It may be a case of owner's pride, neighbours' envy. Kilpauk resident D. Suresh seems hardly annoyed by the frequent disruption in power supply, unlike his neighbours. The stand-alone rooftop solar power plant put up by him at his house is helping him keep his cool.
The solar photovoltaic power plant, with a capacity of one kilowatt, has been functioning for the last one-and-half months. “After its installation, I have not experienced any power disruption and my electricity consumption, through the conventional EB source, has come down perceptibly,” says Suresh, who holds degrees in mechanical engineer and management.
The power plant installed on the rooftop of his house has 10 solar panels. A dual power converter, along with 10 batteries of 100 ampere-hours (AH) capacity each, manages the power supply tapped from the solar panels. The converter, on the one hand, distributes power to the equipment and, on the other, charges the batteries from the solar panels.
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During day, the power plant lights the house and during night, the converter takes over and powers the house by drawing power from the batteries. Mr. Suresh has designed the installation in such a manner that he has excluded energy guzzlers such as air-conditioners, refrigerators and geysers. If both the solar plant and the batteries run out of power, the electrical line would provide supply. “I have three energy sources,” he adds.
The capital cost - Rs. 2.5 lakh, is inclusive of the subsidy of Rs. 80,000 (the consumer's cost is Rs. 1.7 lakh) provided through the Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency (TEDA).
“The reliability of power supply and the contribution towards environment protection are the factors that encouraged me to consider solar power. I have managed to save four to five units of power daily,” he adds.
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The story has been corrected for clarity and fora factual error.