By H H Mohrmen
The dry season in Meghalaya is now accompanied with load shedding, which is a new issue for the state’s residents. In Meghalaya, load shedding has become a common occurrence that no longer surprises its residents, so much so they have learnt to live with the problem and believe it is inevitable. Some even think it’s their fault that they suffer load-shedding. What can the government do right away to solve the issue, is the question. Unfortunately, it’s possible that the issue won’t have a quick fix. Since the state’s government does not appear to have any plans or policies in place to address it. Hence citizens will continue to deal with it and bear the brunt of it.
Effects of load shedding
People who rely on electricity to run their enterprises have suffered significant losses as a result of load shedding across the state. It has cut off the customers’ access to energy for their homes or businesses. The hardest-hit small businesses are bakeries, Xerox shops, motor repair shops, steel fabricators, carpenters, and others. Load shedding also gives crooks more confidence, and there have been cases of robberies at ATMs while load shedding was in effect in the town.
Water supply to several towns and cities has also been disrupted by load shedding, and even people’s daily routines have gone haywire. People also complained that load shedding was unfair because it shut down for a longer period of time in rural areas than in metropolitan ones. In a nutshell, load shedding has had a tremendous impact on every resident of the state, and the unfortunate aspect is that there doesn’t appear to be a resolution in the near future.
Is there a solution in place?
In such a situation, the question is what is the alternative for Meghalaya? Can non-conventional energy be the alternative Meghalaya can look to? Before North East Slow Food and Agrobiodiversity Society started working on non-conventional energy, we asked ourselves if there is an existing model that we can study and learn and if using solar power is viable. We remembered that Maple Pine Farm, Bed and Breakfast is a business that runs off the grid and could be a model for us to emulate.
We decided to visit and discuss with the person who runs the business to understand how he could run his business relying on solar power only. After the discussions, we now know that we already have a working model which is reliable. The discussion with James Perry encourages us to go ahead with the project and help provide lights through solar power to the un-electrified villages.
James Perry, a friend and owner of the Farm Bed and Breakfast located at Lyngkien, Mawphlang, Hima Mawphlang said that they have been using only solar power to run their business and it has been twelve years since they set up their business. Perhaps Maple Pine Farm Bed and Breakfast is the first and till date the only house or business unit in the state which is off the grid. The farm has since the beginning relied only on non-conventional energy for all its power needs. And the best part is that it is viable and they have no complaints living off the grid as solar is completely viable.
Defunct solar power installation and street lights
It is also true that one can see many rows of solar panels installed at government offices in the state including Deputy Commissioners’ offices which do not function. Even solar street lamps which were installed in different villages and towns in the state are not functioning. One may ask why these solar power units and street lamps installed at different places went kaput in a matter of few months. The reason for the failure of solar units is that companies and agencies that came to install these solar units were fly-by-night organizations that disappeared from the state the moment the installation was completed. According to James Perry who has been using solar energy for more than a decade, the most important thing is to understand the combination of several batteries to store enough energy with the number of panels to get adequate inputs faster.
Is solar energy dependable?
The pertinent question is can we rely on solar energy at least for our domestic needs in Meghalaya? The person who has used only solar for his business said that most homes in this part of the world should manage with a small capacity solar system for main lights. People will have to increase their investment for adequate storage (batteries) only if they also use a fridge, geysers, heaters, etc. He also said that in summer when it rains and the clouds cover the sky for days and sometimes weeks, the weather condition does affect the generation of solar power. The trick that he learned is to adjust and not use some of the higher-powered equipment when clouds overcast the sky. On an ordinary day, the farm and B&B unit run a fridge, water pumps, a microwave, and even a geyser in two cabins. Although they run the fridge constantly, they manage and control the use of geysers, water pumps, and a microwave.
Can solar be the future?
The question one needs to ask is whether solar energy has a future in Meghalaya. Despite the state being called the abode of clouds when a large part of the summer skies are cloudy, solar power will work. Perry reiterated that people need to understand how the entire system works. Some people’s units went kaput because they installed a small system and then used it for high-energy equipment. Then they wonder why their batteries don’t last when the fault lies with them because the input and output did not match.
There is also a potential for the households to sell their excess power to the grid if it is done properly and more importantly if the government can put a system in place for people to do so. The future of power in Meghalaya is on solar energy and even if they cannot use solar hundred percent, households can at least try a hybrid of solar and power supply from the grid.
How can Meghalaya go solar?
Meghalaya can go for solar but people need to be educated on how the energy works and how to use it. People are used to electricity so mindset change amongst the people of the state to adapt to new systems is a must. At the government level the MeECL not only needs to recalibrate its technology from conventional energy to solar, but the staff of the corporation also need to open their minds to change. The importance of educating the users was also taken seriously by NESFAS when they trained solar technicians in every village that were electrified by solar to cater to the needs of the people. To encourage people to shift to solar or at least hybridize it with electricity, the government can subsidize households willing to install solar power units in their houses. The state government needs to immediately conduct a feasibility study before it decides to shift to solar energy. Research and development on panels and battery technology help improve the system rapidly. It is therefore not impossible for Meghalaya to go for solar energy in the immediate future.
The state and SDG
Sustainable Development Goal number 7 (seven) calls on the countries of the world to ensure people access affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all. If the state government can help provide subsidies to people who are interested in migrating from conventional energy to solar, it will be a great help to the households. The government would then not only support people who are interested in installing solar power in their respective houses but by doing so the state is also fulfilling its obligation to accomplish at least one of the SDGs. The government may soon insist that all new buildings should install solar panels on their rooftops. The MDA government would then do itself and the state a great service if it can shift from conventional to non-conventional energy.