Guwahati: Assam's Tezpur University on Thursday said it is generating an average of nearly 90,000 kilowatt of electricity every month through solar power, thereby forwarding the argument for newer and more unconventional sources of power.
As per reports, the central university has so far generated 19,68,345 kW of energy from October 2018 to July 2020 by installing solar panels on the roofs of as many as 15 buildings within the Tezpur University campus.
The Tezpur University in a statement said that the maximum generation in one day is 5,938 kW and the average daily generation during this period is 2,949 kW.
According to the Tezpur University's statement, the highest amount of electricity in a single month was generated in August 2019 (1,12,149 kW).
According to the university's estimates, 1,614 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emission due to solar power generation has been cut down during this period.
The Tezpur University has installed 1,000-kilowatt peak (kWp) rooftop grid connected solar power plant by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) under RESCO (Renewable Energy Service Company) mode.
According to the Department of Energy Associate Professor Sadhan Mahapatra, the university purchases electricity from Assam Power Distribution Company Ltd at the rate of Rs 6.60 per kW, whereas the solar power plant generated electricity cost is Rs 2.42 per kW.
The University in its statement that it has been able to effectively replace 24 percent of its monthly electricity consumption from the conventional model.
According to the Tezpur University Registrar Biren Das, Tezpur University is the first academic institution in the entire Northeast Indian region to initiate the installation of megawatt-scale rooftop grid-connected solar photovoltaic power plants.