The Greater Chennai Corporation has planned to install solar panels on 662 of its buildings. These buildings would include government offices, schools, and hospitals and these together are expected to generate 3.06 MW of electricity.

The work is being carried out under the government’s Smart City Program. The total project cost is ₹224 million (~$3.17 million).

Under the first phase of the scheme, approximately ₹370,000 (~$ 5,233.65) was spent in installing solar panels in Padavattamman Koil Street, located in Royapuram region. The installation is for a capacity of up to 5 kW.

The civic body has also written to the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO)  to procure bi-directional net metres for feeding back the generated power into the grid.

Moreover, the surplus energy generated from the civic body’s buildings is likely to be used for streetlights in the neighbourhood.

Under the central government’s Smart City Program, scores of cities have announced their plans for the installation of solar panels to make these cities sustainable.

For instance, in March 2018, Karnataka’s Tumakuru Smart City Limited tendered 2.7 MW of grid-connected rooftop solar projects to be established on the city’s government buildings.

In April 2018, the Diu Smart City became the first in the country to run on 100 percent renewable energy during daytime hours. It has developed 9 MW solar park in the city along with rooftop solar panels located on 79 government buildings, generating 1.3 MW annually.

Recently, Indore Smart City Development Limited also issued a tender for smart meters to be installed under Indore Smart City project. This is a percentage rate tender for the supply, installation of smart energy meters with RF Mesh Communication Module in area-based development (ABD) area.

Image credit: Flickr

Nitin is a staff reporter at Mercomindia.com and writes on renewable energy and related sectors. Prior to Mercom, Nitin has worked for CNN IBN, India News, Agricultural Spectrum and Bureaucracy Today. He received his bachelor’s degree in Journalism & Communication from Manipal Institute of Communication at Manipal University and Master’s degree in International Relations from Jindal School of International Affairs. More articles from Nitin Kabeer