The occasional power supply disruption alerts in newspapers are not a big cause of concern at the Government Teachers’ Training Institute (TTI) at Manacaud now. Just nine out of the 14 kilowatts of electricity generated by the solar panels set up on its roof is enough to meet the needs of the institute - for operating the lights, fans and the air-conditioning systems in the school and the grinders and refrigerator in the kitchen unit.
The solar panels funded by the City Corporation were installed in the school barely four months ago and they have been running in trial phase until being formally inaugurated by Mayor K Chandrika earlier this month.
“Other than for the activities of the school in the morning, the remaining power is stored in the battery and is utilised to light the lamps along the verandah, on the premises and at the occasional camps that are hosted here. An uninterrupted supply for five hours is guaranteed by the battery. The dependence on power supply from the Kerala State Electricity Board has come down tremendously,” said Lissy Kuriakose, principal of the TTI.
Before the solar panels were set up, the electricity bill came to around Rs 13,000, which now stands at around Rs 4,000. The panels were installed with technical support from Keltron.
On the whole, 32 classrooms and 1,052 students are benefited. The facility was installed at a cost of Rs 20 lakh as part of a solar energy project for energy conservation in the school.
“The students had only heard about energy conservation, but by implementing the solar panels in the school, they got to know the application side of it,” said Jyothi Lekshmi, a teacher.
“Even while the nearby areas are hit by power cuts, it is a relief that the school remains unaffected,” said Saritha L, another teacher.