Tap the potential of solar energy: expert - The Hindu

It can save the State from power crisis’

Tapping the enormous potential of solar energy by setting up solar power units on the roof-tops of residences as well as public institutions is the only way out to salvage the State from its present power crisis, energy expert and former president of the Kerala Sastra Sahithya Parishad (KSSP) R.V.G. Menon has said.

He was talking at a seminar on the ‘the alternative energy sources,’ organised as part of the golden jubilee celebrations of the Parishad at the Town hall here on Friday.

He threw light on the historical reasons on why the country lagged behind other nations in developing alternative energy sources, especially by tapping solar and wind energy sources.

He said that given the peculiar circumstances arising from the limited prospects of fossil fuels, all the states should expedite their process of switching over from the conventional energy sources to the renewable ones.

Mr. Menon said that though many developed countries including the U.S. and Germany were witnessing over 100 per cent growth in solar energy sector, India was very slow in adapting the new technology.

“Only states like Rajasthan and Gujarat are showing some encouraging signs,” he said. Stating that the effort by the State government to set up as many as 10,000 roof-top solar panels across the State at a subsidised rate was a welcome move, Mr. Menon said that the response from the residents however was not so positive.