At a time when the government has announced a hike in domestic power tariffs, it seems to make sense to take the path of alternative energy systems, if only to supplement conventional power sources.
If you are not convinced, speak to those who have already installed rooftop solar plants. The Tamil Nadu Energy Development Authority’s (TEDA) Chief Minister’s Solar Rooftop Capital Intensive Scheme is yet to take off on a big scale, but has begun yielding benefits, authorities say.
Take the case of N.S. Venkatesan, a resident of Mahalakshmi Nagar, Adambakkam, who has become an electricity producer by installing a 1 kilo watt-solar plant in his house. The solar plant was installed at a cost of Rs. 56,000 (after deducting the subsidy of Rs. 44,000) and Mr. Venkatesan has, on an average, saved on 45 per cent of electricity consumed on a daily basis.
Mr. Venkatesan said the solar plant was installed in the first week of September and is showing results as is reflected by details about import (consumption) and export (supply) from the distribution network of Tangedco that he gets from the net metering process.
The retired railway engineer said the net meter installed in place of the static meter could also be linked to the computer via wifi to see his power consumption patterns.
Mr. Venkatesan was happy at the swift installation of the solar plant from the empanelled installers and the simple procedure for getting the net meter connection from the officials of Tangedco.
A senior official of TEDA said a total of 1,800 rooftop solar power plants have been installed in the city. A total of 10,000 units have been targeted under the rooftop solar scheme.
