Kerala looks up at solar energy for its power needs

  • | Sunday | 17th February, 2019

We decided to work on it and we implemented it with a technique where hydroelectric power can be utilised when solar power is not sufficient,” he says. The medicity’s cardiology department and heart foundation are completely run using solar energy during day time. In fact, Asia’s first Renewable Energy Catheterization Laboratory is situated in Thiruvanthapuram and it also holds the record for conducting the first cardiac surgery using solar energy in 2013. Also, our power consumption is high in households,” he says.ANERT is also collaborating with the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) for several projects including Soura. “You can always rent out your rooftops to KSEB to fix solar panels and an amount will be updated in your account based on the energy produced from the panels.

After recovering from an unexpected natural calamity, the State is now on a renovation mode, building a ‘New Kerala’ that focuses on sustainable development. As part of this, recently the State Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac, in his budget speech, talked about providing around 130-150 crore units of electricity to the consumers from 500 MW rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) projects and 500 MW from floating and terrestrial solar PV projects. He also mentioned that Kerala households have already registered for 200 MW of rooftop solar PV capacity.With a feasible plan in place, we talk to a few experts to understand the need, benefits and process of implementing solar power generation units in homes and offices.Amith MS, information education expert, Agency for Non-Conventional Energy and Rural Technology (ANERT), Kerala, says, “Solar energy emits zero carbon and it is an energy source that is available everywhere, every day. It doesn’t cause any harm to nature either,” he says.While there are other renewable energies such as tide and wind, there are practical difficulties in harnessing electricity from them. “Similarly, to generate hydroelectric power, we need to build dams that destroy the balance of the environment. The expense to run the plants and transmit energy is also high. Moreover, water needs to be used for other purposes like irrigation. So, to bring a change and go greener, we must opt for solar energy ,” he says.Amit explains that the Urja Kerala Mission by the State government is in the process of generating 1000 MW, of which 500 MW will be from solar panels installed on roof tops of houses. “Roof tops are more preferred in Kerala as the State is densely populated and we can’t create solar parks like in states such as Gujarat. Also, our power consumption is high in households,” he says.ANERT is also collaborating with the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) for several projects including Soura. “You can always rent out your rooftops to KSEB to fix solar panels and an amount will be updated in your account based on the energy produced from the panels. This is called on-grid. Thus, it will become a source of income as well. There is another option called off-grid where you can use power from your roof-top storage system. It will be available 24x7,” he says.Solar energy can be utilised in institutions such as schools and hospitals, which usually have its maximum energy consumption during the day, explains Amit. “Streetlights too can be operated by saving the energy in a solar battery during daytime. If we successfully implement this concept, we will generate more power than we consume. We are currently only producing 30% of our power requirements and the rest comes from other states,” Amit says, adding that the whole State must follow an energy efficient path.The number of solar panels required for a home to be self-sufficient can be decided based on the electricity bill showing the current energy consumption. As per calculations, it would cost a person with a 2BHK house only costs `40,000 approximately to install solar panels to take care of the energy needs.Project engineer Nikhil P Jose, who works for a private solar powerplant company, explains that the government and even organisations like ANERT are now offering a lot of subsidies to establish solar panels at homes in Kerala.“A simple 1KW off-grid system established in a house can generate nearly two to three units of power. If it is on-grid, we can generate four units of power. The system opted will be based on our consumption. If you opt for a 3KW watt grid-type system, we can generate nearly 12 units of power per day and this comes upto 360 unit a month, which is more than enough for a normal home,” he says, adding that it would ideal for homes with air conditioners to choose a 5KW system.With regard to the maintenance, he says that the panels will only have to be cleaned at regular intervals.Even industrial institutions can benefit from using solar power. In fact, Asia’s first Renewable Energy Catheterization Laboratory is situated in Thiruvanthapuram and it also holds the record for conducting the first cardiac surgery using solar energy in 2013. The medicity’s cardiology department and heart foundation are completely run using solar energy during day time. M S Faizal Khan, its managing director and one of the panellists in the Sustainable Energy For All Forum conference in the United Nations headquarters in New York in 2015, stresses that it is important to implement solar power plants in industrial institutions so that hydroelectric power can be utilised where it is most needed.“We thought of implementing a concept called solar industrialisation 10 years ago and went on to research whether we can use solar energy in power equipment. It is a challenging concept as voltage fluctuations can actually hinder the functioning of machines. We decided to work on it and we implemented it with a technique where hydroelectric power can be utilised when solar power is not sufficient,” he says. By implementing the 220 KW power supply in the hospital, Faizal reveals that they were able to save more than `1 lakh worth electricity per month.

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