Here comes the sun

It is an ambitious plan. Setting up a Solar Photovoltaic System SPS of 55 KW capacity that would ensure street-lights in all the 14 vil...

It is an ambitious plan. Setting up a Solar Photovoltaic System SPS of 55 KW capacity that would ensure street-lights in all the 14 villages falling under the Anandpur Sahib Development plans and light up the three historic gurdwaras in the city and the roads leading to Anandpur Sahib. It would also heat up water in homes.

As part of the celebrations for the Khalsa tercentenary year, the Punjab government is planning to turn Anandpur Sahib into the 8220;first solar city8221; of the country. And with the Centre agreeing to shell out Rs 2 crore for the installation of the system last week, decks are clear for the ambitious project, which aims at saving up to 50 KW of power consumption per week.That8217;s not all. As part of the project, the Punjab government plans to hold langars community kitchens at Gurdwara Kesgarh Sahib, Quila Anandgarh Sahib and Kiratpur Sahib.

A comprehensive proposal submitted by the Punjab Government to the Centre in March last year had identified the villages and the three gurdwaras thatwould be brought under the SPS. The Punjab Energy Development Authority PEDA also decided to install solar sign boards, with a load capacity of 10 W each, along the Anandpur Sahib-Kiratpur highway, which is now being widened under the four-lane scheme.

Officials associated with the project claim the proposal, once implemented, would be the first of its kind in the country. Tenders will be invited shortly to procure equipment while a five-year contract has already been signed with Air Commodore Nagendra Singh, who is advisor to the Centre on non-conventional energy, for the project.

PEDA Chief Executive Jagjit Puri points out that 25 to 30 million people are expected to visit Anandpur Sahib in connection with the tercentenary celebrations of the birth of the Khalsa and that 8220;the installation and display of a working solar system would create mass awareness on a large scale8221;.

He claimed that the project would be complete in all respects by March 1999, adding: 8220;The tendering process has begun andapplications shall be shortly invited.8221;

The PEDA proposal states that the total SPV solar photovoltaic plant capacity for street-lighting in the 14 villages would be 39 KW. Likewise, the three gurdwaras would have SPV plants with a capacity of 5 KW each.Experts, however, are apprehensive about the success of the massive project during adverse weather conditions. Another limitation is technical, the inability to run fog lights on solar energy. Besides, though Puri is confident that the project would be a major achievement and help save 50-KW power in the city every week, experts in non-conventional energy doubt its cost-effectiveness.

Story continues below this ad

Director, Energy Research Centre, at Punjab University S.K. Sharma points out that the installation cost of a solar power pole is higher than its counterpart carrying normal electricity. Such a project, he adds, actually suits an area deprived of electricity or an inaccessible area and installing it with such big investments in Anandpur would be 8220;sheer wastage8221;.Sharmaalso notes that there are numerous villages in the Kandi belt in Gurdaspur, Hoshi-arpur and Ropar districts of Punjab which are crying for electricity. 8220;Installation of solar systems in power-infested areas is a liability,8221; he asserts.

Sharma even challenges the PEDA claim that the project would be the first of its kind in the country. 8220;There is no dearth of villages and townships in the regions which have witnessed similar demonstration programmes,8221; he claims.

While the installation cost of a power pole with mercury fittings is not more than Rs 10,000, a solar power pole could cost as much as Rs 20,000 to install. The PEDA proposal puts the approximate cost of the street-lighting project at Rs 208 lakh and of lighting the boundary areas of the three gurdwaras at Rs 80 lakh. The total cost of the project is expected to be a little less than Rs 3.5 crore.