<p>Gone are the days of load-shedding for the residents of Girimaradi, a nondescript village under Salgame hobli, in the taluk. They can also forget all about paying electricity bills. Thanks to the micro windmill installed in their village.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The long-pending project of the micro windmill became functional on June 26, ensuring uninterrupted power supply for domestic purposes of 13 houses, at a cost of just Rs 3 lakh. The then Zilla Panchayat president B R Sathyanarayana had appealed to Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Limited (KREDL) to sanction the windmill-cum-solar project for the village on an experimental basis.<br /><br />The windmill has been installed at the highest point in the village, behind Harihareshwara temple. It is connected to two batteries of 200 AH capacity each and to a 1.5 kv UPS. There is a provision to connect two more batteries as the speed of the wind, at this point, is good. However, as a standby, two solar panels have been installed to ensure uninterrupted power supply.<br /><br />At present, each house is fitted with two LED bulbs. There is a provision to increase the number of bulbs to four each. Power is also supplied to four temples, for lighting purpose, in the vicinity. <br /><br />However, the residents have been asked not to operate electrical appliances till the capacity is increased by adding additional batteries.<br /><br />Madhu, a resident, said, the villagers were happy as they need not spend the nights in the dark due to frequent power-cuts. <br /><br />“The maintenance cost is negligible, but we have decided to pool in some money every month for maintenance,” he added.<br /><br />Free power<br /><br />Sathyanarayana said, if such projects were implemented in villages, free power could be supplied to houses. “Even in cities, if a person is constructing a two or three storeyed building, he can install a similar windmill and avail subsidy from government agencies. The government should also encourage such initiatives,” he said.<br /><br />It has to be recalled that Sathyanarayana, during his term in the ZP, had dabbled with recharging borewells in rural areas by implementing rainwater harvesting; installation of automatic switches for streetlights to save power and executed a project to produce biogas using wet waste in drainages.</p>
<p>Gone are the days of load-shedding for the residents of Girimaradi, a nondescript village under Salgame hobli, in the taluk. They can also forget all about paying electricity bills. Thanks to the micro windmill installed in their village.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The long-pending project of the micro windmill became functional on June 26, ensuring uninterrupted power supply for domestic purposes of 13 houses, at a cost of just Rs 3 lakh. The then Zilla Panchayat president B R Sathyanarayana had appealed to Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Limited (KREDL) to sanction the windmill-cum-solar project for the village on an experimental basis.<br /><br />The windmill has been installed at the highest point in the village, behind Harihareshwara temple. It is connected to two batteries of 200 AH capacity each and to a 1.5 kv UPS. There is a provision to connect two more batteries as the speed of the wind, at this point, is good. However, as a standby, two solar panels have been installed to ensure uninterrupted power supply.<br /><br />At present, each house is fitted with two LED bulbs. There is a provision to increase the number of bulbs to four each. Power is also supplied to four temples, for lighting purpose, in the vicinity. <br /><br />However, the residents have been asked not to operate electrical appliances till the capacity is increased by adding additional batteries.<br /><br />Madhu, a resident, said, the villagers were happy as they need not spend the nights in the dark due to frequent power-cuts. <br /><br />“The maintenance cost is negligible, but we have decided to pool in some money every month for maintenance,” he added.<br /><br />Free power<br /><br />Sathyanarayana said, if such projects were implemented in villages, free power could be supplied to houses. “Even in cities, if a person is constructing a two or three storeyed building, he can install a similar windmill and avail subsidy from government agencies. The government should also encourage such initiatives,” he said.<br /><br />It has to be recalled that Sathyanarayana, during his term in the ZP, had dabbled with recharging borewells in rural areas by implementing rainwater harvesting; installation of automatic switches for streetlights to save power and executed a project to produce biogas using wet waste in drainages.</p>
