In an unprecedented move by the CESU, a net-meter was installed at the house of former IAS officer Prasanna Mishra at BJB Nagar here on Monday.
This net-meter would check the net export of solar units (kWh) from the marvelous 2.5-kW (kilowatt) canopy-based captive solar project installed by local firm Crux Power Private limited during Aug 2013.
Crux Power Director (BD & Strategy) Swayam Baral said, "We had to import this high-quality thin-film solar module from Germany to showcase this project as one of its kind not only in Odisha but also in India at a household scale. Unlike Indian modules, this module starts generating power from 8 am till 5 pm."
He added that till date, this project has generated around 2,000 units (kWh) of green energy, thereby reducing the dependency of the household on the grid power by around 30 per cent. As per a thumb rule, by this time this project has saved approximately 1,000 kg of coal and also reduced 2,100 kg of carbon dioxide from the environment. An elated Prasanna Mishra said, "I feel proud to be the first Green Citizen in Bhubaneswar. The CESU, installing its first net-meter in the domestic sector for my solar power project today, made the project complete. I wish the Odisha Government could promote such projects with a grant of Rs 50,000 per kW capacity keeping a slab of up to 2.5kW per household. Such a step would motivate many middleclass households to instal rooftop or canopy-mounted plants in the State. The carbon emission issue needs to be addressed by more and more citizens."
It is understood that the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) along with the OREDA has submitted a master plan to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy for making Bhubaneswar a Solar City by 2017. With such small-scale projects in large numbers, Bhubaneswar can reduce its dependency on conventional power and can truly become a Solar City by 2017.