Photo: Jitendra Raj Bajracharya/ICIMOD.

Solar photovoltaic technology directly converts radiation from the sun into electricity using a physical process with no moving parts. It requires special solar voltaic panels, which are mounted on rooftops or poles to face the sun. Solar photovoltaic systems allow power to be stored and then used as required. They are ideal systems for small-scale end uses such as lighting, pumping water, and low temperature storage of medicine. This can be a viable alternative in remote mountainous locations where the normal grid is difficult to reach. At the Knowledge Park at Godavari, solar voltaic panels are used to supply power for lighting and for charging the battery used in the automatic meteorological data logger belonging to the on-site weather station.