CSTEP’s core competence lies in developing and applying modelling and simulation tools for policy analysis and research. CSTEP develops computational, visualisation and methodological tools for examining potential solutions to complex policy problems.
These tools are developed with an India-specific focus to aid in performing broad cross-sectoral analyses. It blends the rigour of process engineering models along with India-specific financial models to assist a wide host of stakeholders such as researchers, policymakers and investors.
These tools are integrated using a platform called DARPAN (Decision Analysis for Research and Planning) to showcase simulations of policy solutions to policymakers.
CSTEP’s Solar Techno-Economic Model (CSTEM)
CSTEP’s Solar Techno Economic Model (CSTEM) is an open-access computational tool that can facilitate analysis of grid-connected solar power plants. The technologies covered by the tool are Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) and Photovoltaics (PV). The tool can be used to estimate the performance of a solar power plant and the cost of electrical energy generation. This tool blends technology-centred engineering analysis with financial models.
The development of CSTEM is based upon work supported by the US-India Partnership to Advance Clean Energy-Research (PACE-R), for the Solar Energy Research Institute for India and the US (SERIIUS) funded jointly by the US Department of Energy and the Government of India. The base version of the CSP tool (Parabolic Trough) was developed under the grant support by MNRE.
The CSP version of the tool currently caters to the Parabolic Trough technology and Solar Tower. The tool can be accessed here.
RE Atlas for India
The RE (Renewable Energy) Atlas is a tool that provides users visualisation and first-cut analysis, of national- and state-level potentials across various RE sectors such as solar, wind, biomass, and pumped hydro. It is intended to act as a common platform for decision-makers, policy researchers, academia and industry to visualise renewable energy potential within India.
The tool is currently categorised into two segments, namely solar and wind. The solar category comprises both Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) and Photovoltaics (PV), whereas the wind category comprises both offshore and onshore wind potentials. This tool provides land parcel details, at the taluk level, for each state in India. The tool is freely accessible and doesn’t require any login credentials.
The RE Atlas, meant to be a dynamic and user-interactive platform, is presently based on resource data and information that we have obtained from various sources.
Core grants provided by Think Tank Initiative (TTI) of International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and Oak Foundation helped us build the expertise in geo-spatial analysis and acquire various data sets and tools. Grants from Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation enabled us to procure relevant data and add Integrated Resource Planning as a component for modelling the integration of RE with conventional power sources. A grant from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy enabled us to develop CSTEM, which is an engineering-economic analysis model for solar thermal technologies. We further used a grant from the Department of Science and Technology (DST), under the Indo-US Joint Clean Energy R&D Centre, SERIIUS, to add engineering-economic analyses of solar PV technologies to CSTEM.
