Wednesday, August 27, 2014: A pilot project is being planned which will cover 16 government bungalows and flats to be electrified by solar energy. Individual solar panel units will be set up by the PWD at each quarter and now residents will be able to use solar power in the daytime.
A senior official from PWD said, “The work has been tendered out. Thirteen bungalows in Chanakyapuri and three flats on Tilak Marg have been identified for the project. Work is on to identify more buildings, schools and hospitals for installing solar panels. The power department is also trying to work out tariff so that if extra generation can be fed into the grid and consumers can benefit from the power purchase by the discom.” Presently the project covers bungalows no 1,2, 5-15 at Chanakyapuri and government officers flats at 14/2, 4/3 and 14/4 Tilak Marg.
The official added, “For bungalow no 1 and 5-15, a unit of 6 kilowatt peak (kWp) has been planned. Bungalow no 2 will have a 3.75 kWp unit while the three flats at Tilak Marg will get a 5 kWp unit each. These will not produce sufficient power to meet the entire demand of these residential quarters and will have to be supplemented with power from NDMC. The electrical power that will be generated from the solar panels will be uitilised by consumers during day time.” He also said that there is minimum chance that consumption will be less than generation and if that happens, excess power will be supplied to the grid of the power supply company. But it would not benefit the consumers.
The official said more, “Presently, there is no power purchase agreement with discoms for transfer of such a small load. Hence, extra power will be passed onto the discom without any financial benefit to the consumer.” The project will cost a total of Rs 54.39 lakh, including five years’ maintenance.
