This post is all about a Journey of 150km, that was charted 116 years back. So, fasten your seat belts and get ready as we take you back in time and then, back to the future!
Btw, if you’re wondering, the picture above is taken at Nandi Hills – perhaps the closest glimpse you could get to understand the beauty of a streetlight alongside those stone-walled buildings of lore!
Cutting straight into today’s story; we had asked our social media followers some time back, to connect the following:
Bengaluru – June – Electricity
….and, here’s the answer:
Bengaluru was the first city in Asia to get an Electric Street Lamp. Way back, on the 5th of June 1905! Back then, Electricity was produced at Shivanasamudra and supplied to the gold mines at KGF, passing via Bangalore. And since there was quite a bit of surplus available, someone came up with a light bulb moment, of actually powering a light bulb, for the streets! That’s how Bengaluru’s first street lamp was set up in what is now known as K. R. Market. Note that K.R. stands for Krishna Rajendra Wodeyar – IV, the illustrious king of Mysore under whose patronage this project was undertaken.
It gives us an immense sense of satisfaction that on the very same day, 116 years later (on World Environment Day), we at Synergize Solar unveiled our logo to the world and began our operations. And, guess what? Our vision as a company is to take people on a journey from being a reckless consumer of electricity to a more participative ‘prosumer’.
And what an adventurous journey it’s been…
…From being an awestruck bystander to a consumer and now, in a position to be a producer of electricity as well! We can only guess the sense of awe and pride that people might have felt to see a bulb glow at the flick of a switch, thanks to electricity generated at a waterfall, about 150 km away!
People had to pay 1 Rupee per light bulb to get their houses lit up. In fact, the entire city was electrified at a total cost of Rupees 6 Lakh!
Fast forward to today, when a large home in Bangalore can generate all the electricity required, on top of their roofs, at a cost similar to that, or much lesser! Dr. Emmett Brown and Marty McFly would have been proud to witness this shift. Should be a great idea to adapt Back to the Future into a Bollywood or Sandalwood movie – any script writers out there?
Talking of journeys, we all know that each of our journeys are different. There are homes which are looking at getting their first electric bulb on one end, while there are homes which are ready to welcome their first electric car, on the other. There are homes that get an Electric bill of around Rs. 1,000 per month while there are homes which get a bill of around Rs. 10,000 per month! There are homes with an elaborate setup of energy storage and backup systems while there are homes which are figuring out how to tackle the issue of frequent power cuts.
As a clean energy startup, when we say ‘Switch to Solar’ what we need to keep in mind is that each home’s journey to Solar is completely different. The questions, the needs, the abilities to invest time and resources are all different. Keeping these differences in mind, we are completely revisiting how solar is bought online. We’re on a mission to make buying Solar, as interesting and engaging as buying a car!
So, stay tuned for that and be with us in this journey towards a cleaner, greener future! Until then, stay safe and take care :)”