State asked to permit third party sale of solar power

With most parts of the State reeling under 10 hours or more of power cut a day for the last three weeks, electricity consumers have started tapping alternative sources, especially renewable energy. One option is to go in for installation of solar panels on rooftops. According to K.E. Raghunathan, Managing Director of Solkar Solar Industry, the rooftop system can vary between one kW and one MW. A one kW system requires 60 sq.ft.-area and it can produce five units of electricity a day.

‘The concept of alternative energy is just catching on’

It is not just industries here that are going in for renewable sources, such as wind power, to meet their energy needs. Some of the retail outlets have also started exploring the green energy options. Recently, Chennai Silks installed a stand-alone, rooftop wind and solar power plant to generate electricity to operate one division of a showroom here.

The unit can be expanded to accommodate more vehicles

In a city that has a burgeoning vehicle population and shortage of parking space, the need for multi-level parking facilities is felt more now than ever. VEA Parking Solutions, a venture of Coimbatore-based Visual Education Aids, has come out with multi-level and automated parking solutions. It has launched two-tier parking solutions for sedans, multiple vehicles, and Sport Utility Vehicles.

With the Union Government removing the accelerated depreciation benefit for investors in wind mill projects from April 1, 2012, investment in the wind energy sector will not be attractive to the small captive investors, according to K. Kasthoorirangaian, Chairman of Indian Wind Power Association.

Investors had the option to go in for accelerated deprecation or generation-based incentive. According to a recent notification of the Income-tax Department, for wind mills installed from April 1, 2012, depreciation is restricted to 15 per cent plus 20 per cent of the investment in wind mills, as against 80 per cent extended so far.

Wind mill installations going on across the State

With the winds expected to start in two months in the State, wind mill installations are going on across the State. For Coimbatore, wind energy sector has large-scale investments from here and it is also one of the main wind energy sites in Tamil Nadu. Nearly 70 per cent of the installations are in the Palakkad Pass region, covering Thenkasi, Theni, Dinidgul, Udumalpet, Pollachi and Palladam areas, says K. Kasthurirangaian, chairman of the Indian Wind Power Association.

Gamesa India launched G97-2 MW wind turbines in India. It launched the G97 in the global market last year and has secured contracts to supply 356 MW worldwide.

Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah launched Gamesa's G97-2 MW turbine in India at the third International Wind Conference and Exhibition here on Sunday. The turbines are designed for low-wind sites.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is studying the feasibility of widening the 268 km stretch of NH 209 (Dindigul to Coimbatore and Coimbatore to Karnataka border via Annur) into a fou

It's easy to achieve 10 p.c. conservation at homes with proper handling of electrical, electronic gadgets

Five major road works will take off in the city shortly, at a total cost of Rs. 13.3 crore, and these would be completed by the end of March next year.

NHAI is using the fabric in several projects for the last seven years

Dark-coloured, netted fabrics draped on concrete panels are all over the vertical structures coming up on the 42.6 km stretch from Chengapalli to Neelambur. Coimbatore is not only seeing the much-needed widening (six-lane) of NH 47 from Chengapalli to Neelambur but also modern materials used in the construction. “Geo synthetic reinforcement fabrics” are used to reinforce the earth walls in this project.