Mr D Suresh is a green enthusiast investing time and energy into solutions for a cleaner atmosphere. The range of products he has experimented with/implemented ranges from solar cells to a solar driven car.
Please give us a brief introduction about your projects, the basis on which you began this project, etc.
I am a green enthusiast and have done 7 projects in my house. I started with rain water harvesting 25 years ago in my house in Chennai to save the precious natural resource – water. The aim was to use the water which otherwise would drain away. My next project was stand-alone roof top solar project. My entire house works on a solar system and this includes two air conditioners. I have connected lights, fans, TV, computer, refrigerator, washing machine, mixie, everything except water heater. Water heater requires a different technology called solar thermal. In Chennai, if you open the tap you get hot water so we do not need solar. The third project that I have done is domestic bio gas plant. I use kitchen waste – cooked food, uncooked food, spoilt food, vegetable waste etc. is treated in my bio gas plant and is converted into cooking gas. The starting point is cow dung. Cow dung generates bacteria but reacts with the food waste to generate methane gas, which can be used for cooking. When the gas is being formed, the slurry that gets pushed out automatically is rich in organic minerals. Instead of throwing away the minerals, I started growing vegetables on my terrace garden. I grow organic vegetables and today I have about 150 pots. I grow lots of vegetables. It is fun to see vegetables grow. I have not done any calculations. May be it is cheaper to buy from outside. But the experience of seeing vegetables grow in front of your eyes is priceless.
My next project was to create a forest atmosphere in my house. I have a modest house – not a huge bungalow. It is about 4000sq. ft. I have planted Neem trees, Bamboo trees and Almond tree. I have allowed it to grow wildly for the last 25-30 years. From my terrace it looks like a forest. I can’t see opposite houses, road etc. It is very interesting. Another project I did was installed an air to water machine. This machine produces drinking water from atmospheric gas. This is basically a technology and was developed about 50 years ago and has come into our country in the last 2-3 years. This is an ideal project for a place like Chennai where there is lack of water. So, create it from the air around you. The water quality is very good. Next, I developed a solar car. Today, all the electrical vehicles including US’ Tesla can be charged in a stationary condition. On the other hand, we have developed a car which can be charged while you drive. We have installed a panel on top of the car. 4 engineering students – fresh graduates – came to me for a project. I mentored them and in the last 3-4 days the car was delivered. It runs very well. It has limitations. This is just to do the proof of concept. Now, it has to be developed into a full project. One more project that is pending is waste water recycling. We get lost of waste water in a domestic set up. There are two types of water – greywater and blackwater. Both these can be treated but at least greywater, in the large industry complexes, one can install STP – sewage treatment plants. But in domestic houses, it is not possible to install STP. My focus is on individual houses and smaller establishments. Somebody has developed an herbal solution. You use the herbal solution to purify the entire waste water. You can actually drink it but of course, there is a mental block. But that water can be used for secondary purposes. The sedimentation will settle down, which is nitrogenous fertilizer [00:06:20] which can also be used for growing plants and trees in the house. These are the projects that I have done. I am doing this on a social basis and am trying to create an awareness. There are several misconceptions about all these projects. I am a one-man army trying to remove this myth, motivate people to implement these things. One very important observation is to not expect the government to find solutions for you. Find your own solutions. I have drawn this from the American President, John F Kennedy. He made a very famous statement 50 years ago – Ask not what the country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. I rest my presentation here.
What made you start all this? Can you tell us the cost involved?
I will go through it all.
Solar Cells: Today, you can get solar cells to energize your house at approx Rs 60,000 without battery backup. With a battery it costs you Rs 30,000-40,000 extra. It depends on the amount of load you want to it to take. It is very simple and does not require daily maintenance.
Biogas Plant: 1 cubic meter costs about Rs 40,000/-. Again, no daily maintenance required.
AWM: I got a 25 litres per day machine. It works on electricity, which is a 500W machine and consumes around quarter unit of electricity per litre. This costs Rs 60,000/- It is a one-time cost. Again, no maintenance. It is like an air conditioner. Rs 60,000/- and 25 litres per day. It is connected to the solar in our house. So, the cost of water is 25p per litre for me. If you install it, for you, including electricity cost it will come up to about Rs 3 per litre. This is an Indian-made machine.
The 60,000 is the cost of the machine, is it?
Yes. It will produce 25 litres of extremely good quality water per day. It fulfils all the drinking water parameters. The machine does not need maintenance, it is like an air conditioner and comes with a compressor and an air filter. You should clean the air filter in 3-4 months’ time – just wash it and put it back. The big plus point is that it does not need daily maintenance. This is the most ideal technology as far as water is concerned. Today, ground water is depleted – no water is available. This starts working and producing water as soon as the machine is installed. The rain water harvesting takes time to give you returns because the rainfall should happen, right? Having said that, I highly recommend the rain water harvesting system. The Tamil Nadu government has made it compulsory but people find loop holes. I have realized that making mandatory seldom works, you have to incentivize to motivate people to use the technology. In Chennai we have abundance of sunshine, we only have sunshine. But then, it took me 5 years to locate a vendor. I finally managed to get one in Jan 2012. I installed 1 KW to start with, gained the confidence that it works well and scaled it up to 3KW. That is how the ideas began. When somebody came to see that, I realised that he was in the bio gas business. When I enquired about it, he explained and I asked him if he could install it in my house. He agreed and installed it in my house in February 2013. That is all. Then, I got manure from that. So, I started building on my terrace kitchen garden. The AWM machine we looked through Google and found two companies making it in Chennai also. I managed to find the company in Mumbai. I did not even visit them. Found them on Google, placed the order and asked them to shift the machine. I take decisions quickly because I like experimenting. It came and I installed it and it started working very well. The idea is I am inquisitive and I keep looking left and right and applying my mind thinking what can we do about it. I observe and keep running things in my mind wondering how it can be implemented. In the bio gas plant also, there is a separate bio gas stove. There is no pressure in the stove and cooking is very slow. I pressurized my vendor and we did some local RnD, which we call jugaad (local innovation) and I connected the bio gas plant to an LPG stove. It works very well. Today, you can use bio gas for producing electricity, you can attach a booster pump for larger plants and doing cooking. I installed a 1000 kV plant here in one of the local colleges. They attached a booster pump. The pressure is as high as LPG. 2000 people cooking on biogas. They don’t buy cylinders at all. This is all eco-friendly. It cause no pollution.
We would like to know more about the car you have developed. It is a huge pathway that is better than electric cars.
Yes! Even Tesla has done experiments only in improving the battery technology. We have not done anything to do with automotive technology. This team of engineers have installed a roof top panel on the roof of the car. We bought a second hand Reva – an electrical vehicle and placed a solar panel on top of it and also on the bottom because we need more area. This in the concept phase is working very well. The car is charging and it can run 15-20 kms. Now, we are in the process of looking for an investor who can produce a car right from scratch without any constraint, make it light weight as well, place larger panels and we want to try driving it from Chennai to Bangalore without charging. That is the aim. We are looking for funds now.
In fact, by this time we should have had lot of electric cars but because of the intervention from the government…
No, I will never blame the government. Nobody has applied their mind. I should have done this 10-15 years ago. What happens is that, there are paid employees but they don’t have the motivation to push things through. Silicon Valley, for instance, Bill Gates and all the Microsoft etc. – everything is developed by individuals only. Governments cannot innovate. They can only do investments or grants. A team of engineers came out with a concept. With my modest income, I have funded the first project. To take it to the next level, they are looking for large amount of funds. We are talking to people. I have some good contacts. I did my engineering from IIT Madras and management from IIM Ahmedabad. I graduated in 1970 – one the earlier batches. I got good exposure. I am checking around. Let us see, something should happen.
What about the maintenance part of that? The operating cost etc.
All the projects demands absolutely no maintenance and no operating cost. Whether it is rain water harvesting, bio gas plant, the AWM machine, there is zero operating cost. Terrace kitchen garden – no operating cost. I mean you should water the plants and clear the soil and do the rearing of plants – minor things. We buy a car and drive it without knowing much about automobile technology. Still we use the car and two wheelers. If you want to repair it, you go to a mechanic right? It is the same thing that I did. I am the laziest person under the sun. If I can do it anybody can. There is no daily maintenance for any of these products. If there are any issues, the service provider will come and check it out.
Are you thinking about having some display so that people can follow and do these things DIY?
Today in Chennai, my house is a one-stop solution. More than 3000 people have visited me. I have schools, colleges, industries, etc. People come as individuals and in groups. 200-300 students come from colleges, Montessori school children also come. I am the most innovative speaker today across India, not just in Chennai. I have given a TED talk in Coimbatore, two years ago. Last month I was in Coimbatore addressing an Arts and Science college. For the last 4 days, I have been on the road.
If always tend to hear from one person about one field/product. But, you have done lot of things in various fields.
The common thread is pollution. I have aimed at products that eliminate pollution.
If someone wants to start installing these products, it cannot be done all at a time, right?
No, I would recommend implementing things one by one.
What should the logic approach in terms of doing one after the other? I gather that solar is the source of everything – is that so?
See, with the advent of the monsoons, I advise people to start with rain water harvesting because you can store the water that comes down in the next two months. Then, roof top solar. In fact both these can be started in parallel or simultaneously. The ideal way to start is to do water first and then do roof top solar. One thing is, all these things can be done in individual residences. Today there are many apartments coming up. Apartments, technologically it can be done but there is a problem when it comes to application. There is jealousy. I will not do it and I will not allow you to do it. That is to be overcome. If that attitude and mind set is tackled, it can be done in apartments as well. I address so many apartments and complexes. I am aware of this attitude. There are always a few negative elements. If one of them are tackled, positive elements start growing.
The most important part is how generously you are trying to help the society. I think that is what comes first and then the innovation. The intention comes before the innovation.
I give a lot of emphasis on execution. To share a joke, a man goes to a travel agent and inquired on the cost to travel to the US as he was planning to go there. The travel agent says that it won’t cost you anything. Upon counter enquiry, the agent says that planning doesn’t cost anything, only actually going there costs you. So, everything lies in execution. Many people keep thinking and talking about it. I say, go ahead and execute it.
– CONTACT –
Mr. D Suresh,
Green Enthusiast
New 17 Vasu Street
Kilpauk, Chennai 600 010
93812 05869
Email: sureshd157@gmail.com
Please give us a brief introduction about your projects, the basis on which you began this project, etc.
I am a green enthusiast and have done 7 projects in my house. I started with rain water harvesting 25 years ago in my house in Chennai to save the precious natural resource – water. The aim was to use the water which otherwise would drain away. My next project was stand-alone roof top solar project. My entire house works on a solar system and this includes two air conditioners. I have connected lights, fans, TV, computer, refrigerator, washing machine, mixie, everything except water heater. Water heater requires a different technology called solar thermal. In Chennai, if you open the tap you get hot water so we do not need solar. The third project that I have done is domestic bio gas plant. I use kitchen waste – cooked food, uncooked food, spoilt food, vegetable waste etc. is treated in my bio gas plant and is converted into cooking gas. The starting point is cow dung. Cow dung generates bacteria but reacts with the food waste to generate methane gas, which can be used for cooking. When the gas is being formed, the slurry that gets pushed out automatically is rich in organic minerals. Instead of throwing away the minerals, I started growing vegetables on my terrace garden. I grow organic vegetables and today I have about 150 pots. I grow lots of vegetables. It is fun to see vegetables grow. I have not done any calculations. May be it is cheaper to buy from outside. But the experience of seeing vegetables grow in front of your eyes is priceless.
My next project was to create a forest atmosphere in my house. I have a modest house – not a huge bungalow. It is about 4000sq. ft. I have planted Neem trees, Bamboo trees and Almond tree. I have allowed it to grow wildly for the last 25-30 years. From my terrace it looks like a forest. I can’t see opposite houses, road etc. It is very interesting. Another project I did was installed an air to water machine. This machine produces drinking water from atmospheric gas. This is basically a technology and was developed about 50 years ago and has come into our country in the last 2-3 years. This is an ideal project for a place like Chennai where there is lack of water. So, create it from the air around you. The water quality is very good. Next, I developed a solar car. Today, all the electrical vehicles including US’ Tesla can be charged in a stationary condition. On the other hand, we have developed a car which can be charged while you drive. We have installed a panel on top of the car. 4 engineering students – fresh graduates – came to me for a project. I mentored them and in the last 3-4 days the car was delivered. It runs very well. It has limitations. This is just to do the proof of concept. Now, it has to be developed into a full project. One more project that is pending is waste water recycling. We get lost of waste water in a domestic set up. There are two types of water – greywater and blackwater. Both these can be treated but at least greywater, in the large industry complexes, one can install STP – sewage treatment plants. But in domestic houses, it is not possible to install STP. My focus is on individual houses and smaller establishments. Somebody has developed an herbal solution. You use the herbal solution to purify the entire waste water. You can actually drink it but of course, there is a mental block. But that water can be used for secondary purposes. The sedimentation will settle down, which is nitrogenous fertilizer [00:06:20] which can also be used for growing plants and trees in the house. These are the projects that I have done. I am doing this on a social basis and am trying to create an awareness. There are several misconceptions about all these projects. I am a one-man army trying to remove this myth, motivate people to implement these things. One very important observation is to not expect the government to find solutions for you. Find your own solutions. I have drawn this from the American President, John F Kennedy. He made a very famous statement 50 years ago – Ask not what the country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. I rest my presentation here.
What made you start all this? Can you tell us the cost involved?
I will go through it all.
Solar Cells: Today, you can get solar cells to energize your house at approx Rs 60,000 without battery backup. With a battery it costs you Rs 30,000-40,000 extra. It depends on the amount of load you want to it to take. It is very simple and does not require daily maintenance.
Biogas Plant: 1 cubic meter costs about Rs 40,000/-. Again, no daily maintenance required.
AWM: I got a 25 litres per day machine. It works on electricity, which is a 500W machine and consumes around quarter unit of electricity per litre. This costs Rs 60,000/- It is a one-time cost. Again, no maintenance. It is like an air conditioner. Rs 60,000/- and 25 litres per day. It is connected to the solar in our house. So, the cost of water is 25p per litre for me. If you install it, for you, including electricity cost it will come up to about Rs 3 per litre. This is an Indian-made machine.
The 60,000 is the cost of the machine, is it?
Yes. It will produce 25 litres of extremely good quality water per day. It fulfils all the drinking water parameters. The machine does not need maintenance, it is like an air conditioner and comes with a compressor and an air filter. You should clean the air filter in 3-4 months’ time – just wash it and put it back. The big plus point is that it does not need daily maintenance. This is the most ideal technology as far as water is concerned. Today, ground water is depleted – no water is available. This starts working and producing water as soon as the machine is installed. The rain water harvesting takes time to give you returns because the rainfall should happen, right? Having said that, I highly recommend the rain water harvesting system. The Tamil Nadu government has made it compulsory but people find loop holes. I have realized that making mandatory seldom works, you have to incentivize to motivate people to use the technology. In Chennai we have abundance of sunshine, we only have sunshine. But then, it took me 5 years to locate a vendor. I finally managed to get one in Jan 2012. I installed 1 KW to start with, gained the confidence that it works well and scaled it up to 3KW. That is how the ideas began. When somebody came to see that, I realised that he was in the bio gas business. When I enquired about it, he explained and I asked him if he could install it in my house. He agreed and installed it in my house in February 2013. That is all. Then, I got manure from that. So, I started building on my terrace kitchen garden. The AWM machine we looked through Google and found two companies making it in Chennai also. I managed to find the company in Mumbai. I did not even visit them. Found them on Google, placed the order and asked them to shift the machine. I take decisions quickly because I like experimenting. It came and I installed it and it started working very well. The idea is I am inquisitive and I keep looking left and right and applying my mind thinking what can we do about it. I observe and keep running things in my mind wondering how it can be implemented. In the bio gas plant also, there is a separate bio gas stove. There is no pressure in the stove and cooking is very slow. I pressurized my vendor and we did some local RnD, which we call jugaad (local innovation) and I connected the bio gas plant to an LPG stove. It works very well. Today, you can use bio gas for producing electricity, you can attach a booster pump for larger plants and doing cooking. I installed a 1000 kV plant here in one of the local colleges. They attached a booster pump. The pressure is as high as LPG. 2000 people cooking on biogas. They don’t buy cylinders at all. This is all eco-friendly. It cause no pollution.
We would like to know more about the car you have developed. It is a huge pathway that is better than electric cars.
Yes! Even Tesla has done experiments only in improving the battery technology. We have not done anything to do with automotive technology. This team of engineers have installed a roof top panel on the roof of the car. We bought a second hand Reva – an electrical vehicle and placed a solar panel on top of it and also on the bottom because we need more area. This in the concept phase is working very well. The car is charging and it can run 15-20 kms. Now, we are in the process of looking for an investor who can produce a car right from scratch without any constraint, make it light weight as well, place larger panels and we want to try driving it from Chennai to Bangalore without charging. That is the aim. We are looking for funds now.
In fact, by this time we should have had lot of electric cars but because of the intervention from the government…
No, I will never blame the government. Nobody has applied their mind. I should have done this 10-15 years ago. What happens is that, there are paid employees but they don’t have the motivation to push things through. Silicon Valley, for instance, Bill Gates and all the Microsoft etc. – everything is developed by individuals only. Governments cannot innovate. They can only do investments or grants. A team of engineers came out with a concept. With my modest income, I have funded the first project. To take it to the next level, they are looking for large amount of funds. We are talking to people. I have some good contacts. I did my engineering from IIT Madras and management from IIM Ahmedabad. I graduated in 1970 – one the earlier batches. I got good exposure. I am checking around. Let us see, something should happen.
What about the maintenance part of that? The operating cost etc.
All the projects demands absolutely no maintenance and no operating cost. Whether it is rain water harvesting, bio gas plant, the AWM machine, there is zero operating cost. Terrace kitchen garden – no operating cost. I mean you should water the plants and clear the soil and do the rearing of plants – minor things. We buy a car and drive it without knowing much about automobile technology. Still we use the car and two wheelers. If you want to repair it, you go to a mechanic right? It is the same thing that I did. I am the laziest person under the sun. If I can do it anybody can. There is no daily maintenance for any of these products. If there are any issues, the service provider will come and check it out.
Are you thinking about having some display so that people can follow and do these things DIY?
Today in Chennai, my house is a one-stop solution. More than 3000 people have visited me. I have schools, colleges, industries, etc. People come as individuals and in groups. 200-300 students come from colleges, Montessori school children also come. I am the most innovative speaker today across India, not just in Chennai. I have given a TED talk in Coimbatore, two years ago. Last month I was in Coimbatore addressing an Arts and Science college. For the last 4 days, I have been on the road.
If always tend to hear from one person about one field/product. But, you have done lot of things in various fields.
The common thread is pollution. I have aimed at products that eliminate pollution.
If someone wants to start installing these products, it cannot be done all at a time, right?
No, I would recommend implementing things one by one.
What should the logic approach in terms of doing one after the other? I gather that solar is the source of everything – is that so?
See, with the advent of the monsoons, I advise people to start with rain water harvesting because you can store the water that comes down in the next two months. Then, roof top solar. In fact both these can be started in parallel or simultaneously. The ideal way to start is to do water first and then do roof top solar. One thing is, all these things can be done in individual residences. Today there are many apartments coming up. Apartments, technologically it can be done but there is a problem when it comes to application. There is jealousy. I will not do it and I will not allow you to do it. That is to be overcome. If that attitude and mind set is tackled, it can be done in apartments as well. I address so many apartments and complexes. I am aware of this attitude. There are always a few negative elements. If one of them are tackled, positive elements start growing.
The most important part is how generously you are trying to help the society. I think that is what comes first and then the innovation. The intention comes before the innovation.
I give a lot of emphasis on execution. To share a joke, a man goes to a travel agent and inquired on the cost to travel to the US as he was planning to go there. The travel agent says that it won’t cost you anything. Upon counter enquiry, the agent says that planning doesn’t cost anything, only actually going there costs you. So, everything lies in execution. Many people keep thinking and talking about it. I say, go ahead and execute it.
– CONTACT –
Mr. D Suresh,
Green Enthusiast
New 17 Vasu Street
Kilpauk, Chennai 600 010
93812 05869
Email: sureshd157@gmail.com
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