By the end of the year, all government buildings will have solar power

The UT Administration has scheduled rooftop solar power plants on all government buildings by 2024 and on all private buildings by 2026 in order to make the UT a model solar city by 2030.

As of December 2024, the Administration has installed 61.82 MWp of grid-connected rooftop solar power plants on 4,633 government and commercial sites in the city, falling short of the ambitious goal of 75 MWp (Megawatt peak) of solar power in UT. Up till January 2024, this has contributed to the production of 250.45 million units (MU) and the decrease of 1,72,811 MT CO2.

At a media briefing here, UT Administrator Banwarilal Purohit said, “Paryavaran Bhawan, Burail Jail complex, and all government schools are net zero in terms of fulfilment of their energy requirement through solar power.” The first five-star building in the city according to the Bureau of Energy Efficiency Standards is Paryavaran Bhawan.

By the end of 2024, Purohit predicted that all government buildings will have 100% solar photovoltaic technology (SPV) power plants installed.

President Droupadi Murmu awarded the city with the First Prize in the State Energy Efficiency Performance Award 2023 (Group-4) on December 14, 2023, in New Delhi.

At Waterworks, Sector 39, Chandigarh, the biggest floating solar photovoltaic technology (SPV) power plant in North India, with a capacity of 2000 kWp, has been erected and put into service.

He said that the Burail prison and all government schools are carbon neutral.

According to him, the installation of 80 electric buses has reduced CO2 emissions by 5300 MT as of February 29, 2024. He also said that the introduction of 100 further electric buses is scheduled to occur soon.

In keeping with the Renewable Energy Services Company (RESCO) model, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has made the decision to create new regulations for the development of rooftop solar power plants.

In the meanwhile, the UT Department of Science and Technology has set a two-year deadline for installing 50 MWp grid-connected rooftop solar systems at private homes around the city using the build-operate-transfer (BOT) approach under the RESCO model.

The Chandigarh Renewable Energy Science and Technology Promotion Society (CREST) received approval from the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) in January of last year to install grid-connected rooftop solar plants for residential consumers in the city by a third party under the RESCO BOT model.

The company chosen during the BOT phase will sell the power produced by these plants to recoup the cost of installation. Over 1,200 applications for plant installation have been received by CREST. During the BOT era, homeowners would get power at a fixed cost of Rs 3.23 per unit under the RESCO model.

Ownership of the solar facility will be transferred to the customer at no extra cost when the BOT term ends. The home owner will need to offer around 500 square feet of area for a 5kWp solar plant under the new model.