By Vijay Saxena
The “Pran Prathista” of Bhagwan Shri Ram in Ayodhya is beginning of a new era of faith & hope for millions of Indians. Prime Minister on his return from Ayodhya announced the “Prime Minister Suryauday Scheme” under which 1 crore households are to get rooftop solar system with the aim to reduce electricity bill of poor & middle class families and also to make India self-sufficient in field of Energy.
He said that Suryavanshi Bhagwan Shri Ram has been enlightening people for all times and today’s Pran Prathista has strengthened his resolve to provide rooftop solar to Indian households. Establishing “Ram Rajya” has been the ultimate goal of all Indian rulers and governments. Ram Rajya is conceptually a welfare state usually associated with virtuous rule, moral values, prosperity and peace. Providing rooftop solar systems would definitely help people in improving their lives. Bhagwan Ram is believed to belong to the Suryavanshi (Sun) dynasty and PM’s associating this scheme with Suryavanshi Bhagwan Shri Ram will help find wide acceptance among people and provide boost to the economy and welfare of masses.
We are blessed with four cyclic seasons and have “SUN” in abundance for almost 300 days in a year but this abundant and infinite source of energy remains largely untapped. “Rooftop Solar” gives us innumerable possibilities to harness potential of solar energy and effect savings in household budgets and simultaneously reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. Nature has gifted us with this “abundance” whose effective utilization will reduce constant pressure on governments to increase power generation and thereby saving scarce financial resources. Fossil fuels are major contributor to climate change and we are already under immense pressure to reduce our consumption of fossil fuels.
Solar energy can be used for Solar Heating of water for households and other industrial/boiler applications and as Solar Roof Top system / installations to generate electricity using solar photovoltaic cells. The hotel industry / residential societies can also easily adopt “Solar Heating”. Replacing geysers with solar heaters will substantially reduce the load on grid. Contrary to popular belief Solar Heaters provide hot water round the year irrespective of the seasonal variations in sunshine.
Solar heaters also come equipped with heating coils to cater for overcast/cloudy days. The solar Heaters are available at concessional rate (with government subsidy) and are easy to install and need no maintenance. Photovoltaic solar panels, commonly referred as Roof Top Solar (RTS) installations are cheap source of “electricity” and with the advent of “Net Metering” the RTS has become an efficient and gainful solution.
The RTS Systems are available in both ON GRID (Net metering) and Off Grid (Stand Alone with Batteries) configurations. Off Grid RTS can be effectively utilized in remote and far flung areas where access to grid or laying supply lines is difficult. Off grid solar RTS can bring light and life to such places. Literally darkness to light, a true “Tamso Maa Jyotirgamay”. The “SUN”, is cleanest source of energy and has immense potential for use.
Installation of solar heaters and RTS systems will not only lessens our financial burden but will also lessen the burden on Mother Earth by preserving our environment. It’s therefore time for us to heed to Prime Minister’s call for rooftop solar and take this as a God sent opportunity to install rooftop solars in our homes and use Lord Ram’s divine gift of SOLAR for benefit of all mankind. For sure, Suryamaayi (Solar) will help make our “Vatavaran” pure and Rammayi.
The writer is working with Public sector Bank as Assistant General Manager.
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