Karnataka farmer sets up windmill to tackle power crisis

At a remote village in Nargund taluka, one man seems to be oblivious of the power shortage that has gripped the state.

Siddappa Hulajogi is working to raise the height of a windmill he installed four years ago in his farm to make it more efficient and productive. The windmill, made of waste materials generates power that operates a borewell in his farm and also lights up the bulbs in the homes of the illiterate farmer and his brother.

“The windmill generates power to light up 10 bulbs of 60 watts and two TV sets in my home and my brother’s,” says Hulajogi, 44, who began thinking of an alternative source of power 15 years ago, after the electricity supply company refused to provide power to the brothers’ homes that were 1.5 km away from the nearby village, Bhairanahatti.

Windmills were set up by some private power producer in hills nearby his farm fired Hulajogi’s imagination.  He purchased three tin sheets and used whatever scrap metal that he could lay his hands on. He cut the tin sheets into blades and using them built a big wheel in which the blades rotated. He used wood and copper wires work to make a spinning propeller for the machine. The propellers connect to two small wheels to increase RPM. Power generated in dynamo mode is stored in a battery box. An inverter is connected to the battery to convert the DC current in to AC for domestic usage.