In a bid to reduce the consumption of electricity produced by coal and promote green energy, the Bihar Renewable Energy Development Authority (BREDA) has geared up to install rooftop solar panels at around 1,300 government buildings, including offices, hospitals, schools and other buildings, in the state capital. In the first phase, school and hospital buildings will be covered on priority basis.
These selected buildings have been divided into two categories as per the consumption. Out of the 1,300 buildings, rooftop solar panels above 40 Kilowatt (kW) load will be installed at 300 buildings.
At the same time, solar panels of less than 40 kW will be installed at 1,000 buildings. The BREDA has set a target of three months to complete the installation process.
According to a BREDA official, who does not wish to be quoted, a target has been set to generate 65 Megawatt (MW) of electricity by equipping 1300 buildings in Patna with solar panels.
“In the first phase, solar panels will be installed at hospitals and schools on priority basis as per the power consumption. Minimum 2kW panels will be installed at these buildings and connected to the electricity grid. The power generated from these panels will go to the grid and the institution will get the electricity from the grid,” he said.
“Suppose, a government establishment running in a building has a power consumption of 1500 units, then the solar panel installed in the building will produce around 500 units of energy which will be transferred to the power grid. The organisation in return has to pay for only 1000 units out of the 1500 units being supplied from the power grid,” he said.
Sources said the works of installation of solar panels would be further expanded in other cities after Patna in a phased manner. It will also be started in cities like Muzaffarpur, Bhagalpur, Gaya and Darbhanga in the next phase.
