Chandigarh to turn into a solar city

With a view to turn Chandigarh into a solar city, the UT administration has now decided to set up a solar cell that will offer consultancy to departments to add features that will help tap solar energy in the upcoming buildings. This cell has been created for development of renewable energy and energy conservation programs. The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) has drafted an action plan for transforming Chandigarh into a solar city. The project is said to be funded by the Government of India (GoI). It will also receive a similar grant from the administration or Chandigarh municipal corporation. The report submitted by TERI points out energy efficiency measures of upto 20 percent for residential as well as commercial sectors.

Solar city...(Image Credit: Getty Images)

With the success of this project, Chandigarh will derive considerable amount of energy through renewable resources and also implement other energy efficient measures. The report also recommends setting up a grid-based 25 Mega Watts solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in segment model and put up panels in 12 gardens in the city. So, the solar energy will be generated by setting up panels in the gardens and then uploading power to the main grid.

Reportedly, Chandigarh has an increased consumption of electricity and solar-based electricity can then be put in place. Reportedly, there’s well-knit set up of wires across the city and does not require parallel network for solar energy. Street lights, indoor lights or portable lighting systems called solar lanterns will be put up across the city as a renewable and pollution free resource, under the solar photovoltaic energy program. Solar photovoltaic technology helps convert solar energy into electricity and the installation is said to be less time consuming. As per reports, a government agency based in Chennai plans to set up a solar atlas of India that would help speedy development of solar power projects.