Indian Domestic Sector and the Need for Promoting Community Based Microgeneration Over Stand-Alone Systems

Abstract

Urban growth has resulted in increasing demand for energy primarily in form of electricity. With depleting energy resources, growing concern for promotion of alternative energy sources urban housing is going through a transition phase. There is a greater need for promotion of on-site microgeneration systems at community level to ensure a near zero sustainable domestic sector. The paper tries to define three major concerns that need to be addressed in ensuring near zero housing communities -the first being understanding the character of existing renewable energy strategies and promoting them in the context of changing housing typologies, second, identifying the need for development of hybrid energy generation systems in conjunction with renewable energy systems to balance energy demand at times of climatic inconsistencies, the third concern being the integration of on-site microgeneration infrastructure within the context of the built environment without altering the existing character and aesthetics.