Integration of Renewable Energy in Buildings in India

The residential and commercial buildings in India account for about 33 percent of the electricity consumption, which is rising at nearly 8-9 percent annually. Population growth combined with increasing electricity demand and affordability for thermal comforts (mainly by using air conditioners) is expected to exponentially increase the energy consumption in buildings. The projections of Niti Aayog, a premier think-tank of the Government of India, estimate 6-10 times increase in electricity demand in commercial buildings and 4-10 times increase in residential buildings from 2012 to 2047.

India aims to achieve a total of 225 GW of installed renewable energy capacity by 2022. For the building sector, there is a growing understanding to make buildings shift from energy consumers to become energy generators by integrating different renewable energy technologies.

In view of this, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) is supporting a project on the Integration of Renewable Energy in Buildings in India. This project works in coordination with SDC’s other on-going project on building energy efficiency (www.beepindia.org).