial waste to energy.
2

The government is aiming for 14,000 megawatts (MW) of 

renewable energy technology installation during the years 

2007-2012.4 Furthermore, the government of India recently 

launched a National Solar Mission, which seeks to facilitate 

the deployment of 20,000 MW of grid-connected solar 

power by 2022 as well as 2,000 MW of off-grid solar 

applications.

5

2.

One component of India’s aggressive 

renewable energy goals is the Solar Cities Programme.

India’s MNRE has created a Solar City Programme, which 

supports 60 Indian cities in the development of EE and RE

projects. At least one city in each state, to a maximum of 

five cities per state, will be supported. The programme aims 

to reduce conventional energy demand by 10% by 2013,

compared to a baseline year of 2008. Support is provided to 

municipal corporations for the preparation and 

implementation of a master plan, or road map, to develop 

their cities as Solar Cities.

INDIA SOLAR CITIES PROGRAMME

The objectives of the programme are:

• to enable/empower urban local governments to address 

energy challenges at a city-level;

• to provide a framework and support to prepare a Master 

Plan including assessment of current energy situation, 

future demand and action plans;

• to build capacity at the urban local bodies and create 

awareness among all sections of civil society;

• to involve various stakeholders in the planning process; 

and

• to oversee the implementation of sustainable energy 

projects through public-private partnerships.

MNRE provides support to the cities for:

• Preparation of the master plan and oversight of its 

implementation – The master plan is a road map for the 

city to envision and implement renewable energy and 

energy conservation strategies.

• Setting up a solar cell in the city – The solar cell is set 

up within the city council to provide support for project 

planning and implementation. It includes the senior 

administrator and city engineers. A Solar City 

Stakeholders Committee is also set up for advisory 

support, and includes representatives from the local 

municipal bodies, research and academic institutions, 

resident welfare associations, industries and corporate 

organizations, non-government organizations (NGOs), 

state nodal agencies, and other relevant stakeholders.6

• Organizing promotional activities – Promotional 

activities such as training programs, workshops, 

business meetings, and awareness campaigns will be 

organized for stakeholders such as elected 

representatives, municipal officials, architects, 

engineers, builders, developers, financial institutions, 

NGOs, technical institutions, manufactures, and 

suppliers.

Financial assistance from MNRE is also potentially 

available for installation of various RE devices as well as 

support for other activities. In January 2011 the programme 

was modified to also provide financial support for the 

establishment of ten cities to be developed as Pilot Solar 

Cities and for developing four cities as Model Solar Cities. 

MNRE’s 2010-2011 Annual Report states that a total of 48 

cities have been selected for the programme, and draft 

master plans have been prepared for 11 cities.7

3.

The cities’ master plans provide total and sector-wide 

baseline data for 2008 for energy use and associated GHG 

emissions for the city. The master plans also contain 

projections for energy demand and supply for the coming 5 

and 10 year periods. It then outlines annual targets for 

energy conservation, RE addition, and GHG abatement and 

an associated action plan for implementation. The reduction 

associated with these actions must equate to at least a 10% 

reduction in the projected total demand of conventional 

energy at the end of five years (end of 2013). The plans also 

outline potential sources of funding, such as funding from 

MNRE, the Ministry of Urban Development, or the Bureau 

of Energy Efficiency as well as income from the sale of

carbon credits.

MASTER PLANS

8

4.

The master plan for the city of Agra was written by ICLEI 

South Asia. The city of Agra was one of the first cities to 

finalize its master plan. Agra is located in the northern state 

of Uttar Pradesh, at an altitude of 169 meters above sea 

level. Agra is situated on the bank of Yamuna River and is 

home to the Taj Mahal. As of the census in 2011, Agra had 

a population of 4,380,793. This population number 

represents a 20.96% growth from the 2001 census.

SAMPLE MASTER PLAN: AGRA

9

The maximum temperature in the summer is 45°C and the 

minimum temperature is about 21.9°C; in the winter the 

maximum temperature is 31.7°C and the minimum 

temperature is about 4.2°C. Agra has a good average annual 

solar resource (insolation incident on a horizontal surface) 

of approximately 5 kilowatt hours (kWh)/meter (m)

2

/day –

this is the equivalent of the solar resource in the central
3

United States.3 Good quality wind resource data is not 

readily available; the average annual wind resource is 

estimated to be 3.17 meters per second (m/s) at 50 m. 

Biomass resource data for the city is not available; however,

data is available at the district level. The potential of power 

generation from biomass is estimated to be 6 MW for the 

entire district, but there is relatively little potential of power 

generation from biomass within Agra. No estimate of 

energy potential is available for solid or liquid waste;

however, annual quantities of waste are available. In 2007-

2008, 235,390 metric tonnes of solid waste and 90.25 

million liters per day (MLD) of liquid waste were generated 

in Agra.10

Agra’s master plan provides an overview city profile which 

includes the city’s current energy demands and also outlines 

the municipal corporation services which are driving the 

city’s growing energy demand.11

The master plan provides strategies for annual energy 

efficiency and renewable energy technology installations for 

the residential, industrial, commercial, and municipal 

sectors. Surveys of sample buildings were conducted to 

understand the current energy use and existing deployed EE

and RE technologies. This was done for all sectors and 

served as a basis for generating EE and RE savings 

estimates. Also, for each technology a ‘target percentage’ is

provided for the number of systems and capacities of the 

systems to be replaced or installed.

It also includes a detailed 

analysis of electricity, petrol, diesel, kerosene, and liquefied 

petroleum gas (LPG) consumption in the city, as well an 

estimate of the future conventional energy demand, 

calculated by interpolating the past energy consumption data 

and accounting for population growth data.

The report then provides resource information on financing, 

capacity building, and awareness campaigns for successful 

implementation of the sustainability measures. A risk 

analysis describing the risks associated with implementing 

RE projects, and potential mitigation strategies, concludes 

the report.

4.1

The main sources of energy in the city are electricity, petrol, 

diesel, LPG, and kerosene, with minimal energy provided 

by compressed natural gas (CNG) and solar water heating 

(SWH). A breakdown of energy consumption data for Agra 

for 2008 is presented below; it can be seen that the bulk of 

energy use is electricity.

Agra Master Plan Findings

 3 Solar resource data: 4.91 kWh/m2/day (NASA SSE 

Satelite) or 5.09 kWh/m2/day (MNRE Solar)

TABLE 2: ENERGY USE IN AGRA IN 200812

Source Consumption Unit Consumption in Million 

kWh (MU)

Electricity 1206.43 MU 1,206.43

LPG 10413.52 MT4 151.39

Petrol 50857.28 kL 469.38

Diesel 53468.52 kL 608.5

Kerosens 32405.76 kL 325.75

CNG 902362.9 Kgs 13.12

SWH 218 Nos.5 0.76

Total 2,775.32

Petrol and diesel consumption data are not available for all 

sectors. Therefore only the energy usage for electricity, 

LPG, and kerosene is considered for defining the energy 

baseline and target. The total energy use in 2008 was 

1,683.57 million kWh. Based on historical growth in 

consumption levels and population growth projections, the 

energy consumption in Agra in 2013 is predicted to be 

2,484.82 million kWh. This gives the city a 10% reduction 

goal of 248.48 million kWh.

13

TABLE 3: ENERGY CONSUMPTION IN AGRA CITY 

IN 2008 AND ENERGY USE PROJECTIONS FOR 2013 

AND 2018 IN MILLION KWH14

Year 2008 2013 2018

Electricity 

Consumption

1,206.43 1,804.771 2,423.666

LPG 151.3865 213.4092 275.34

Kerosene 325.7515 466.6413 607.9797

Total 1,683.57 2,484.82 3,306.99

Electricity consumption represents approximately 72% of 

the baseline energy use and is therefore the focus of most of 

the energy conservation and demand side management 

measures in the master plan. A breakdown of electricity use 

by the four sectors – residential, commercial, industrial, and 

municipal – is presented below. The residential sector 

consumes 78% of the electricity.

 4 Metric Tonnes

5 Number of Units
4

TABLE 4: ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION IN AGRA, 

BROKEN DOWN BY SECTOR15

Electricity Consumption (MU) No. of 

Consumer

s Year ’04-

‘05

’05-

‘06 ’06-‘07 ’07-‘08

Residential 499.4

6 549.9 585.36 691.3 217,975

Commercia

l

210.5

5

242.2

2 271.94 267.33 56700

Industrial 110.6 125.2

3 142.76 190.05 4045

Municipal 54.61 54.76 57.75

Total 820.6

1

946.7

3

1,027.0

6

1,206.4

3 278,720

4.1.1

As a requirement of the Indian Solar City Programme, a 

minimum of 5% of the energy reduction goal is to be 

achieved through RE measures. Those measures deemed 

most feasible for Agra are SWH, solar PV devices, biogas 

systems, and solar cookers. Considering the high capital 

costs of solar equipment in India, SWH has proved to be the 

least costly option compared to other solar equipment.

Renewable Energy Findings

Agra’s master plan sets a target of installing:

• 5.82 million litres per day (LPD) capacity SWH with a 

collector capacity of 0.116 million square meters (sqm)

• 12.40 MW cumulative solar PV systems

• 7,553 cubic meters (CuM) biogas systems

• 5.12 MW waste to energy projects 

• 4,592 solar cookers. (101)

A breakdown of the quantities proposed for each system is 

provided in Table 5.

TABLE 5: TARGET QUANTITIES OF RE SYSTEMS 

FOR AGRA6,

7,8,9

 6 A solar home system (SHS) is a fixed indoor lighting 

system and consists of solar PV module, battery and balance 

of systems. Capacity of such system could be of 18Wp, 

37Wp, and 74Wp for different configurations.

7 Blinkers are flashing lights placed on barriers, barricades, 

and cones.

8 Road studs are raised pavement markers/reflective lane 

markers.

9 A hoarding is an advertisement, similar to a billboard.

Renewable Energy Devices

100 LPD Solar Water Heating 46,429

1000 LPD Solar Water Heating 1,178

Solar Cookers (Box and Dish) 4,360

Community Solar Cooker 233

Solar Lanterns 12,207

Solar Home Systems (SHS) 12,207

250-500W PV System for Inverters 17,176

10 kWp PV Power Plant for Diesel 

Abatement

331

10 CuM biogas system from Organic/Food 

Waste

755

Solar Street Light 6,392

Solar PV Traffic Lights 20

Solar Blinkers (37Wp) 60

Road Stud 5,688

Solar PV Pumps 20

Solar Hoarding 300

Waste-to-Energy Power Plant 3

4.1.2

A variety of EE and demand side management measures 

were considered for each of the sectors. Table 6 details these 

measures. 

Energy Efficiency Findings

TABLE 6: 

EE Measure

POTENTIAL ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND 

DEMAND SIDE MANAGEMENT MEASURES BY 

SECTOR

Residenti

al

Commerci

al

Industria

l 

Municipa

l

Replace 

incandescent 

lamps with 

compact 

fluorescent 

(CFL) bulbs

X X X

T5 fluorescent 

light and 

electronic 

ballast to 

replace 

T12/T8 

fluorescent 

light and 

magnetic 

ballast

X X X

Efficient 

ceiling fans to 

replace 

conventional 

ceiling fans

X X X

Replacement 

of 

conventional 

air‐conditione

rs (ACs) with 

X X X
5

EE star rated 

ACs10

Replacement 

of 

conventional 

refrigerators 

with EE star 

rated 

refrigerators

X X

Replacement 

of 

conventional 

water pumps 

with EE water 

pumps

X X

Energy 

efficiency in 

motors, 

furnaces, 

boilers, etc.

X

Replacement 

of 150 watt 

HPSV with 

LEDs

X

Replacement 

of 40 watt 

T8/T12 tube 

lights with T5 

tube lights

X

Sensors for 

automatic 

on/off of 

street lights

X

Proper 

pump‐system 

design 

(efficient 

pump, pumps 

heads with 

system heads

X

Installation of 

variable speed 

drivers

X

Power saver 

installation in 

pump house

X

Plugging of 

leakages in 

the water 

supply system 

and use of 

efficient 

pumps and 

motors

X

 10 Star rating is a system initiated by India’s Bureau of 

Energy Efficiency (BEE) to determine the energy efficiency 

of an electronic product.

The estimated potential of energy savings in the residential 

sector through EE measures is 87 million kWh per year; this 

equates to 35% of the target of 248.48 million kWh in 

electricity reductions by 2013 in Agra. Replacement of 

incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent light (CFLs)

and replacing T12/T8 fluorescent lights and magnetic ballast 

with T5 fluorescent lights and electronic ballast present the 

highest potential for energy savings. A summary of these 

findings is in Table 7, below. 

TABLE 7: SUMMARY OF EE STRATEGIES FOR 

RESIDENTIAL SECTOR16,

Target 

Capacity

Investment11 Energy 

Saved 

(MU)

Emissions

reduced 

(Tonnes)

Replacing 

100W 

incandescent 

bulbs

277,543 416 27 22,155

Replacing 

T12/T8

305,828 1,529 10 8,318

Replacing 

Fans

146,397 2,196 2 1,708

Replacing 

AC

61,142 9,171 21 16,938

Replacing 

Refrigerator 

49,589 2,975 24 19,039

Installing 

EE Water 

Pump

244,13.2 244 3 2,165

Total 16,532 87 70,323

The commercial sector is comprised primarily of offices, 

shopping malls, markets, hotels, and restaurants; some of 

these are conditioned and some are not. The largest energyconsuming equipment in this sector is air‐conditioning and 

lighting. Thus, the focus for energy conservation and 

efficiency measures for the commercial sector is enhancing 

efficiency levels and deploying conservation options for 

lighting and air conditioning. Replacing 60 watt (W)

incandescent bulbs with 15W CFLs present the largest 

opportunity for reductions. The estimated energy savings 

potential for the commercial sectors from EE measures is 14 

million kWh per year, which is almost 6% of the target of 

248.48 million kWh in energy reductions by 2013 in Agra.

A summary of these findings is in Table 8, below.

 11 1 lac = 100,000; 1 US dollar = 49.5908 INR on March 4, 

2012. (http://www.exchange-rates.org/Rate/USD/INR)
6

TABLE 8: SUMMARY OF EE STRATEGIES FOR THE 

COMMERCIAL SECTOR17

Target 

Capacity

Investment Energy 

Saved 

(MU)

Emissions

reduced 

(Tonnes)

Replacing 

60W 

incandescent 

bulbs

86,887 130 7 5,701

Replacing 

T12/T8

81,648 408 2 1,825

Replacing 

Fans

38,081 571 1 432

Replacing 

AC

5,605 841 2 1,553

Replacing 

Refrigerators 

4,034 272 2 1,549

Installing EE 

Water Pump

6,350 64 1 463

Total 2,286 14 11,522

Agra’s electricity utility (Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation 

Ltd. (UPPCL)) has around 4,000 industrial customers; these 

customers consume about 16% of the total electricity in 

Agra. A survey of energy use in the industrial sector in Agra 

revealed that almost all customers used incandescent bulbs 

for lighting; there is a great potential for electricity savings 

associated with replacing incandescent bulbs with CFLs. EE

measures in the industrial sector of Agra can save at least 

6.52 million kWh of electricity per year. This equates to 

about 3% of the target of 248.48 million kWh in energy 

reductions by 2013 in Agra City. Table 9 outlines 

recommended EE strategies for the industrial sector.

TABLE 9: SUMMARY OF EE STRATEGIES FOR THE 

INDUSTRIAL SECTOR18

Target 

Capacity

Investment Energy 

Saved 

(MU)

Emissions

reduced 

(Tonnes)

Replacing 

100W 

incandescent 

bulbs

24,785 50 5.35 4,336

Replacing 

T12/T8

20,495 102 .72 585

Replacing 

Fans

7,923 119 .15 123

Replacing 

AC

842 130 .29 233

Total 401 6.52 5,278

The bulk of energy savings for the municipal sector result 

from outdoor lighting measures. The electricity savings 

potential through EE measures in the municipal sector is 

22.60 million kWh per year; this equals about 9% of the 

total target.

TABLE 10: SUMMARY OF EE STRATEGIES FOR THE 

MUNICIPAL SECTOR19,12

Areas EE 

Measures

Targe

t

Investme

nt

Electrici

ty Saved

Emissio

ns

Saved

Outdo

or 

Lighti

ng

Replacing 

T8/T12 

tube lights 

with T5

7,215 36 0.73 586

Replacing 

250W 

HPSV with 

112W LED

8,027 4,415 4.85 3,930

100% 

timer-based 

operation 

and power 

saver

30,77

2

169 4.8 3,888

Water 

Supply

Efficient 

pump 

system 

design

81 2.92 2,365.2

Installation 

of variable 

speed 

drivers

81 0.73 591.3

Standard/ 

recommend

ed 

condition

81 2.19 1,773.9

STP Efficient 

pump 

system 

design

15 3.19 2,583.9

Installation 

of variable 

speed 

drivers

15 .8 648

Standard/ 

recommend

ed 

condition

15 2.39 1,935.9

4620 22.6 18,305

4.1.3

The master plan presents a summary of annual goals for 

energy savings through the implementation of RE and EE

measures. The goal is a minimum 10% reduction in the

projected total demand of 2484.82 million kWh by 2013; 

these reductions are to be achieved through EE measures 

SUMMARY FINDINGS

 12 STP = sewage treatment plant
7

and generation from RE installations. The master plan sets a 

goal of total savings of 296.53 million kWh with 166.38

million kWh from RE installation and 130.16 million kWh 

from EE measures; this would be a 12% reduction in energy 

use from the 2008 baseline. The table below presents a 

summary of annual EE and RE goals.

TABLE 11: 

RE and 

EE 

strategy 

for Agra

ANNUAL ENERGY SAVINGS TARGETS 

OVER A FIVE YEAR PERIOD

Energy Savings Target over 5 

years

% of 

Savi

ngs 

targe

t to 

achie

ve

Emission

Reduction

1 /year st

Ye

ar

2nd

Ye

ar

3rd

Yea

r

4th

Yea

r

5th

Yea

r

RE 

Residen

tial

11.

42

28.

54

51.3

7

79.9

1

114.

15

45.9

4

84761

RE 

Comme

rcial

0.6 1.4

9

2.69 4.19 5.98 2.41 3486

RE 

Industri

al

1.2

5

3.1

3

5.63 8.76 12.5

2

5.04 11094

RE 

Municip

al

.24 9.5 13.1

8

33.0

2

33.7

3

13.5

7

27322

Total 

RE 

Strategy

16.

64

41.

59

74.8

7

116.

46

166.

38

66.9

6

126664

EE 

Residen

tial

8.6

8

21.

70

39.7

0

60.7

7

86.8

2

34.9

4

70323

Ee 

Comme

rcial

1.4

2

3.5

6

6.4 9.96 15.2

3

5.72 11522

EE 

Industri

al

0.6

5

1.6

3

2.93 4.56 6.52 2.62 5278

EE 

Municip

al

2.2

6

5.6

5

10.1

7

15.8

2

22.6 9.09 18305

Total 

EE 

Strategy

13.

02

32.

54

58.5

7

91.1

1

130.

16

52.3

8

105429

RE and 

EE 

Combin

ed

29.

65

74.

13

133.

44

207.

57

296.

53

232092

12

%

30

%

54% 84% 119

%

5.

In 2007 and 2008 the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) 

designated 25 major U.S. cities as Solar America Cities and 

provided financial and technical assistance to help the cities 

develop comprehensive, city-wide approaches to accelerate 

the adoption of solar energy technologies. The Solar 

America Cities partnerships represented the foundation of 

DOE’s larger Solar America Communities program.

SYNERGIES WITH SOLAR AMERICA CITIES

Unlike India’s Solar City Programme – which includes 

support for the development of EE and RE technologies –

the Solar America Cities program promoted only solar 

technologies. These included photovoltaics (PV) and 

concentrating solar power as well as solar water and space 

heating and cooling.20

• Organizing and strategizing a local solar effort

Technical assistance was provided by 

DOE, its national laboratories, and other experts in areas 

such as city planning, technology selection, project 

financing, building codes, architecture, and community 

outreach. Support provided to the cities fell into these 

categories:

• Making solar energy affordable for residents and 

businesses

• Updating and enforcing local rules and regulations

• Improving utility policies and process

• Creating jobs and supporting economic development

• Educating and empowering potential customers

• Leading by examples with installations on government 

properties.

21

NREL staff provided technical assistance to numerous cities 

as part of the Solar America Cities program. This support 

included: on-line solar map development; solar project 

financing guidance and development; curriculum 

development; code official training; and community 

outreach and education.

6.

The support and expertise provided to the U.S. cities has 

applicability to Indian cities, and staff from NREL have 

been tasked with supporting MNRE in the development and 

implementation of the Solar City Programme, similar to 

support that NREL provided to the American cities. 

NREL STAFF SUPPORT FOR INDIA SOLAR 

CITIES

Drawing upon the experiences of the Solar America Cities 

program, partnerships between U.S. and Indian cities will be 

established to support India’s new Solar Cities program. 

U.S. city representatives have already supported their Indian 

counterparts by sharing lessons learned and best practices, 
8

and Indian city representatives attended the annual Solar 

America Cities meeting.

NREL staff attended a meeting of India Solar Cities 

stakeholders in 2011 and based on that meeting have been 

working to outline future support. Input from that meeting 

helped NREL to define the following future technical 

assistance support needs: 

• Developing city plans

• Implementation support for overall program 

development

• Capacity building and training activities in the 

following areas:

o Technology-Focused

o Policy-Focused

o Financing-Focused

o Curriculum Development.

7.

The Indian Solar Cities Programme has the potential to 

drastically reduce energy consumption in cities across India. 

Through partnerships with numerous stakeholders, cities are 

identifying the most promising opportunities for EE and RE

technology installations. By acting on these findings and 

installing these measures, the cities can help the government 

reach its aggressive goals to install 14,000 MW of RE

technologies during the years 2007-2012 and to deploy 

20,000 MW of grid-connected solar power by 2022 as well 

as 2,000 MW of off-grid solar applications through the 

National Solar Mission. 

CONCLUSION

8.

This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy 

under Contract No. DE-AC36-08-GO28308 with the 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

 1 ‘Guidebook for Developing Solar City’, ICLEI-South 

Asia, 2010, page 7. 

2 Government of India’s Ministry of New and Renewable 

Energy, ‘Annual Report 2010-2011’, page 1. 3 Government of India’s Ministry of New and Renewable 

Energy, ‘Annual Report 2010-2011’, page 3. 4 ‘Guidebook for Developing Solar City’, ICLEI-South 

Asia, 2010, page 9.

5 Government of India’s Ministry of New and Renewable 

Energy, ‘Annual Report 2010-2011’, page 57. 6 A State Nodal Agency is a government agency.

7 Government of India’s Ministry of New and Renewable 

Energy, ‘Annual Report 2010-2011’, page 35. 

 8 Guidebook for Developing Solar City’, ICLEI-South Asia, 

2010, page 23.

9 http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-provresults/data_files/up/Census2011Data%20Sheet-UP.pdf 10 Development of Agra Solar City: Final Master Plan’, 

page 43.

11 ‘Development of Agra Solar City: Final Master Plan’, 

page 4.

12 ‘Development of Agra Solar City: Final Master Plan’, 

page 21.

13 ‘Development of Agra Solar City: Final Master Plan’, 

page 4.

14 ‘Development of Agra Solar City: Final Master Plan’, 

page 38.

15 ‘Development of Agra Solar City: Final Master Plan’, 

page 18.

16 ‘Development of Agra Solar City: Final Master Plan’, 

page 84.

17 ‘Development of Agra Solar City: Final Master Plan’, 

page 88.

18 ‘Development of Agra Solar City: Final Master Plan’, 

page 91.

19 ‘Development of Agra Solar City: Final Master Plan’, 

page 95.

20 http://solaramericacommunities.energy.gov/pdfs/SolarAmerica-Cities-Awards-Fact-Sheet.pdf 21http://solaramericacommunities.energy.gov/solaramericaci

ties/action_areas/