Solar Scam: Could it eclipse a sunshine industry in Kerala?

While Kerala is still reeling under a scam termed as ‘Solar scam’, the guts of a lad who approached me recently to consider installing solar panels to bring down my energy bills totally took me by surprise. I asked him why at this juncture one would market a product when hearing the very term ‘solar energy’ raises many eyebrows? He said calmly that he is aware of the present issues and explained the business model to me convincing me that no upfront investment is required.  Payment is only required after installation of the solar energy infrastructure and after I am totally satisfied with the result. Sounded like a fair deal and his explanation put me at ease as my apprehension lowered considerably.

As one politician in Kerala puts it ‘Solar energy has become a dirty term now’. A fraudulent solar energy company which used 2 women to create extensive political contacts and conned many has been hogging the headlines in the media.  The turn of the events had all the ingredients of a soap opera such as women, sex and politics to keep everyone hooked. The question now is, could the solar scam eclipse a sunshine industry?  Despite all the hue and cry, the total sum Team Solar could raise by offering to install power units was less than Rs 10 crore going by the complaints from cheated customers and prospective business partners. But the damage the scam has done to the solar energy sector, a fast growing industry in Kerala, is incalculable.

An electrical engineer who recently set up a solar energy solutions start-up with his peers had trouble finding office space in Kochi as building owners suspect some sex scandal.

Solar energy had emerged a sunshine industry in the past five years because of a high level of public awareness about green energy and thanks to government support. Kerala’s draft solar energy policy aims to generate 500 MW by 2017. Last year’s monsoon failure and this summer’s long power cuts gave a boost to solar energy.

I strongly feel that one should not allow a few con (wo)men to ruin the prospects of such a high growth industry. It will be a shame if multinationals wanting to invest in this sector and young engineers wanting to launch start-up shy away from this high potential business segment.