The most common forms of clean renewable energy are solar, wind, water or mini and micro hydro, biomass, Ocean/Tidal and geothermal energy.

Solar Power

Solar Power comprises primarily of Solar Photovoltaic and Solar Thermal. Solar Thermal include Non-grid solar technologies such as water heating systems, solar cookers, Solar home lighting , solar lanterns etc.

India receives about 300 clear sunny days in a year. This is equal to over 5,000 trillion kWh/year, which is far more than the total energy consumption of the country in a year.
The daily average solar energy incident over India varies from 4-7 kWh/m2, depending upon location
SPV systems have found applications in households, agriculture, telecommunications, defence, and railways among others. In the last two decades, the cost of PV has gone down by more than 10 times, increasing accessibility for dispersed rural applications.

Wind Energy

Power derived from Wind, as in a Wind Mill is Wind Energy.

India is the fifth largest wind power producer in the world after Germany, the USA, Denmark and the UK, with a wind power generation capacity of 1,267 MW, of which 1,210 MW has come through commercial projects.

The wind energy potential in India has been estimated at 45,000 MW. Wind is one of the largest RE source in the country, based on mean annual wind power density.

Hydro Power

Small-scale hydropower systems (SHPs) capture the energy in flowing water and convert it to usable energy. Where the resource exists it can provide cheap clean reliable electricity.

India has so far set up 387 SHPs of up to 25 MW capacity totaling 1,341.05 MW. These projects are spread throughout the country in hilly regions as well as on canal drops. One hundred and seventy projects of 25 MW with a total capacity of nearly 498.28 MW are under implementation.

Thirty-five portable micro-hydel sets of up to 15 kW capacity have so far been installed in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, J&K, Arunachal Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh. These sets are providing electricity to unelectrified villages and are being maintained by local communities.

Energy from the Ocean

Ocean energy draws on the energy of ocean waves, tides, or on the thermal energy (heat) stored in the ocean. The ocean contains two types of energy: thermal energy from the sun's heat, and mechanical energy from the tides and waves. Oceans cover more than 70% of Earth's surface, making them the world's largest solar collectors. The sun warms the surface water a lot more than the deep ocean water, and this temperature difference stores thermal energy. Thermal energy is used for many applications , including electricity generation.