Rooftop solar panels for Govt schools to be delayed
In a move to make government schools smarter and reduce power consumption and electricity cost, the State government has planned to set up solar energy projects in around 1,521 schools.
Hyderabad: The installation of rooftop solar panels on government school buildings is likely to get further delayed.
In 2022, the State government had announced plans to install rooftop solar panels over 1,521 school buildings in 12 districts under the ‘Mana Ooru-Mana Badi’ programme. So far, solar panels have been installed on over 500 school buildings and the rest are likely to take a few more months.
In fact, about 500 schools were supposed to get access to solar energy by March 2023, but due to various reasons it got delayed. According to Telangana State Renewable Energy Development Corporation (TSREDCO) Vice-Chairman and Managing Director N Janaiah, the installation of rooftop solar panels was delayed mainly due to election model code of conduct. Last year due to assembly polls, the installation work got delayed and this year due to Lok Sabha elections, the work had to be stopped, he said.
“Since the last two months, the project work has been stopped due to MCC. Once the election results are announced on June 4, we will resume the work and try to finish it at the earliest,”he said.
In a move to make government schools smarter and reduce power consumption and electricity cost, the State government has planned to set up solar energy projects in around 1,521 schools. The School Education department sanctioned installation of grid solar electrical power connections in Zilla Parishad High Schools (ZPHS), Mandal Parishad Primary Schools (MPPS), Telangana State Model Schools (TSMS) and Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs).
The expenditure of Rs. 289.25 crore will be met from the funds under the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) . The premises of the government schools will be transformed with 2 KW, 5 KW and 10 KW solar power generating panels. On the basis of the enrollment, the Model Schools and KGBVs will get 10 KW solar power units, while the ZPHS and MPPS will get 2 KW or 5 KW solar power generating panels, officials stated.
It was planned that excess solar energy generated by schools could be transferred back to the grid via net metering, thereby enabling the schools to earn revenue and plough back such revenue for effective schooling, Janaiah said. “Installing solar panels enables schools to run on eco-friendly energy while also reducing electricity bills of schools. Solar energy is stable and comparatively economical as compared to other sources of energy,” he added.
Educational institutions with an enrollment of over 200 have been selected for the project. Out of the 1,521 institutions on the list, about 916 are under the Southern Power Distribution Company Limited, and 605 are under the Northern Power Distribution Company Limited.
According to power officials, the solar panels coming up in 1,521 schools at the cost of Rs. 32 crore in 12 districts was likely to generate a total of 3,072 KW of power. Among the districts, Mahabubnagar has the highest number of schools at 283 that will be electrified using solar power, followed by 145 schools in Nizamabad and 141 in Ranga Reddy district..
