With increasing awareness among consumers, thrust from the government, and research by industries, more number of machinery and equipment that run on solar energy are entering the market. Industries and farmers can reduce their dependence on grid power by going in for stand-alone solar powered equipment or machinery apart from investing in solar parks and rooftop systems. Lakshmi Machine Works recently unveiled solar energy powered mini ring frame; a solar-energy supported charka was on display at the Coir Fair in Coimbatore; solar powered agricultural pump sets are in the market for quite some time now, and several farming equipment that can run on solar power are developed.
These were introduced to consumers at some of the exhibitions held here recently, attracting the attention of the visitors. In remote areas, solar power will be an alternative source to run machinery or operate equipment even when power supply fails. With improvements in technology, applications of solar energy are also increasing. With higher volume of demand, the prices will come down and quality will go up. Customers should be encouraged, given incentives to go in for solar powered products, says energy consultant A.D. Thirumoorthy.
The grid stability has improved in the last one year and hence, consumers benefit when they used solar energy systems connected to the grid rather than connecting these to the battery. When connected to the grid, customers realise 20 per cent increase in generation of solar energy. Hence, infrastructure should be improved and customers should be supported to use grid-connected solar energy systems to operate machinery, say sources in the industry here.
Source: Thehindu
