Amritsar: Commercial establishments switching to solar power from conventional energy

Neeraj Bagga

Amritsar, July 14

With a view to bring down expenses on electricity tariff, solar power is gradually replacing the conventional source of energy in commercial establishments which figure among power guzzling entities.

Commenced in 2015 with insignificant production of some Kilowatt (kW), Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) now has over 1,200 grid rooftop solar (RTS) connections with 43 MW load. Out of these, two mega solar plants are at Dera Radha Soami Satsang Beas with a combined capacity of about 2 MW.

Both the union and the state governments have been promoting the transition from conventional to solar power as it is environment friendly, besides aiming to cut down the reliance on pricey conventional electricity.

There is no denying the fact that the number of those opting for solar power has come down since free power was introduced in the district. For instance, there were 944 grid rooftop solar (RTS) connections here till July 2022. Since the introduction of the free power scheme, only 264 connections had been added.

Ignored by domestic consumers, a majority of solar units have been adopted by those whose power consumption is high. In 2016, leading by example, Punjab Naatshala had adopted green and clean energy by switching over to solar power for its energy consumption. It installed a 20 kW solar-power panel to cut down on 75 per cent of its power expenses.

Khalsa College Governing Council (KCGC), which runs 18 educational institutions, switched over to solar energy for a majority of its institutions. Guru Nanak Dev University also got a rooftop solar power plant of 3 MW capacity installed under the Union Government’s Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) in 2018.

In 2019, the Punjab State War Memorial and Museum became the first government building in the city to use solar power under the Smart City project. In 2021, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee in association with the United Sikh Mission, USA, took a lead by installing a solar power plant on the Golden Temple premises. It plans to install similar panels in other gurdwaras managed by it.

Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International airport, Amritsar railway station, and several other government-run institutions have installed grid rooftop solar (RTS) panels.