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| Sunday, 26 October 2003 |
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Business |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Pusantha Pinto : Lighting up lives by Pelham Juriansz
Providing electricity to the nation in the form of 'solar power' is 36-year old former planter, Susantha Pinto. He is the Director Operations of Solar Electric Light Company (SELCO), California, USA, and Managing Director and CEO of SELCO Solar Lanka Ltd, which has its head office at Nugegoda. Pinto is also the General Manager of SELCO Vietnam and a Board member of SELCO Bangalore and Vietnam. His chief concern is to provide low cost electricity for the consumer through solar power. The solar power business was started in 1992 by the American Neville Williams. Now it has caught on in the market and more and more people are seeing the need for it. Pinto, who received his formal education at St. Anthony's College, Katugastota, has had a varied career. Career "After leaving school in 1986, I started working for Balangoda state plantations and started my planting career there under the late Ranjan Wijeratne and Hiran de Alwis in the State plantations. I was on an estate called 'Depede' in Rakwana. Thereafter, I worked in Ratnapura in the same capacity and then I got a lucky break in 1992 and was appointed as the youngest superintendent in the country at the age of 23. Some of the tea estates I managed in Ratnapura were 'Endeene' and 'Heenpe'. "I was attached to Kahawatte Plantations for four years and improved a number of plantations I worked on during this time. I was the President of the Rakwana Planters Club and Chairman of the Planters Association and a Pelmadulla and Ratnapura Lion as well. As a Lion, I was involved in numerous social activities. I am also a member of Community Development Services, an NGO initiated in rural areas for the prevention of AIDS. We work around the country," commented Pinto. "SELCO, the company that I work for now, was earlier called RESCO (Renewable Energy Services Company) and was basically involved in supplying energy for electrification to the rural sector. I joined the company as Chief Executive in October 1, 2000. Because of my performance here, I completely changed my idea of continuing in the field of planting to managing this company. Within a short span of three years, our sales increased by 945 per cent. I have now completed three years at SELCO." Sales figures "We sell about 400 units per month in the Rs 35,000 to Rs 40,000 range. The equipment is sold according to the watt price. We have around eight competitors at the moment and we hold the second position in the market," Pinto said. Offices "We operate from nine branches. Our head office is in Nugegoda while we have branches in Hingurakgoda, Mahiyangana, Ratnapura, Galgamuwa, Medewachchiya, Neluwa (Galle), Ambalantota, Karuwalagaswewa (Puttalam) and Kilinochchi. The last two are sub-stations. We are planning to elevate the sub-station at Kilinochchi to branch status and expand operations to Batticaloa in the near future," he added. "We have 189 staffers manning these centres with 22 working in our head office in Colombo." Leasing facilities "The company provides finances for leasing the solar power equipment from Ceylinco Leasing. The system is faster than a person obtaining a loan in the USA," Pinto said. Installation "We also undertake the installation of the solar power panel. All the lighting, ironing and even urban air-conditioning can be operated on this system. We have a 25-year warranty on the panel and a one-year warranty on the light, battery and controller. The system comes in eight varieties and could be fitted very easily in two days. The system can provide seven hours of clear electricity even with the use of a black and white television set. A colour TV could be used with the help of an invertor. We have 26 vehicles that are used to transport this equipment, which enables us to conduct door-to-door sales at a number of villages. "One drawback however is that we cannot, at the moment, use this system to heat water," he said. The company recently received the ISO 9000/2000 certification. Future Plans "We hope to diversify and explore the possibilities of using bio-gas." Family His wife, Neelani, who was earlier an Assistant Manager at a company, is now a housewife. He has two children, Nimesh and Santhush. |
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