Strategies to Enhance Solar Energy Utility in Agricultural Area of Rajasthan State, India

Energy plays an important role in the monetary and social expansion of any country. However, there used to be a general deficiency of rural energy development policies that focuses on agriculture. Agriculture has a dual role, i.e. it acts as an energy user in crops as well as an energy supplier in solar electricity generation. Rajasthan, the largest state of India, is blessed with the highest solar insolation. However, solar energy has not been fulfilled yet, predominantly in the field of the agricultural sector, where irrigation is still being done by outdated conventional methods. This paper focuses on the development of strategies to enhance solar energy use in the agriculture sector of Rajasthan state India. An intensive survey was being conducted among scientists, academicians, farmers, and government officials regarding the know-how of present policies and schemes for the different applications of solar energy in Rajasthan state India. The survey reveals that not only the farmers and rural persons but the intellectual world is also unaware of the different policies of solar program prevailing in the state. Based on the survey, various strategies have been suggested to accelerate the solar program among the rural and agriculture sectors of Rajasthan state India.