Note : As a reference for comparison, the installed power generation capacity as of now 162 GW (June 2010) and the demand is likely to cross 1 GW in the next 20-30 years. We can in theory extract more energy than we'll ever need for the next several decades. As a statistic the total energy available is so great that even with 10% efficiency of harnessing, we still have more than 1000x the energy demand in 2015 (Wiki Reference)
The problem here though is the cost of investment. Right now this would require huge areas of land and the problems of land acquisition and the associated cost is very prohibitive. A better way of using the available space is to go 3-D and try for rooftop systems. However to make this feasible requires the technology to become substantially cheaper.
Right now the cost of production ranges from
15 to 30 per unit compared to around 5 to 8 per unit for conventional thermal energy. (Aside : For thermal energy, that's far more than our EB bill rates even with the revised tariff -- profitability vs affordability issues.)Even the best solar cells are only about 25% efficient which is close to the theoretical limit, and that's as good as we can go. However they are very robust and can last for 30 yrs + at maximum capacity.
At present the renewable energy scenario stands at just 16 GW most of which is due to wind energy.
The Govt. has taken up a major initiative in this regard with the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission, which though is still in planning phase. You can check this out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jawaharlal_Nehru_National_Solar_Mission
If we could sustainably get into solar power production then over several years our import bill (most of it on oil) can also be drastically reduced.
We have to accept that with the limits on coal and petroleum reserves, solar energy is the future. But still there is a lot of ground that needs to be covered.
References : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_India
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