Shimla-based group to showcase solar heating system in Finland
Shimla: A Shimla-based Himalayan Research Group has been invited to Finland to present the mountain solar water heating system developed by it which has got the Himachal Pradesh State Innovation Award in 2018, its top official said on Friday.
It will be presented at a conference on promoting innovation in solar energy being organised jointly by the International Solar Innovation Council, Siemenpuu Foundation and the Energy Reform Group of Finnish Parliament from October 15 to 18 in Helsinki.
Himalayan Research Group Director Lal Singh will present the innovative work carried out by his organisation in tapping solar energy to improve quality of life in mountain regions as a case study of Indian Himalayas titled “Innovative Solar water and space heating systems for mountains”.
The solar heating systems, developed by the Himalayan Research Group using materials available in the area and skills of rural artisans, has also won appreciation from the Department of Science and Technology of the government of India.
The solar systems for water and space heating system save around 40 per cent fuel wood per household per annum to help prevent around 4.90 tonne of carbon emission per household per annum, Singh told IANS.
Besides forest conservation, saving of fuel wood contributes to significant reduction in women drudgery. The women will no longer need to spend hours in forests to collect fuel wood and they can invest the time thus saved in some productive livelihood activity to have more time for leisure.
He said the availability of hot water improves health and hygiene of mountain population especially of women.
Focus of all these efforts was to improve the economic condition, reduce drudgery and improve livelihood conditions of the women by providing them the appropriate innovative technologies at household level in difficult mountain areas.
Singh and his team have been working to develop cost effective and maintenance free systems for harnessing solar energy for water and space heating in Himalayan mountain terrain since 2008.
It has already installed 700 solar water heating systems in different districts of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
A total of 161 solar space heating systems were also installed in both the states, while 150 solar water heating systems are under installation in Shimla and Chamba districts of Himachal Pradesh.
In the next phase, the new technology will be introduced in the tribal Kinnaur district where 10 solar water heating and 10 space heating systems are proposed to be installed for demonstrations.
All these solar heating systems have been installed with financial support from different international, national and state agencies keeping in view the objective of carbon emission mitigation and rural livelihood priorities.