About International Solar Alliance

• The launch of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) was announced by the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and former President of France Francois Hollande, at the 21st session of United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP-21), 2015 in Paris, France.
• It was conceived as a coalition of solar-resource-rich countries (which lie either completely or partly between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn) to address their special energy needs.
• 87 Countries have signed the Framework Agreement of the ISA and of these 67 have deposited their instruments of ratification.
• Countries that do not fall between the Tropics can also join the ISA and enjoy all benefits as other members, with the exception of voting rights.
• The Assembly of the ISA is the apex decision-making body which comprises representatives from each Member Country.
• ISA aims at lowering the cost of technology and finance and thereby facilitate deployment of over 1,000 GW of solar energy and mobilize more than USD 1,000 billion into solar power by 2030 in Member countries.
• Solar is a key source of affordable and reliable energy, thus it could play a significant role in achieving the universal energy access goal (SDG 7).
• The Permanent Secretariat of ISA will be located in India at Gurugram, Haryana. 

Why in News?

Recently, the first World Solar Technology Summit (WSTS) was organized by the International Solar Alliance.

About World Solar Technology Summit:

• It is an attempt to bring together scientists, engineers and member states to sit down together and think about what the challenges are in realising the dream of making energy affordable and abundant.

Objectives

To bring the spotlight on state-of-the-art technologies as well as next-generation technologies which will provide impetus to the efforts towards harnessing solar energy more efficiently.

News in Detail:

The conference saw ISA signing four agreements, signalling its intent to focus on key areas of the solar energy sector.

• A partnership agreement between the Union Ministry of Renewable Energy, the World Bank and ISA on One Sun, One World, One Grid.
• A partnership between the Global Green Growth Institute and ISA on the promotion of a million solar pumps.
• A Memorandum of Understanding with the International Institute for Refrigeration, Paris and ISA.
• Partnership agreements on the implementation of 47 projects between ISA and National Thermal Power Corporation Limited.
• ISA also launched its technology journal, Solar Compass 360.

Related Information

About OSOWOG

• The idea of ‘One Sun One World One Grid’ (OSOWOG) was originally proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the first assembly of the International Solar Alliance in October 2018.
• OSOWOG is India’s initiative to build a global ecosystem of interconnected renewable energy resources. The blueprint for the OSOWOG will be developed under the World Bank’s technical assistance programme that is implemented to accelerate the deployment of grid connected rooftop solar installations.
• The underlying logic is that a grid spread across multiple time zones could balance intermittent renewables with other renewables: the setting sun in one part of the grid is made up for by solar, wind or hydropower produced in a distant place. 
• OSOWOG is planned to be completed in three phases. The first phase will entail interconnectivity within the Asian continent; the second phase will add Africa and the third phase will globalise the whole project.

Reference: 

1. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1652436