The Scientific and Industrial Testing and Research Centre (Si’Tarc) plans to create facilities here to test solar panels.
Arun Ranganathan, president of Si’Tarc, told The Hindu that the 32-year-old centre saw good demand for testing solar pumps in the last two years.
With Tamil Nadu all set to implement the Union Government’s Kusum Scheme for setting up solar panels on agricultural lands, “We see it (solar energy systems) as a potential area. Now, we propose to test solar panels and it is still in the planning stage,” he said.
The Si’Tarc organised a customer meet here on Monday to show its capabilities to its customers. “We want to show our facilities. The Si’Tarc was started to test pumps and motors. Then other testing facilities were added. We test water and food products too,” he said. Recently, the fees for MSMEs was reduced to encourage more units to use the testing facilities.
The office-bearers of the research centre met officials from the Navy a couple of years ago.
“We have 75 % of their testing requirements. We need a couple of more equipment to do all the tests. If there is specifically any requirement, we can do it,” Mr. Ranganathan said. In an effort to improve the quality of products made by industries in Coimbatore for Defence projects, Si’Tarc plans to support with testing raw materials.
Smart pump
The testing and research centre developed a smart pump that will be launched shortly so that the industry can commercialise the product.
The Union Government supported the project with a grant of ₹8 crore. “We will probably apply for another grant this year for the valve industry,” he said.
Since it is mandatory for hotels to test drinking water, many hotels and hospitals give water samples to Si’Tarc for testing.
Food testing facilities were started recently, Mr. Ranganathan said.
