Roof-Top, Pole-Mounted Units Planned In Attapadi Hamlet, Mananthavadi Estate The state electricity board has, in a first-of-its-kind endeavour suitable to Kerala, decided to roll out several pilot projects to track and test the potential of solar energy. The projects, set to begin in the current fiscal, include grid interactive solar power units in a tribal hamlet in Attapadi, Palakkad and polemounted solar power units at Kambamala tea estate in Mananthavadi, Wayanad. They would be carried out using the Rs 5-crore ‘innovation fund’ set aside in the 2014-’15 state budget. The board said the grid-interactive solar photovoltaic project to be piloted at Chalayoor tribal colony at Agaly in Palakkad would not only provide tribal people access to quality electricity but also help them to generate income from the model. The proposal envisages installing solar panels on the roof tops of 40 households at Chalayoor colony, with a maximum installed capacity of 96KWp. The expenditure estimated for the project is Rs 1.10 crore. The day-time generation from the proposed plants would be exported to the KSEB grid and banked against evening consumptions. The proposed plant will also provide a database to study the effectiveness of SPV at high altitudes as Agali is at about 1000 m above sea level. The project report, prepared by the corporate planning department of the board, says the SPVs of 96KWp would be installed in the central portion of houses in the colony. The grid-connected and pole-mounted SPV planned at Kambamala tea estate at Mananthavadi is a pilot initiative to utilize the vast expanse of tea estate land available in the state. The plan is to install pole-mounted solar panels in lieu of the silver oak trees planted inside the tea plantation. Since the silver oak trees are planted only for shade, the pole-mounted solar panels can be an effective alternative and would generate extra income and power. The pilot project is of 40 kW. “The idea when implemented on a large scale will have an installed capacity of 3.50 MW/sq km and will fetch more revenue than that from tea plantations,” the report says. MISSION INNOVATION 50kW SPV project at Peringalkuthu power house Development of a lighting solution that will distribute light from a single source, using mirrors and crystals to illuminate the entire building Development of artificial vortexes to generate hydroelectric power from rivers with smaller flow Development of technology for trapping wind energy using tightly stretched elastic membrane/flutter Solar power project with peak load shifter. This would help consumers reduce consumption during peak hours 430kW grid connected solar power project at College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram Setting up of rooftop solar units at 55 substations