International Solar Alliance summit 2018: All you need to know

This grand alliance originally came into existence at the Paris Climate Change Summit in 2015 and intends to distribute the benefits arising out of solar energy and its application specially to tropical countries.

The first International Solar Alliance (ISA) summit, concluded on Sunday, March 11, at Rashtrapati Bhavan cultural center in New Delhi and was attended by heads of 23 nations.

This grand alliance originally came into existence at the Paris Climate Change Summit in 2015 and intends to distribute the benefits arising out of solar energy and its application specially to tropical countries.

Coming together for a cleaner and greener future...President @EmmanuelMacron, PM @narendramodi and other distinguished world leaders come together for the Founding Conference of the International Solar Alliance in Delhi. pic.twitter.com/gSse1NGQ7m

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) March 11, 2018

Government of India has provided a fund of USD 20 million for the establishment of the ISA and will further extend million dollar credits to several countries as part of the ISA, with majority of them being African countries.

The summit is likely to unveil two new programmes namely -scaling solar E-mobility and storage, and rooftop solar.

10 action points for ways to harness solar energy and strengthen the #ISA for a better tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/R8nhjQsn2w

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 11, 2018

The founding conference was attended by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron along with several other leaders from countries like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Seychelles, Ghana, Gabon, Australia, Venezuela, Fiji, Mauritius, African nations.

Key programmes launched by ISA:

• Scaling solar applications for agricultural use: It intends to employ common procedures for solar applications in the agricultural and rural areas such as installing solar water pumps instead of diesel pumps for irrigation to benefit both farmers and the environment. The coalition has planned to roll-out a global tender for 500,000 solar pumps for farmers. India plans to set up 100,000 pumps, Bangladesh 50,000 pumps, and Uganda 30,000 pumps.
• Affordable Finance at Scale: It aims to adopt finest practices required for setting up common credit enhancement mechanisms. Additionally, it also intends to facilitate ties with the International financial institutions like World Bank for financial aid and to help de-risk investments.
• Scaling Solar Mini Grids: This programme was launched for large-scale decentralized solar deployments through mini, micro and nano-grids focusing significantly in the least developed and small island countries.

The ISA has also partnered with the World Bank and the WB has also provided a funding of USD 500,000 for awareness and other activities.

#InternationalSolarAlliance has the right scale of ambition. It will make the world more inclusive, fairer & cleaner: @rkyte365, Special Representative of @UN Secretary-General & CEO @SEforALLorg@PMOIndia @moefcc @UNFCCC @UNIDO @UNDP @narendramodi @French_Gov @isolaralliance pic.twitter.com/42K9VfZfiz

— United Nations India (@UNinIndia) March 11, 2018

Solar power is swiftly gaining popularity at the grass root level as the government of India have begun to harness the energy to meet energy demands.