On New 17 Vasu Street in Chennai’s Kilpauk area, there is a house. This is not like any other house you see. In fact, this is a completely self-sufficient home. The house is solar powered, has a biogas unit, rainwater harvesting system, and a kitchen garden. This is the house of D Suresh, who is affectionately called by his friends “SolarSuresh”.
This 73-year-old D Suresh leads an eco-friendly, self-sufficient and self-sustaining life by generating electricity and resources required for his survival.
A graduate from IIT Madras & IIM Ahmedabad, Suresh has worked in the corporate world for 50 years. He has worked as a marketing executive in textile firms and climbed the career ladder to become the MD of a textile group.
The idea of harvesting solar energy came to him when he visited Germany. It made him think that if a country with a little sunshine can use sunlight to its maximum, why not India where solar energy is available in abundance. On his return to India, what he did first was implementing a solar plant in his house.
His idea met a roadblock when big companies refused to install the solar plant for home use. He then sought the help of a local vendor and together they designed and installed a 1 kilowatt (kW) solar power plant for his home. In 2015 April, he upgraded the capacity of the power plant to 3 kilowatts. The success of the solar power plant prompted him to install a biogas plant at home. The plant produces enough gas for the cooking needs of his home. Suresh collects organic vegetable wastes from his own kitchen, neighbourhood houses and vegetable market for his biogas plant.
Besides biogas and solar plant, Suresh has also implemented rainwater harvesting apparatus which has a sedimentation tank that purifies the water collected from the roof.
He has also created a vegetation cover around his house by planting bamboo fence and creeper. Utilising the available space, he has created a kitchen garden which produces 15 to 20 types of organic vegetables.
Solar Suresh is on a mission to spread the revolution he himself has experimented and succeeded. He has helped install solar power plants in three offices, four schools and seven households across Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chennai, and biogas plant in six institutions in Chennai and Hyderabad, and kitchen gardens in six places in Chennai.
D Suresh’s house of New 17 Vasu Street in Kilpauk now gets visitors from school students and other enthusiasts. He shares his know-how and experiences with them in a hope that they take home his ideas and create a green revolution on their own.
