VELLORE: Speakers at the one day meet on ‘Potential for Renewable Energy for Micro Small Medium Enterprises Sector’, organized by the Vellore District MSME Association under the aegis of the Tamilnadu Tiny and Small Industries Association service centre on Monday, stressed the need for young entrepreneurs to migrate to renewable sources of energy for clean and green energy.
Addressing a gathering of entrepreneurs of Vellore, Dr Vimal Kumar Eswarlal, CEO of Tirupur based Mangla Smart Energy solutions pointed out that while over 75 percent of the country was blessed with abundant sunshine, this must be fully utilised by industries especially MSMEs. In Tamilnadu 5.5 kwh (units) of solar radiation was available in one square metre area in a day. The solar photovoltaic mono-crystalline panels have high efficiency to convert up to 15 percent of the radiation into energy they can work well up to a temperature of 25 degrees celcius. The thin film panels on the other hand can work up to 40 degree celsius but less efficient, less expensive and require more space to set up the power plant.
Vimal also pointed out that TN was a frontrunner for the ‘net metering’ system to connect solar panels to the grid by purchasing power from domestic and industrial solar power plants. He also pointed out that cluster of power plants could also be formed to make use of the power as well as to sell to the government grid as has been demonstrated by a group of textile industries in Avinashi near Coimbatore which have established a 23 megawatt solar power plant as a community utility system. He also explained the government subsidy support available. He assured them that the solar panels have a life time of 25 years and required very less maintenance.
S Nagarajan, general manager of the Kramski India company in Pallikonda pointed out that bio-fuels are the future and industries should reduce their dependence on conventional power and migrate to renewable sources at the earliest. The MSME sector contributed 15 percent of gross investment and employs 60 percent of labour in the country. Affordable power is a major issue. The sector should explore options of solar, biomass and as Vellore has abundant farm byproducts, MSMEs should find ways to make use of them as alternative energy, he added.
