UNI

Kochi, Oct 5: Power electronics company Hykon India Pvt Ltd has introduced a window collector solar water heater, claimed to be the first in the country.

Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, the company's CMD, Christo George, said the window solar heaters were designed for installation on balconies and windows of flats, apartments and individual villas where conventional roof-top water heaters do not fit in.

The window heaters have capacities ranging from 100 litres per day (LPD) to 200-250 LPD. The prices start at Rs 19,750 for a 100 litre system which would give a price advantage of Rs 6,000 per year in terms of savings on electricity consumption, George said.

As per rules of the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, the solar water heaters were eligible for a soft loan from select nationalized banks at two per cent interest for domestic and five per cent for industrial and institutional installations, he said.

The company was importing all glass-evacuated tubes, the main component of the water heater, from China and assembling the heaters at Thrissur in Kerala.

With a nationwide network of 14 branches and 50 distributors, the company was expecting a 40 per cent growth in this fiscal and a turnover of Rs 156 crore by 2009-10, including Rs 30 crore from solar water heating products alone.