CHENNAI: At the 49th Chennai Book Fair, a stall set up by the Citizen Consumer and Civic Action Group (CAG), Tamil Nadu Green Energy Corporation Limited (TNGECL) and ASAR social impact advisors and Poovulagin Nanbargal has drawn the attention of most visitors.
The rooftop solar comes under the renewable energy sector, for which the Union government scheme provides many economic benefits for consumers in the form of loans and subsidies.
“Solar energy protects the environment and makes us less dependent on thermal electricity as we generate our own electricity. So, we’ve been creating awareness about it among consumers who know of the technology but are unaware of the process, implementation and how it could help them,” explained Subramani M, researcher- electricity governance at CAG.
Tamil Nadu ranks 6th or 7th in solar energy among the states in India. “We found out that the uptake would be low as we have a lesser tariff compared to other states. We have very good potential to access solar energy, but people are not aware of it,” he added.
The CAG has also developed a tool called the rooftop solar explorer, in which the service connection number is entered for assessment. It will produce and give all the information according to the consumer’s location. The tool will be integrated with the TNPDC website and will be accessible to the public soon.
Many consumers from Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram and Chengalpattu visited our stall and wanted to know more about the benefits of solar panels. Many were paying around Rs 6,000- 10,000 as electricity bills, and they were very curious how to reduce that. I could tell they were genuinely interested but their hesitation or their self-doubt was about the process. That’s why we set up a stall at the Book Fair. We were able to explain a lot of details through the stall
Subramani