IIT Kharagpur Goes Green with Solar Panels
IIT Kharagpur of West Bengal, one of the most premiere technology institute in India has decided to go "Green". The institute is installing
IIT Kharagpur of West Bengal, one of the most premiere technology institute in India has decided to go "Green". The institute is installing all sorts of solar equipments so they can be successful in their mission. Institute is ambitious embarked and plans to reduce their monthly electricity bill by 10 to 15 per cent as they are switching to solar power.
"The installation of this plant will help reduce our monthly energy bill by almost 10 -15 per cent. It will reduce the cost and the power we save can be supplied to places where there is a shortage," explains Prabodh Bajpai, Associate Professor at the Department of Electrical Engineering & School of Energy Sciences.
The work of installing 1 Mega Watt solar plant is already under construction in the campus of IIT Kharagpur. Solar panels are being installed on the rooftops across nine prominent buildings.
This is all happening because the Ministry of Human Resource & Development (MHRD) has requested all government academic institutions to use solar power to conserve energy and to help this world cope with changes that are taking place, this might help reduce global warming.
According to the experts all this will help reduce the weight on the state power grid and also ensure self reliability of the academic institution in the long run.
A 100 KW plant is already in function in one of the buildings that was commissioned in November 2014 so, this project not new t IIT Kharagpur.
The plant which was installed in November 2014 has been working successfully for two years. And now, the campus of this premier institute is all set for the launch of another solar project and it is coming up with a 30 percent subsidy that the government is providing. The institute hopes to commission the 100 KW plant in the next two months.
In a move to enhance utilization of solar energy for sustainable use, the energy conservation department of the institute has also initiated a research in this subject to analyze the performance of the solar plants. But even though the cost of solar plants have come down in the past few years, experts believe an effective use of the natural energy for long term use needs some more brain storming.
"We are using the research to improvise upon the technology so that we can work out ways improve the efficiency of the solar plants, because that is still less." concludes Bajpai.