Borjhar, June 22: Imagine harnessing sunshine to reduce wastage and saving money in the process! An innovator from Kamrup district has done just that.

Nripen Kalita, who hails from Jiakur, has invented a portable solar-powered eri silk spinning machine that reduces wastage of thread by half, has greater output than a conventional device, and saves power.

It has taken Kalita six years to make the device. "So far, I have made 30 machines and they will be out in the market once I get the patent from the authorities concerned," Kalita added.

Rise in the cost of yarn, increased cost of production and low-profit margins have not helped the cause of eri weavers of the state. Jiakur is home to eri-based products, but the number of people associated with the trade has dwindled over the years.

"The untold plight of the weavers is what motivated me to come up with a device that could help their cause. Solely dependent on eri spinning for a hand-to-mouth existence, they were losing interest in the culture, as it was no longer a paying option," Kalita, who is an electrical mechanic, said.

The inventor claimed that the quality of output from the solar device would be better than that of a traditional machine. "There will also be less wastage during spinning compared to the traditional method," he said.

Rural women spin eri on hand-operated devices known as takura. If 250grams of eri is spun on the conventional device, nearly 50grams is wasted.

However, if that much quantity is spun on the solar device, only 25 grams are wasted, Kalita said.

From cocoon boiling, de-gumming, opening, stripping and spinning, the conventional process is time consuming.

"The invention is certainly good news as wastage will be minimised by 50 per cent and it's easier to spin the thread," Manju Kalita, an eri weaver from south Kamrup, said. Another weaver, Anu Dihingia of Dhemaji, extolled the virtues of the device. "It has viability and needs little space to operate," she beamed.

Spinning a kilogram of eri on a traditional spinning machine takes a month, against just a week on the solar machine.

"Also, the revolution per minute (RPM) can be controlled by a regulator. Most importantly, power consumption is only 5watt per spindle. There is no need for a domestic power line to operate the device. It is solar powered and will be of great help to weavers in remote areas where electricity is still a distant dream," the inventor added.

Kalita said he would open a manufacturing unit by September.

"The ministry of micro, small and medium enterprises will fund the unit. Once the patent is received, the solar machines will be launched through a non-profit organisation, which I set up in 2012," he said.

In 2005, the National Innovation Foundation had honoured Kalita for inventing another device, a zero headwater turbine, which generates electric current from flowing water and pumps water for irrigation.