Mangaluru: MLC Ivan D’Souza held a press meet at his office in Mangalore City Corporation (MCC) Lalbhag, here on 1 December. The meet was called to attract the attention of citizens towards harnessing solar energy.
Addressing the mediapersons, Ivan said that Dakshina Kannada was a district that received a huge amount of solar radiation. It would be beneficial to harness this ‘free energy’, he said. Statistics showed that before he started campaigning for tapping solar energy, there were only 3 homes in Dakshina Kannada that utilised the power from the sun. That number however has now increased to 28. There were also about 100 more homes that have come forward to install solar panels in their homes.
He said, “There are at least 10-15 calls everyday enquiring about installation of solar units. Most calls are to ask if there are any loans provided”. To address this issue, a meeting will be held at the District Commissioner’s Office on 5 December. Various loan schemes for installing solar panels will be discussed at the meeting by various banks. Minister for forests, ecology and environment, B Ramanath Rai will preside over the meeting along with DC AB Ibrahim. Rs 5 lakh has already been set aside to install a 20 kW solar grid on the roof top of the DC office.
“Dakshina Kannada is the best place to implement solar power generation. I can give my own example to prove this,” he said. Ivan has installed a 10 kW solar panel on his roof top. Showing his power bill which clearly highlighted that in just ten days the total number of units generated was 452, he said that the amount of electricity consumed had reduced, making a profit of Rs. 241. “According to estimates, the solar panels above my house should have made 400 units in ten days. But you can clearly see, it generated 52 units more. That is why Dakshina Kannada can be a hub for solar power generation,” he added.
To spread awareness on water harvesting and solar power generation, Ivan has taken up an initiative to distribute 45,000 pamphlets to houses and meeting with various organizations and educational institutions. So far, they had managed to get a commitment to make “strong efforts” in implementation of solar energy systems from N V Hegde, President of Nitte Education Trust. He strongly urged that solar energy systems should be implemented by all.
Agree with Ivan D’Souza. Good initiative to educate and guide folks to get solar panels for electricity.