To reduce power consumption, KMC set to light up parks with solar energy

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has taken up an elaborate plan to illuminate 16 major parks in the city with solar lights. The Parks and Square department of the KMC will install solar panels to tap solar energy to illuminate these parks.

With electricity bills shooting up, the KMC has stressed on the usage of renewable energy. The state government has already sanctioned Rs 52 crore for the project. According to a senior official of the KMC, the solar plants will be set up at Desbandhu Park, Santosh Mitra Square, College Square, Md Ali Park, Maddox square, Subhas Sarobar Park and many others in the first phase and the construction work will soon start.

A solar power plant has already been installed at Deshapriya Park. It has reduced the expenses by a huge margin. After monitoring the system, the KMC authorities noticed a drastic 80 percent fall in electricity bill at Deshapriya Park. Around Rs 36,000 per month is being saved now at Deshapriya Park. As the initiative turned immensely fruitful, the KMC has taken the decision to light up 16 other parks. Earlier there were battery-operated solar lights.

It is for the first time in the country that the street lighting system is being supplied power through solar panels having not batteries. It was known that the solar panels will have micro-inverters fixed to convert solar energy. The KMC’s Electricity department has been entrusted with surveying the selected parks and it will submit a report after carrying out a detailed study on the basis of which the construction work will begin.

Source:millenniumpost