Alternative Energy

Power cut in TN:
                           One thing i hate to the core is blaming someone when there is a issue, instead we could concentrate on finding a way out. Latest progress in this issue is that the EB has started announcing the time tables when the power supply will be available! (Rest of TN excluding chennai). The old practice was sharing the Time table of the power cuts - what an improvement!!
                          Will you believe me if say that this issue has made many people to migrate! But that is the fact. The Union territory Puducherry is the best example. People from the TN villages near the Puducherry border are shifting to the nearby villages which belong to Puducherry where there is no power cut. The same could happen to the Metro - Chennai since there is only 2 hours of Power cut.
Chennaites: let's be prepared to face the problem of over population if this issue is not sorted out soon.

                          Generating power from Wind & Sun are the suggestions provided to overcome the power cuts. Both these sources are available through out TN then why there is power cut? The high capex (initial cost) and maintenance cost involved keeps these sources out of reach for the common man. The government is providing subsidy of 30% for implementing the alternative sources of power supply, but even after that the implementation cost is high. People are waiting for the companies to reduce the price and companies are waiting for the demand to go high hence they could reduce the price.

                   Many or almost every electronic equipment operates on a DC and has a inbuilt converter (AC to DC). The batteries which we use in the UPS stores DC and we use a inverter to convert it. Why are we doing the conversion process twice - why can't we directly use the DC power? And here the voltage required also will get reduced as the circuits seldom use voltage higher than 12.

New problem! 
             If we start using the alternate modes (wind & Solar) large amount of batteries will be required to store the current before usage. The life of the batteries are only 2 yrs, remember batteries are not eco friendly! after few years we will have many NGOs fighting against the disposal of used batteries.

Remedy??
                Instead of just working out short term plans to increase the power supply we should find and implement a futuristic solution. It just can't be done by the Government alone. The electronic manufacturers and public also should join hands.
                The another problem of high implementation cost can also be addressed. Rs 2 to 3 Lakhs  is actually huge for those who construct a house with a budget of 20 to 30 Lakhs. But for those who spend more than 50 Lakhs its affordable. The Government can make it mandatory for the projects which has a value more than 50 Lakhs to generate power from alternate sources. This will help in two ways:
1) The sales will go up and the companies promoting will reduce the price
2) The burden of the EB department will go down as they are the people who consume more power.

If you have any valuable suggestions are comments please share. Let's provide a real bright future for the next generation.

See you in next post....