Solar rooftop panels over GHMC buildings yielding positive results

Last year, the civic body has installed solar roof top panels on 34 of its buildings, including its head office, animal care centres and zonal offices

Hyderabad: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) efforts to adopt clean energy practices by setting up solar energy panels on its buildings have started to yield positive results. Last year, the civic body has installed solar roof top panels on 34 of its buildings, including its head office, animal care centres and zonal offices.

According to officials, the municipal corporation installed 941kWp (Kilo Watt Peak) panels on the vacant rooftop spaces available at the identified 34 buildings. For the purpose of taking up the project, it had roped in Telangana State Renewable Energy Development Corporation (TSREDCO) and took help of their expertise.

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The project cost was estimated at Rs 3.5 crore for design, supply, installation and commissioning of 941kWp solar PV grid-connected roof top system. It has been about six months since the project took off and the officials are confident of energy generation of about 15 lakh units a year, resulting in over Rs 1.30 crore savings on the power bills for the municipal corporation.

By now, a few buildings are meeting the power supply demand through the power generated by solar panels and are maintaining zero bill status.

However, a detailed audit will be conducted in a few months to ascertain the exact status of the project, said an official from GHMC.

This is mainly due to the variation in power generation and consumption during different seasons. During rainy and winter seasons, the power generation and consumption is relatively less compared to summer season, the official explained.

“Going by the project outcome till date, the project cost of nearly Rs.3.5 crore will be recovered in a couple of years,” said the official. The maintenance of the equipment will be handled by TSREDCO for five years.

The GHMC had also roped in The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI) as a consultant to conduct feasibility study, besides technical and economic assessment, for taking up the project. As part of the study, TERI was asked to identify the potential areas for setting up rooftop panels.

The municipal corporation has been making endeavours on cutting down its power bills by tapping the solar energy that is abundantly available during most seasons. There are nearly 130 AC units in GHMC head office alone, and on an average, if 90 AC units are used for five hours a day, it leads to 1,350 units consumption, officials estimated.

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