Chandigarh: 300 govt houses to get solar panels in Crest’s Rs 15cr project

Chandigarh: Making way for more solar power generation in the city, Chandigarh Renewal Energy and Science and Technology Promotion Society (Crest), under the aegis of the environment department of Chandigarh administration, will install rooftop solar panels in 300 government residences of different categories. Under the project, which is estimated to cost Rs 15 crore, government schools were left with some room for more solar panels on their roofs in the previous drive will also be covered in this installation exercise.
Since the work has started in some areas, its expected completion by March 31 will add 2.5 megawatts to the current solar energy production in the city. Crest recently got the approval for the financing of the project by the engineering department of the Chandigarh administration.
Since there are different categories of as per size, the authority has decided to install solar panels of two, three and five kilowatts at the government residences, while for schools, the panels will be set up as per the availability of space. “As houses have limited space, we will keep the area available in the mind and accordingly select the panel size before installation. Feasibility of setting up the panels will also be taken into account,” a source said.
When asked about the project, environment director and Crest CEO Debendra Dalai said, “The order of approximately Rs15 crore have been placed for the installation of solar panels in around 300 government houses of different categories and on the remaining area of school rooftops. We have set March 31 as the deadline for completion of the project.”
As per information, the department has installed solar panels at all the police stations of Chandigarh and the department will soon make
them operational.
The UT administration has set a target of 69 megawatts by March 2022. As per sources, as nearly two years remain to achieve the said goal, Crest has resolved to generate at least 50 megawatts by March 2021.

source- The Economic Times