GUWAHATI, Aug 9 � Purnadhar Bordoloi, a school teacher of Garjan village in Mayong block of Morigaon district had played a key role in successfully convincing fellow villagers to install solar panels at� cost of Rs 3,900 per household.
Nearly 6 years after the installation of the panels at 90 per cent subsidy from the Centre, the very thought of using renewable energy now irks Bordoloi, like many other villagers of the district even as Centre plans to go a big way in renewable energy in Assam.
The solar panels, for which the villagers had paid their hard-earned money, malfunctioned in less than 12 months and there was no review done to address the lapses.
�Today, we have electricity in our village. But what about the money we had spent on solar panels which lasted for only a few months. In that period too, we could only use one or two bulbs for two to three hours at the most. The intensity of the light was also very poor,� Bordoloi said.
Like Morigaon, several other districts where solar panels were installed, too faced similar problem.
�Most solar projects, including some in Guwahati where crores of rupees have already been spent, the system is dependent on grid (electricity). Under the current practice, the battery is just been used as an ordinary inverter and the amount of solar energy derived through the system remains unknown. The system has to be isolated from the grid so that we can have a fair idea on the energy derived. Or else it is nothing more than a power inverter used in our households,� sources alleged. If it is so dependent on grid, how would it cater to the need of the people residing in places where electrification is yet to be done,� sources said. �
Experts are of the opinion that although the PV module output efficiency is just about 16 per cent, the customers are made to pay much more than what they receive in return (power), which is not justified.
�There is no justification is charging 100 per cent money for a product whose efficiency is just about 16 per cent. Further, in most of the major solar projects in Assam, the solar panels are connected with grid (electricity) making it impossible to gauge the amount of power generated through solar sources�
Sources stated that 90 per cent subsidy would mean that the Centre had spent nearly Rs 350,000 per household and as there was no review of the remote village electrification programme under which 771 villages were covered in the State, the loss to the country�s exchequer could be easily gauged.
�Today, when the Centre is laying an unprecedented stress on the use of renewable energy and thinking of even making solar cities, such apprehensions must be addressed. As things stand today, most solar panels installed in different villages under the project stand abandoned. A number of other solar projects in Guwahati and other districts too have become dysfunctional or stolen,� an official of the Power Department alleged while requesting anonymity. ��Under the project, implemented by the Assam Energy Development Agency, Karbi Anglong was the most widely covered district with a tally of 340 villages. ��
Sources in the AEDA, meanwhile, countered stating that AEDA projects covering 771 villages were meant for villages where electricity had not reached and it was meant for a period of five years only.
