Berhampur University (BU) has announced that it will be installing rooftop solar plants with 95-Kilowatt (kw) capacity in four more new buildings on its campus, revealed a university official. This initiative is part of a green drive of the university, which is located in the district of Ganjam in Odisha, reports PTI.
The administration will set up these solar plants in the two newly constructed hostels for girls, the new boys’ hostel and the residential quarters of the vice-chancellor, the official revealed on Thursday, December 27.
An on-grid 30-kw rooftop solar plant worth Rs 17 lakh was already installed by the university at its Central Instrumentation Center (CIC).
"We have already placed an order for the installation of solar plants of the state-government-owned Odisha Renewable Energy Development Agency (OREDA) in the hostel buildings, last week," said Geetanjali Dash, Vice-Chancellor of the university.
According to Sachidanand Nayak, Registrar, the university has sanctioned Rs 58.82 crore to OREDA for the purpose.
"We will seek funds from the government for installation of more on-grid roof-top solar plants in some other new buildings," the VC said.
The main objective of these power plants is to drastically reduce energy consumption on campus and to gradually increase the use of solar energy on the campus in its green campus drive.
Currently, the university is spending an average of Rs 10 lakh per month towards the energy charge, she said.
She also added that students are facing power cuts very frequently in the absence of a separate power supply transformer for the university.
Moreover, as the institute is located near the Bay of Bengal in the coastal Ganjam district, the power systems of the university faced threats due to cyclones.
Officials say that it took over a month to restore the university's power supply when it was disrupted by the Supercyclone Phailin, which hit close to the university in October 2013.
They claim that the proposed rooftop solar plants will be cyclone-proof and will operate in the event of a natural disaster.
The project will not only make the university energy-independent, but it will also increase students' understanding of the usage of renewable energy, says the project's coordinator, Laxmidhar Rout.
