Switch to solar power will save Mahim society ₹28K a month

Our Lady of Vailankani Housing Society, which has been recycling wet waste for six years, now gets 32 solar power panels for ₹7.5 lakh to cut its electricity bill to half

to the city’s solid waste management woes.”

A recent study by the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) and think-tank Observer Research Foundation (ORF) found that Mumbai, with its ample sunlight and vast array of roots, has the potential to generate 1.72 Giga Watt Peak (GWP) solar energy through photovoltaic (solar) panels installed atop buildings. This means solar energy can take care of half of Mumbai’s power needs.

The buildings also have a netmetering system, which allows surplus power generated by solar panels to be exported back to the grid. At the end of a financial year, the society will be charged by the electrical power supplier only for the ‘net usage’.

Although this is their latest green initiative but not the only one. The housing society has been recycling kitchen and garden waste through composting for the past six years. They have managed to save 2.19 lakh kg of organic waste from reaching the city’s overburdened landfills and generated almost three tonnes of manure.

The residents have created four concrete compost pits located at one end of the complex where 10 kg of daily wet waste (vegetable, kitchen discards) is dumped. “We use sugarcane stems with gunny sacks at the base of each compost pit to ensure enough moisture. After dumping the waste, we add sawdust, dried leaves and water to breakdown the compost into manure faster,” said Inacio Ciriaco Fernandes, manager of the residential complex. He added that the manure is used to nurture three gardens within the complex. “We sell excess compost at Rs15 per kg to residents and even other nearby societies as the finished product is voluminous,” said Fernandes.