SOLAR photovoltaic rooftops to generate power in 120 police stations

Chandigarh, March 1, 2013: The Punjab Government has initiated an ambitious program to install rooftop photovoltaic solar systems in 120 police stations in the state for power generation.  

Bikram Singh Majithia, Non Conventional Energy Minister, today said that Punjab Energy Development Authority would soon embark on a major programme for these installations in order to increase usage and popularise Solar PV technology for power generation. He said that these solar PV systems would be installed in all 120 police stations in the state and each system would generate 2.5 KW power for powering lighting and computer loads in the police stations. He said that the total cost of this project was Rs 6.6 crore.

Reiterating the resolve of Punjab Government to install Solar Power Systems on all government buildings by the end of 2017, Majithia said that the power generated through these rooftop systems would replace conventional energy and also provide backup power during grid shut downs. He said that PEDA was already promoting the installation of rooftop PV Power Plants in which capital subsidy was being provided as per the guidelines of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy guidelines, GOI. He said that these projects would also reduce generation cost, which was in the range of Rs. 6-7/Kilowatt hour in the long term and which was also almost comparable to the tariff being charged by the PSPCL from its consumers.

Divulging the details of rooftop solar power systems, Majithia said that PEDA has also carried out a detailed rooftop survey of major Government Buildings in the State and estimated potential was 40 MW. He said that solar power generated from the rooftops would also replace conventional power and provide backup power to buildings during grid outage including surplus power being exported to the PSPCL grid.