Pune: The Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) is all set to achieve energy independence by installing solar panels, which will save power bills of nearly Rs 3 lakh per month for the board.
The 20 Kilowatt (kW) solar panel has already been set up at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Cantonment General Hospital and by the end of the year, the board office will have its own 80 KW solar panel.
Dr DN Yadav, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of PCB, told Sakal Times, “The solar panel at cantonment hospital will start soon, as the 20 kW panel has already been installed at the rooftop of the hospital. We had proposed this facility last year and it was completed in the first week of January. This is one of the biggest achievements of the hospital.”
“The cost of installation of the solar panel was Rs 18 lakh and will save up to Rs 1.5 lakh per month. The Southern Army Commander Lt Gen DR Soni will inaugurate it on February 13, besides inaugurating various facilities at the hospital,” said Yadav.
“The installation of solar panels at the board office will be done within six months, and it will save power bills of Rs 2 lakh per month,” Yadav said.
The PCB had approved plans to equip the cantonment buildings with solar power facilities to reduce the increasing expenses on electricity bills,” he added.
These plans, which were initially framed for the PCB headquarters and the cantonment hospital, were developed in late 2015.
According to the plan, the solar power facility is expected to have a total capacity to generate 100kW of power.
PEC Limited, an arm of the Union Ministry of Commerce, came forward to execute the project, with part of the cost and taxes subsidised under Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM).
The scheme aims to instal a capacity of 100 GW of solar power across India by 2020. The Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is the nodal agency that manages the funding for JNNSM.
