Need to toughen up on non-payers

Until and unless stringent measures are in place to penalise the non-payers, having surplus power will still not be a solution.
Kunwer Sachdev, MD & Founder, Su-Kam Power Systems Ltd
  Su-Kam began as a small Indian start up in the 90’s, but within a short period it revolutionised the power backup in India by creating products which were based on cutting-edge technology. The company is now listed among the world’s renowned power solutions companies. It has presence in 90 countries worldwide and is known for being the only company in this sector to file for maximum number of technology patents.
Penalise the non-payers As per Kunwer Sachdev, MD and Founder, Su-Kam Power Systems Ltd observation there is an improvement in power supply in India but there are few areas of like not paying the electricity bill needs to be considered. He says, “We have been witnessing improvement in power supply in India for quite some time. I congratulate the government for leading India to what is called power supply surplus. Yet many rural areas still experience power shortage this is due to the fact that some population of rural Indians do not pay their electricity bills despite having the financial means this leads to the discoms cutting off the power supply as operating at a loss is not a feasible option. Until and unless stringent measures are in place to penalise the non-payers, having surplus power will still not be a solution as distribution may cause losses and no company will be interested in operating at a loss, thus leading to some areas still experiencing a deficit power supply.”
The other issue is that many villages in India have never been connected to grid. “While calculating power demand, only people who are connected to the grid and have access to electricity at present are taken into consideration,” adds Sachdev.
Solar: The game changerAccording to Sachdev, solar can be the game changer. In coming years, as the technology improves further, electricity generated from solar power will be at par or even cheaper as compared to other conventional sources.
“The best part about solar power is that the customer does not need to depend on the state to provide solar power, small individual units with or without back up can be installed at any given location and solar power will augment the available power along with benefits like reducing electricity bills and grid dependency,” opines Sachdev. 
He adds, “The future schemes like net-metering for solar systems will bring about radical change as the consumers will be able to generate and also supply excess electricity to the grid and will be able to earn money through power generation. All the technological advancement along with government support will lead to solar power being the most reliable and cost efficient source of electricity in the future.”
Providing power solutionsSu-Kam is committed to providing power solutions to meet the needs of everyone, everywhere. It has worked with the government on numerous solar power generation projects which are working very well and producing green energy. To name just a few; a 100 kwp solar project for Delhi Metro is generating 1,40,000 units of electricity per year. Another massive 1MW solar project for Chennai Rail is underway, it will generate 1,50,000 units of electricity per month. The company has solarised many remote defence and army bases, which were dependent on diesel gensets for their power needs.
Su-Kam’s solar projects are generating more than 125MW of electricity. Besides working with the government, it is also helping people to harness the power of sun to generate electricity in their homes, offices, schools and other places. Punjab Engineering College has installed Su-Kam’s 1MW grid tie solar system that meets 50 per cent of college’s total power needs. Its solar products are designed keeping in mind the needs of Indian consumers.
Su-Kam has developed DC solar products; the advantage here is that there is no energy loss in current conversion. This makes these systems run longer and more cost effective. More than 1 lakh of such systems has been installed in rural Uttar Pradesh. These villages never had access to electricity before, but they now enjoy 24/7 power due to solar. It has also executed off-grid solar power generation projects in rural India in association with the government.
“We have seen a huge growth in our solar sector. The sales and demand for solar products keeps increasing with every passing day,” he says while revisiting the company’s success story. 
Su-Kam looks forward to setting up more solar power generation projects to help the government meet its ambitious target. It is equally focussed on enabling all Indians (from individuals to industries) to help generate power by installing solar.