BENGALURU: The State Government has given a big push for solar energy adoption in the state by installing solar panels inside the premises of Vidhana Soudha and Vikas Soudha. Due to space constraints and its heritage status, Vidhana Soudha has not installed solar panels on the rooftop. Instead, solar panels have been set up outside the main building, in the parking lot. The project is being executed under a Private Public Partnership with SELCO Foundation, which works for sustainable energy.
“At present, they are installing solar panels at various places in Vidhana Soudha and Vikasa Soudha premises without distracting the heritage structure. This can generate around 300 KW of power which is only 12 per cent of the requirement of these buildings. Though the structure of the building is large, we cannot install panels.
Around Rs 12 lakh to Rs 15 lakhs per month is the power bill from these two mega building that houses close to 1,000 rooms. With just 300 KW of solar panel installation, we will be able to save around Rs 20 lakh per year. We will start getting returns in a couple of years,” said an official. The project aims to encourage similar adoption in government buildings across the state, including panchayat office buildings.
Speaker UT Khader said that reducing the burden on electricity would be beneficial. “The government keeps issuing orders on solar energy adoption. But if the very place where those orders are made does not adopt it, it may not look good. This is a step forward in embracing sustainable energy,” he said. He added that a proposal is being prepared to install solar panels across all Legislative Houses.