The Times of India 01.02.2011
PCMC school runs comps on solar power
PUNE: A primary school run by the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) in Talawade has become the first civic school in the township to use solar power to run its computers.
Vishnu Jadhav, education officer, secondary education, said, “The
school (number 98), which is one of the best municipal schools in Pimpri
Chinchwad, currently runs five out of its 14 computers on solar power.”
The school’s principal, Adinath Shewale,
said, “Solar panels have been installed on the terrace of the building.
The 4.5 to 5 KV power supply generated is sufficient to run the
computers for six hours a day. Steria India Private Limited has sponsored the setting up of the panels as well as the computers.”
Shewale said the school wanted to inculcate the message of environment
conservation among its students. “We undertook the project in September
2010 to use non-conventional energy to partially meet our energy needs.
The school intends to eventually run all the 14 computers in the school
computer laboratory on solar power.”
Steria’s corporate social
responsibility head Chaitrali Inamdar said, “We spent Rs 4.5 lakh on
installing the computers and the panels. We want to provide five more
computers, which will also run on solar energy.”
The students
are taught to use computers from Standard III onwards, so that they can
appear for the MSCIT examinations, conducted by Jnana Prabodhini, in
Standard VII.
“There are 12 rooms in the three-storied school
building, out of which seven are used as classrooms. The rest of the
rooms have been used to create a library, computer laboratory, science
laboratory and activity room for children,” said Shewale, adding that
since the PCMC school board pays the electricity bill directly, the
school authorities have not been able to calculate the energy being
saved through this effort.