One man’s effort towards generating clean energy

It was during a trip to Himachal Pradesh that Pradeep Pandiaraj discovered the bountiful of renewable energy resources that our planet is blessed with. He came across hot water springs there, which after further studies, showed him that so much geothermal energy can be generated from this single source. So he began focusing on deriving ‘clean energy’ and reducing his carbon footprint on Earth. 

“I live in the hills where power cuts are frequent. So many of us installed battery back-ups and generators. Invariably there’s not enough charge in the UPS so I began looking at alternative sources of electricity,” begins Pradeep. In 2003, he installed solar panels in his residence. “It was difficult to convince my family that it’ll work in cold climates but it’s a less known fact that solar panels perform better in places where the ambient temperate is 25 degrees and below,” he says.

His goal is to make such technology more affordable to common people. “A solar water heater actually costs about $60 but is sold for $300 in the market. So I began working on minimalising these costs and have succeeded in it in a big way. 

A sought-after commodity in the tribal hamlets surrounding Pradeep’s home in Kotagiri are solar powered refrigerators and freezers — “I have helped install solar deep freezers in remote villages, where power is not consistent, so that they can store anything right from vaccines to ice creams,” he says. Such feasible and workable technology has also lit up many hamlets through his company Sinatra Technologies’ rural electrification project. “If 50-60 houses are present in one hamlet, I help install an on-grid solar power plant, which will take care of street lights and provide electricity for seven-eight hours at night.

I also own a solar powered petrol pump — it is operational 24x7.We’re already polluting the environment by supplying fuel so I took the challenge of running it on solar energy. Our power system is connected to the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board so if I produce an average of 60 units every day but consume only 50, the balance is exported back to TNEB’s grid and we remain carbon-neutral.” 

The petrol pump is covered by a huge canopy, “So we can harvest rain water easily,” he says. “As part of the Swacch Bharat scheme, toilets in petrol bunks are open to the public and many people use it in a day. The need for water is high but it is met 100 per cent thanks to rainwater harvesting.”

Clean energy generation takes place on his farm and tea estate as well, located close to his home.“We have a dairy farm with 250 pigs and 40 cows. Waste (dung) that was being generated was not of any use and was getting washed into the jungle so we built biogas plants. The gas produced is consumed for cooking in about 20 houses. We also make vermi-compost for organic farming,” he explains adding, “I also noticed that nearly five tonnes of food waste from neighbouring localities was being dumped closeby — a horrible putrefied smell and diseases are generated from this. So I began collecting food waste from my home and a few others and converted it into food for the farm animals. We vaccinate the pigs regularly and my housekeeping team ensures the enclosures are spic and span, so this mostly eliminates chance of sickness.”

Pradeep shares, “We also work with geothermal heating and cooling systems by extracting energy from the earth. Sinatra Technologies has tied up with company in US so we sell their products here, at affordable pricing.” He illustrates with an example to show that if a mall is using 800 tonnes of air-conditioning equipment, switching to geothermal energy will require using only 400 tonnes. “The initial cost is moderate and return on investment occurs within three years,” he adds.

India has the highest solar radiation in the world alongside hot water springs and water bodies, so Pradeep has implemented hydraulic energy projects in remote applications in the Nilgiris. But won’t this disturb or affect marine life? “The technology we use is not so massive that it’ll disturb water flow — we introduce the necessary equipment into a stream, water runs through a pipe into the turbine and is released back down stream,” he explains.

He would like to educate people on how wind potential is good in Tamil Nadu, especially in coastal areas. “If every household invests Rs. 45,000, they can install a wind turbine, which is powerful enough to charge UPS batteries during extended power outages.”

He says that if an individual wants to switch to clean energy for his/her home and (or) farm, then a wind-solar hybrid system is the best. “Tamil Nadu allows residences to be connected to the main power grid; this method is known as net metering, which means even if you use 500 units of electricity in a month, you don’t need to pay your electricity bill!” he concludes.