Meet Prithvi Mangiri, who lives in a Bannergatta area of South Bengaluru resident, was once troubled by hefty electricity bills, but now Electricity Department buys power from him. The story of 30 years old Prithvi Mangiri, who became drummer from mechanical engineer has been truly exciting.
Playing drums is the passion of Prithvi but it landed him in the police station, as his neighbours got fed up with the sound of continuous playing of drums coming in every morning and evening.
Grandfather encouraged Prithvi
With such disturbance in his neighbourhood, Prithvi had no choice but to stop his practice. While witnessing such dedication towards playing the drums and never fulfilling it for long, Prithvi’s grandfather K Rajan encouraged him and came up with a suitable idea for him.
Decided to make a soundproof room
Both Prithvi’s grandfather and he decided to make a soundproof room so that the sound does not go out, and thus he can practice his drumming session all day long. But because of the soundproofing, the temperature of the room increased, to ease the heat they air conditioned the room. But the electricity bill came was sky-high, as it increased from about ₹ 1,500 to around ₹ 7,000, which was four times more than what they have been receiving every month.
To ease electricity bill grandfather suggested environment friendly alternative
To ease down the hefty electricity bills, Prithvi’s grandfather K Rajan suggested an environment friendly alternative. Mr K Rajan told Prithvi not to be discouraged , solar energy could be an alternative.
With this initiative a new struggle had begun, both Prithvi’s grandfather and grandson had decided to be a part of the solar energy program of Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Ltd.
Electricity supply company permitted to install 5 kW solar generation panels
It was now with Bengaluru Electricity Supply Company Ltd, BESCOM, to decide how many kilowatt panels to be installed, according to Prithvi Mangiri’s needs. The electricity supply company granted permission to install 5 kW solar generation panels.
3 KW electricity sell to BESCOM
Now Prithvi Mangiri is happy he says that 5 KW electricity he generate every month through these panels, but he needs only 2.5 KW and rest of 3 KW he sell to BESCOM. About two and a half years ago, Prithvi installed 15 panels on the roof at a cost of about ₹ 6 lakh.
BESCOM buys electricity from Prithvi at the rate of ₹ 7 per unit. The diligent practice to play the drums in the air-conditioned room paid off. However, even now the electricity bill comes to 6 to 7 thousand rupees a month, but a little more than this surplus electricity consumption has been sold to BESCOM, which is an excess of 400 to 600 rupees more than their bill.
With this move they have been experiencing a brief respite from the hefty electricity bills, and also a small amount of income is also being received every month.
Turned the room into studio named “Bread and Jam”
The room where Prithvi used to practice has now taken the form of a studio named “Bread and Jam”, where along with Bollywood songs, educational programs are also recorded.
Panels mounted on the roof of Prithvi Mangiri will work for 25 to 30 years. Neighbours who were pissed up with Prithvi’s drum beat, have no complaints at present.
