Inverter manufacturers going solar

Chennai:

Inverter manufacturers are now offering solar solutions to tide away the power crisis this summer.

Although the solar inverters are nearly thrice the cost of any normal inverters but it could be a solution to the long power cuts many parts of the state has to undergo, feel N Ramesh Sankaran, chairman of Consul Consolidated Ramesh Sankaran and the chief executive officer of the company Sriram Ramakrishnan.

Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday to announce the acquisition of of controlling stake in Megatech Power equipments, a leading solar power pack, inverter and UPS manufacturer based in Pune, they said that a total investment to generate 1 Kilo volt ampere (KVA) of solar power is anywhere between 1.4 lakh.

“Although it may look costlier than the ordinary inverter, but in the longer run it is more beneficial. For an ordinary inverter, one has to depend on the electricity to recharge it but in the solar energy, you are not dependent on power. Similarly, a genset requires diesel to generate power which is costly when one looks at the total cost of maintenance,” he added.

Ramakrishnan said that solar inverters be beneficial for people who are facing 10 to 12 hours power cut and where even the ordinary inverters fail to get recharged. Currently, the inverter market in the country is estimated to be worth Rs 8,000 crore.

Interestingly, Consul Consolidated is trying to target banks, ATMs and health care sector with their products.

Ramakrishnan said that Megatech gives access to a range of innovative power electronic products like off-grid solar inverters and solar power conditioning units (PCUs) which are developed for Indian power and site conditions.

He said Consul will leverage Megatech’s power electronics product development capability with investments in research and development and develop it as the power electronics center of excellence for Consul.