Corporation Plans to Tap Solar Power

When it comes to the issue of electricity, it is always advisable to look for an alternative as the availability and price of this scarce resource has a nature of unpredictability.

Planning for a better future, the City Corporation is mooting a solar streetlight project, so that all streetlights coming under its ambit can be lit by tapping solar energy. It is mooting the project at an estimated cost of Rs 12.204 crore and obtain the approval of the government to include in the JNNURM transition phase.  If all goes according to plan, one of the biggest headaches of paying the electricity bills for the street lamps, now numbering 76646 and which may increase in future, would be a thing of past.

  ‘’The current plan is to pilot the project at first in select locations. Priority would be for tourist spots, areas comprising the heart of the city and coastal areas. We are in the process of drawing a detailed plan for the project,’’ said works standing committee chairman of the corporation V S Padmakumar.

 He said this is an individual project and will not come under the Solar City project,  the master plan preparation of which has hit a roadblock.  In addition, for attaining energy efficiency, the civic body is considering promoting LED lamps for the streetlights.

 Now, fluorescent lamps and sodium vapour lamps comprise a lion’s share of the street lamps. In their place, if LED lamps are used for the streetlights, energy efficiency can be ensured.

 The present method is that the City Corporation pay the power bills based on calculating the number of burning hours. The automatic streetlight control with metering system was expected to cut cost in this regard, but KSEB’s plan to bring out a standardisation throughout the state has been  indefinitely extended.