USER EXPRIENCES

USER EXPERIENCES :

1.   My own experience :  Feb 1, 2019:

Let me share my personal experience of 20 months in Bengaluru,  so that the entire humanity is benefited.  I have saved around Rs. 1 lakh.  which I would have otherwise put in drain.   Yes, I was spending close to Rs. 5,000 per month towards electricity for my villa.

I returned to India during 2005 and I am living in this beautiful city of Bengaluru.   While walking around aimlessly, I noticed during 2017 that some serious work was going on in a house nearby.     A plumber could only tell me that something is being done by the owner so that the whole house will be brighter always.    Then only I could realize, after talking to the owner, the power of Solar Energy.

I caught hold of the Contractor engaged by the owner and insisted upon him to sign the Agreement with me and make the same arrangement for me on the next day itself.  I even was ready to pay advance money straightaway.    He was polite enough to tell me that he could do that within a maximum of seven days but considering the bureaucratic delays, he could commit for complete hand over within 40 calendar days.  Even though he was not known to me and I did not even check whether he was an individual or an organization which may or may not fly by night I trusted him and  signed the agreement (believe me if I say the proposal and agreement were printed from the contractor’s website in my house) and I did pay an advance amount.

Thanks to the Karnataka Government and the documented processes of BESCOM and the supporting officers and staff, Government approvals were a breeze. 

 I was surprised to find that BESCOM signed an agreement with me to buy excess production at   a fixed rate for 25 years at the then rate of 7 and odd rs. Per unit.

March 17, 2017 was a day I could never forget in my life. That was the day I got freedom from paying my  electricity bill averaging Indian Rupees 5,000 per month.

Renganathan Narayanan, Bengaluru ibmnarayan@gmail.com

2.   My Solar Story: (Devarajan Raja, Melbourne, Australia)

Date January  5, 2019:

I live in Melbourne, Australia. The Installation of Solar Panels on rooftops across Australia is gaining rapid momentum. There are state and federal government rebates for installation of Solar, but they will be drying up on the years to come. 

To give some context. I live in a home which  is approximately 5500 square feet (This is considered large in Australia). 2 adults, 2 children live in the home. There is someone in the house using electricity 24/7. We have a solar hot water system (This is mandated by the government). 

Prior to our solar panel installation, our 3 monthly electricity bill would be between $500-1000 AUD. (Roughly Inr 25,000 to 50,000 per qr or Inr 8000 to Inr 14000 per month)  Winter months are very cold, so the bill is often higher.

We have 18 panels. 6KW system (per hour generation capacity). The solar system is connected via the internet, so I can see the generation/panels working, and efficiency live on my smart phone. This was included in the package. (We have this facility in India too).

Currently its summer, and on a normal sunny day 25-35 degrees celcius with no cloud cover, we generate about 40-45kw of power during the day. During winter the efficiency is less (15-20kw per day). We don't have a battery system installed (yet) but this is something I am planning to do when the cost of batteries becomes lower. 

The cost of installation of our solar panels was approximately $11,000 AUD (including all panels, delivery, inverter, delivery, installation certificate, electricity company inspection and safety and quality checks). (Roughly Inr 550,000 = almost the same in India today for a 6 kva system or even less!!)

The panels are Tier 1 LG branded (LG neon 2). The  inverter technology is European, and each panel has its own inverter rather than having a collective inverter. This allows each panel to operate independently of each other to drive better efficiency. 

Rooftop solar is increasingly common in Australia, and the uptake is increasing. We have one of the highest uptakes in the world, and battery power stations are being installed to take the load off the grid. 

One of the main motivations for me to install solar in my home is to reduce the power bills (power costs in Australia are very high), but also to have a positive impact on the environment. 

I feel its one of the best decisions I have made, and I am looking forward to installation battery technology, and hopefully transitioning to an electric car as well. (I also find the maintanence of my panels is almost zero. I don't need to do any specific maintenance for its efficiency to be high. It has been about 14 months since I installed it).

I think in the next 10-20 years the landscape will change, and we will have solar power as one of the biggest energy producers in Australia, and hopefully around the world.

3.   A lady (who does not want to be named) : Feb.1, 2019

I had invested 4.2 lakhs in a Solar Production System on my roof top about fifteen months ago.    My bill used to be around 2.5 K per month.   As my production has been more than my consumption, I get a regular refund of about Rs. 1.5 K for excess production credited to my bank account by BESCOM regularly .   Nowadays they are giving us full details of production and consumption.