All buildings in Patna University will get solar panels: VC

PATNA: With a view to minimizing the use of conventional sources of energy, Patna University (PU) will soon install solar panels on the rooftops of all the buildings on its campus. This was announced by vice-chancellor (VC) Rash Bihari Prasad Singh while initiating a discussion on the ‘Utility of Solar Energy’ organized as part of ‘Jal-Jivan-Hariyali Diwas’ celebrations at the Wheeler Senate House on Tuesday.

The state education department has issued a directive to all the universities and colleges to observe the first Tuesday of every month as ‘Jal-Jivan-Hariyali Diwas’. Hence, various programmes were conducted at the university level and in different colleges on the theme of energy conservation.

The VC pointed out that the university had also started constructing rainwater harvesting structures at different places on the campus. “PU students are being made aware of the steps aimed at conserving energy and groundwater level,” he said.

Bihar Renewable Energy Development Agency (BREDA) project officer Surendra Kumar claimed that a solar panel of 236kW had already been installed in PU and more such installations were in the pipeline. Using a PowerPoint presentation, he gave valuable tips on conservation of energy and advantages of the use of solar power.

PU National Service Scheme (NSS) programme coordinator Atul Aditya Pandey pointed out that all the NSS camps organized in different colleges were now based on the theme of ‘Jal-Jivan-Hariyali’. “Young volunteers are being told about ecological balance and environmental conservation,” he added.

PU has decided to organize a poster competition-cum-exhibition for students at the Wheeler Senate House on April 7. A daylong seminar will also be conducted on the first Tuesday of May. The university has already constituted a committee for executing these programmes. Proctor Rajneesh Kumar has been made the professor-in-charge and two teachers — Bhavuk Sharma of geology department and Manoj Prabhakar of economics department — will assist him.