Rooftop solar power from corpn buildings a non-starter

Trichy: The rooftop solar power generation project, which was proposed along with the solar power plant, is yet to take a shape. The proposal, under the Smart Cities Mission, is aimed at generating solar power atop the 206 buildings of Trichy City Corporation to attain self-sufficiency in electricity, thereby saving money spent on power bills.

At an estimated cost of Rs 6.44 crore in October 2018, the corporation proposed to set up solar panels atop the buildings of the civic body to harness solar energy. Estimated to generate 831 kWp (peak power produced by the solar panels), the corporation said that solar power plants of varying capacities based on the space in the buildings will be set up. Though a tender was floated much earlier than the announcement of Lok Sabha election in early March 2019, it is learnt the civic body has not yet identified a contractor to carry forward the proposal. “The tender we floated is under process to identify a contractor. The project will be implemented soon,” an official source with the corporation said. Sources said that election duties in the past three months have delayed the progress.

The initiative is anticipated to generate 18.79 lakh units (KWh) of electricity per year, slightly higher than the combined electricity consumption of all the buildings that stand at 17.15 lakh units. This will help the civic body save Rs 1.35 crore a year.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes