Chennai-resident Dwarkadas Suresh, popularly known as Solar Suresh, talks about his various awe-inspiring environmental projects. This septuagenarian, with five decades of experience in the corporate world, IIT-Madras and IIM-Ahmedabad degrees, now works pro-bono in setting up environment-friendly projects.
What made you adopt solar energy at your home in Chennai?
It was during one of my official trips to Germany, when I was working in the corporate world, that I first noticed these rooftop solar plants on a lot of the houses. I thought that if a country with less sunshine can install them, then why not us in India, which has solar energy in abundance. Eventually in 2012, after some research to find the appropriate vendor, I installed a 3 kW system in January 2012 – 2 kW on-grid and 1 kW off-grid with battery back-up. My rooftop solar plant has ensured that I have uninterrupted electricity 24/7 for the last eight years. It even powers my water pump, television sets, mixer-grinder, washing machine and two inverter ACs.
Besides being environment-friendly, there are several other advantages to solar power. I don’t have to worry about power tariff hikes, no daily maintenance or separate wiring are required. Maintenance entails quarterly cleaning of the panels.
Besides solar energy, what other environment-friendly initiatives have you adopted in your home?
I installed a biogas generating plant at home a few years back. Whatever I do, I have learnt it through observation. Earlier, cooking in India was fuelled by home-dried cow dung. So I began using kitchen waste such as cooked / uncooked food waste, fruit and vegetable peels. I started by installing a plant that used 3 to 4 kilograms of kitchen waste per day, which generated 10 to 15 kilograms of gas per month. I collect kitchen waste from my neighbours (whom I have provided a drum to place the scraps), as well as vegetable stores in the vicinity, to increase the input feed. The Methane gas generated is stored in a floating drum, from where it is piped to the kitchen. The unusable waste (slurry) is pushed out automatically and its an excellent organic manure.
Besides producing gas, I also recycle waste. Since no pressure is generated in bio-gas production there are no possibilities of explosion. No daily maintenance, no odour, no mosquitoes, and I get bio-fertiliser also. The cooking takes longer as compared to LPG gas, so wherever we need to cook in a hurry, we use the LPG cylinder.
I also installed a machine using Israeli technology that produces drinking water from the atmospheric. The moisture is condensed resulting in clean drinking water. It is an appliance similar to an air conditioner and works on electricity. My electric car is now a solar-powered car. All electric vehicles run on a battery which must be charged by conventional power, consuming fossil fuels and generating a carbon footprint. The solar-powered car was developed for me by a team of engineers.
You have efficiently adopted rainwater harvesting and recycling water at home. How does that work?
I installed a rainwater harvesting unit around 25 years back. The objective was to save our precious natural resource – water. Chennai is always water-starved but so much water gets drained away during monsoon season. I decided to collect rainwater on my terrace, then filter it through a sedimentation system of pebbles, charcoal and sand in layers. The output water is potable. Fortunately, I have a well in my house where I collect this filtered water.
Also, in my compound, there were two places where water would collect. This stagnant water led to the breeding of mosquitoes. So I decided to recycle that stagnant water by taking it below the ground using a 20-feet slotted pipe that recharges ground water substantially. It was a one-time cost and no daily maintenance is required for both these harvesting units. Everyone can adopt this in their homes and save our resources.
Tell us more about your vegetable garden.
We utilise the organic manure of our bio-gas plant to organically grow vegetables in pots on our terrace. We grow some seasonal and some perennial vegetables – tomato, lady’s finger, brinjal, green chilli, capsicum, cucumber, bottle gourd, ridge gourd, spinach, radish and many more in over 200 pots. Recently, I started dabbling in hydroponics. So I am now growing vegetables using water as a medium. We don’t need to buy vegetables from the market anymore. You could say I have created a forest around my house. There is a thick bamboo plant fence and creepers entwined around them. We have almond and neem trees which my mother planted several decades back. On our terrace, you get a feeling of being in a forest and can’t even see the neighbouring buildings.
At 76, what keeps you going and inspiring people to lead sustainable lives?
My motto in life is ‘do not expect the government to find solutions for you. Find your own solutions!’. So I try to persuade people to adopt sustainable living. I work pro-bono with individuals and institutions, whosoever is interested in adopting these practices. I have helped install solar power plants in offices, schools, colleges and households in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chennai. I have also set up bio-gas plants for a few households in these cities. I don’t get tired. I want to make the planet a better place for the next generation.