Go Green, Go Clean' is the surely need of the hour. Understanding this, National Institute of Technology Rourkela (NITR) has taken a step towards becoming a green campus by installing a 1,020 kWp, rooftop, solar power plant was inaugurated on June 24, 2019. It was inaugurated by the CEO of Rourkela Steel Plant, Dipak Chattaraj, in the presence of Animesh Biswas, Director, NITR and other dignitaries. Professor Bidyadhar Subudhi, the Chairman of Solar Photovoltaic Power Generation Committee informs that a few years ago, the Government of India had intended to start a Centre of Excellence of Renewable Energy at NITR for the purpose of conducting research on renewable energy, wind energy consumption system, solar power and more. "The installation of solar panels is a motivation in this area," says Prof Subudhi, who has been with the institution for over 13 years now.
Currently, the institute pays `6 per unit and the reduction in the electricity bill comes up to `62 lakh per annum. With the installation of the panels, they will soon pay Azure Power, who installed the power panels, `3.62 per unit. They have also signed a 25-year agreement with them for the installation. "This ensures effective usage of our rooftop space, thus doing away with generators, which also adds to noise pollution, and making the most of renewable resources," says the professor. The grid-connected solar system extends across the rooftop of the old Mechanical department, lecture assembly, TIIR building, the institute's main building, Ceramic department, the new Mechanical Science facility, Computer Science department and more.
Their current focus, the professor informs, is on the project sanctioned by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India and the British Council, where they are trying to develop efficient charging stations for e-vehicles in collaboration with a university in the UK.
You can get it too
There are different subsidies that the government offers to install rooftop PV systems. This is how you too can avail this subsidy:
- Contact your electricity provider
- Officials will visit the installation site for inspection. They will assess it and give their approval
- After installation, call your electricity provider again
- After their inspection, they will give their approval for availing the subsidy
- You can also find out about the tariff details of generating excessive units that can be sold to the government
For more on them, check out nitrkl.ac.in
