Telangana: More govt schools to be solar-powered

A total of 5,267 schools, including 4,600 government and local body high schools, 475 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas and 192 Model Schools, will be powered by solar energy

Hyderabad: More government-run schools will soon be free from the burden of electricity bills as the State government is planning to install solar power plants.

A total of 5,267 schools, including 4,600 government and local body high schools, 475 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) and 192 Model Schools, will be powered by solar energy.

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A 5-kilowatt capacity solar power plant is being planned in each of the select government and local body high schools, while a 10-kilowatt capacity plant in the KGBVs and Model Schools as they are residential schools with higher electricity consumption.

For this, the School Education department has prepared a detailed project report at an estimated cost of Rs 80,000 per kilowatt. The initiative is expected to cost Rs 283 crore and it is likely to be executed by the Telangana State Renewable Energy Development Corporation.

The government has already solar-powered 1,521 government and local body schools in 12 districts as part of the ‘Mana Ooru – Mana Badi / Mana Basti Mana Badi’ programme. These 2-kilowatt solar plants established at the cost of Rs 32 crore are currently generating 3,072 KW of power. Now, the capacity of over 1,200 of these solar plants will be enhanced to 5 kilowatts.

The government schools, as part of the Mana Ooru – Mana Badi programme, have been revamped and were provided with necessary infrastructure including computer labs, libraries and science labs along with electronic appliances including digital interactive flat panels.

This has resulted in an increase in electricity consumption leading to high power bills. In this context, the government has decided to free schools from the burden of electricity bills. In addition, the excess solar power generated during the holidays will be directly transferred to the grid and schools will be paid money depending on the units transferred.