SolarTown Lit Homes when neighbourhood Went Dark During Chennai Floods

CHENNAI: When the whole of Chennai went dark and people remained incommunicado for more than three days during the recent floods, there were some who were leading a normal life with bright homes,fully charged mobile phones and UPS batteries. These were the lucky few who were using solar powered electrical system provided by SolarTown Energy Solutions Pvt. Ltd. (SolarTown).

SolarTown, a pioneer in solar rooftop systems for residential, commercial and industrial customers, has helped Chennai customers with its off-grid solar systems to remain online and provided critical support to them and neighbourhood communities when the State Electricity Board suspended power supply following the devastating floods early December.

Soon after the grid shut down, communications to and from the city had failed, cell phone batteries went dry and that of other personal electronics were depleted. Off-grid solar systems from SolarTown was the sole source of electricity for citizens in Chennai in many areas. SolarTown's customers were able to assist neighbours too by charging their phones and helping them connect with their loved ones. 

“Occurrences like the recent floods in Chennai demonstrated the need for off-grid power sources which can provide critical power during natural disasters,” said Vikram Dileepan, CEO of SolarTown.

The SolarTown's off-grid solar rooftop systems were fully operational during all three days of the grid shutdown in Chennai. They continued to operate even with cloudy conditions, Vikram said.

“Committed to constant innovation, SolarTown has developed a hybrid solution which includes solar microinverters, solar PV, and battery which can work on-grid as well as off-grid during power shutdowns,” said Vikram. SolarTown has successfully implemented this technology into a rooftop solution for residential and small commercial installations throughout Chennai.

Vikram further said that hybrid technology helps customers cut electricity cost considerably. Most of SolarTown off-grid customers have purchased solar system and took advantage of accelerated depreciation tax benefits, with payback periods as low as five years. In addition to purchasing a solar system, SolarTown offers home-owners and businesses the ability to lease a solar rooftop system with no down payment and a fixed monthly lease rate guaranteed to be lower than the DISCOMs, shielding them from rising electricity rates.

With over 100 installations, SolarTown has an impressive customer base of some of India’s top corporates, such as Infosys, Renault-Nissan, Plant Engineering and Aachi Group, and can meet the demand from 1 kW to 300 kW.

After floods its business as usual for Chennai real estate

The recent unprecedented floods in Chennai has indeed put a spanner in the works of the real estate firms in the booming southern metropolis and its fledgling outskirts, albeit briefly.

After almost two weeks of hibernation and bright sun shine for almost ten days now, it is business as usual for real estate firms which are using innovative means to lure people to sell their projects.  While some draw people’s attention by claiming that the areas where their residential projects are coming up are safe as they have not been affected by floods, others are making indirect attempts to sell their projects in worst affected areas in and around Chennai by becoming good Samaritans.

The floods have virtually stopped all construction activities in the southern city and its outskirts. The real estate sector, which is already reeling under stagnation and negative growth for the last few years due to sagging economic growth, will find it hard to withstand the effects of the recent floods.

Several residential projects in Chennai’s most sough-after fringe areas on OMR, ECR and GST Roads and other prominent locations such as Maraimalainagar, Perungalathur, Thoraipakkam, Porur, Poonamalle,  Ambattur and Avadi were remained unsold and the floods have made the situation even worse. People may go choosy in selecting the areas now and most of the ground floor apartments will likely to find ‘no’ takers, feel real estate experts.

Under pressure, the developers and builders are worried to sell their homes. Take for example, the areas in west Tambaram and Mudichchur, which have several independent homes and villas bore the maximum brunt, with almost all of them went under water sinking the silt and ground floors inundating several cars and destroying properties worth crores of rupees.

Before the floods, these areas were one of the hottest destinations for home seekers in Chennai and real estate firms were making no mistakes in tapping the opportunities.  But now, there is not even a single real estate advertisement appearing on national dailies giving details about housing projects in Tambaram, Mudichchur, Nandambakkam or Velacherry. 

All these areas were the worst affected as several lives were lost here and several well-to-do-families virtually came on roads after losing their belongings due to the burgeoning Adayar River on the fateful night on December 1 when officials suddenly opened the flood gates of Chembarambakkam reservoir near Chennai.

After more than ten days now, some areas in KK Nagar, Valasaravakkam, Madippakkam are still under knee-deep water.  But sun slowly has started shining again on real estate firms in Chennai.

One can see a lot of real estate ads making their way in local and national dailies luring people with discounts and goodies to sell flats and plots, and in another month or so, people may even go for sight visits in areas of west Tambaram, Madipakkam, Keelkattalai or Mudichchur to purchase properties forgetting the fact that these areas were once the water bodies and now busy residential areas, thanks to the “efforts” taken by real estate sharks and corrupt officials.

With the state government, private organizations and enthusiastic individuals taking efforts to help the affected people, real estate firms in Chennai are now busy as usual, trying to reach out to their customers by all available means to sell their projects taking advantage of Chennaiites eternal affinity of owing homes.

K Ramanathan

Also published in Merinews.com.