1 MW of solar plant at Karnataka’s NIT to get commissioned

The National Institute of Technology – Karnataka (NIT-K) at Surathkal has emerged the front-runner among 31 NITs in the country to have a roof-top solar-power project with an installed capacity of 1 MW.

The 1-MW of solar project on the roof of 11 buildings will be formally commissioned on 12^th November 2016.

K.N. Lokesh, Director (in-charge), NIT-K mentioned that the Clean Max Enviro Energy Solutions Pvt. Ltd. has installed the solar power generating units under an agreement with the institute. The institute will purchase the power from the units “on a levellised tariff for 25 years” which is less than the present grid tariff. The institute will pay Rs. 5.95 per unit to the Clean Max Enviro Energy for 25 years. The company itself will be responsible for operations & maintenance of the solar unit.

With 1.25 lakh units of solar power per month the institute would get 15 lakh units per annum from the solar plant. Currently, the institute requires five lakh units of grid power.

The NIT-K paid Rs. 40 per month for drawing electricity from the grid. By drawing solar energy the institute’s power bill is expected to come down by Rs. 5 lakh per month and the NIT-K is expected to save about Rs. 60 lakh in terms of power bill per annum. Mr. Lokesh stated that the solar units would be installed in the remaining buildings in a phased manner.

The Director (in-charge) mentioned that of the total 13574 sq. mts. roof area of 11 buildings, the solar modules have been installed covering 9678 sq. mts. The project has cost Rs. 6 crore. There are other NITs in the country which have installed roof top solar units. But they are of less than 1 MW capacity.

Source: Hindu